This project is a real-life recreation of the Pensieve from Harry Potter. Using a Raspberry Pi, water level sensors, and other components, the final product plays a custom video beneath glowing water when a vile of water is poured into the basin.
Check out the blog post on the project here
Demo of the Pensieve in Action
To recreate the Pensieve as outlined in this repo, you'll need the following:
- Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (I used the physical computing kit, which has a lot of other needed components)
- Breadboard
- Jumper wires (male-to-male and male-to-female)
- GPIO breakout board
- Analog to digital converter
- Water level sensors
- Plastic bowls / containers
- Plastic tubing (~1 foot)
The core of this project's setup revolves around the Raspberry Pi being able to detect a water level change digitally so that it can trigger the playing of a video.
I used an adhesive strip to attach the water level sensor to the inside of one of the plastic containers, with the sensor flush against the bottom. I then connected the Raspberry Pi, GPIO breakout board, breadboard, analog-to-digital converter, and water level sensor as shown in the schemasitc below. Also checkout the fritzing file.
I also added the python script to the Raspberry Pi and had it running in the background. When water is detected by the sensor, the script can perfrom an action, in this case the playing of a video I also added to the Pi.
Sketch of Pensieve Mechanics
Water Detection with the Raspberry Pi
Pensieve Basin Resting on Mount
Pensieve Mounted and Ready for Action
