Ask HN: Embedded system project ideas? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Embedded system project ideas?

My senior capstone project for my undergrad computer engineering degree is to develop a prototype of a product with some type of embedded computing. The parameters for the project are really broad: the only strict requirement is that the project needs to involve both hardware and software.

Choice of platforms is also wide open, could be anything from a small microcontroller (Arduino/MSP430), to a single-board computer (R Pi/BeagleBone Black), or even an FPGA solution.

Does anyone have any ideas for a device that they would like to see built? Any ideas are appreciated.

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I was out watering my yards the other day because some area didn't get enough water and the grass is yellowing. If only I can set one particular sprinkler to run five minutes longer than the rest of the other sprinklers in the zone, that would save my grass. Then I started to think, why can't we make smart sprinkler heads that give us more precise control of our irrigation, and conserve water at the same time. It's possible with today's tiny and low power chips. I did some digging into this is it's not too complex. Unfortunately I'm not an EE. But if this interest you, I'd be more than happy to go into more detail.

Smart sprinkler heads seems like an idea that scales.

That's an interesting problem. I frankly would have thought someone would have done this by now. We'll do some research, and I'll definitely ping you if we decide to pursue it. Thanks so much!

I would like a device (hardware) that somehow captures each individual energy item and its usage in the house and records it on an app. So for example, I want to see on a given day, which bulbs were used, for how long and what was the energy consumption.

Bonus: If the device/app can also record that an item was used while not needed. For example, master bedroom light was on while the room was empty for 60 mins etc.

I had a need for a light timer/alarm system to help me wake up at 5:45AM; my ideal solution would be an app, that interfaces to a lamp, where I could set an alarm that would ring my phone in the AM, but also in conjunction with that, turn on a lamp in my room. Basically a wemo, but compatible with more phones

This is a great idea. I often have the same problem (I'll just turn off the alarm before I'm actually awake, and then oversleep). I actually didn't know about Wemo, and I'd be curious to see if there is a technical reason they are limited to so few devices. We'll definitely look into this, thanks!

Fwiw, I ended up just buying a 20$ outlet timer from home depot, and a lamp that I don't use for anything other than shining right in my face at 5:45. I set my phones alarm at 5:45, 5:50 and 5:55, and the light kicks on at 5:45. It has been working really well.

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