Process

To start, I focused on exploring the Arduino and how to power it using code. I then began exploring the color sensor and its capabilities. I first wrote a program that detected and printed out colors’ rgb values. Some of the problems I ran into during this step was the sensor printing rgb values out of range (>255) and improperly detecting low saturation colors. I moved on to writing conditionals within my code that created different cases based on the color detected.

Next, I set up and connected the relay to my system. I experimented with switching between the different modes of a relay to practice powering it on and off. I then incorporated the relay into my color cases so that the relay would turn on if reddish colors were detected and stay off if bluish colors were detected.

Finally, I worked on connecting the relay to my fan. I first took apart the fan to understand how it operated. Since I only wanted to work with one fan speed, I modified the internal part of the fan by removing the push button it came with. I then connected the fan to the relay to complete the system.