Most phones take about 3-4 hours to charge, but if the phone is left in after that, it can damage the battery and wastes energy. The Powerbar Timer automatically turns off a power bar after a set amount of time to conserve energy and protect appliances. It was built with an arduino uno and an adafruit motor shield for simplicity and uses a simple code done with the arduino ide. A small servo motor is connected to the motor shield which is connected to the arduino uno and moves to toggle the on/off switch on the power bar, thus turning it on or off. It is a simple yet effective and a practical hack with many uses.
One common problem that people run into is when they leave their home after cooking they worry that they left the oven on. A further idea for the Powerbar Timer is to use an arduino wifi or bluetooth shield, to make the power bar remote controlled thus being able to control the power going to the oven or any other appliance. Another example of the uses of the addition of an arduino wifi/bluetooth shield is the ability to turn of a child's gaming console remotely or with the timer.
Throughout the design and building process we further our knowledge of arduino programming and problem solving having a very fun and enjoyable time along the way. This was our first hack day and we are proud of our ability to design and create this hack and of the fact of how simple and effective it is. We hope to continue attending hack day and expand our knowledge of computer sciences and make more hacks.
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