tnewman / PySumpMon

Sump Pump Monitor using Python and Arduino

PySumpMon

PySumpMon is a Sump Pump Monitor using Python and Arduino. The Arduino uses the EVShield to determine the distance to the water in sump. As distances are read by the Arduino every second, they are sent to a Python server over serial. The Python server polls the serial port every 30 seconds. The current distance is then logged and can be viewed on a web page. If the distance to the water is less than 10 cm, a text message is sent via Twillio using the parameters set in the configuration file.

License

MIT License

Prerequisites

1. Computer to run the Python server
2. Arduino with EVShield
3. NXT Ultrasonic Sensor
4. Arduino IDE
5. Python 3
6. GIT
7. Twilio Trial Account

Installation and Usage

These installation instructions are for Windows and will need to be modified for Linux.

Obtaining PySumpMon

1. Open the command prompt
2. Navigate to the root directory using the command cd C:/
3. Clone this Git repository using git clone https://github.com/tnewman/PySumpMon

Arduino

1. Connect the EVShield to the Arduino
2. Connect the NXT Ultrasonic Sensor to port BAS1 on the EVShield
3. Connect the USB cable to the Arduino and the PC
4. Install the PySumpMon/ArduinoDistance/ArduinoDistance.ino sketch on the Arduino using the Arduino Software

Python Server

1. Open the command prompt
2. Navigate to the PySumpMonFolder using the command cd C:/PySumpMon
3. Initialize the database using the command python dbinit.py
4. Open the file pysumpmon/config.py in a text editor
5. Set DISTANCE_SENSOR_PORT to the serial port for the Arduino
6. Set TWILLIO_ACCOUNT to the account credential provided by Twilio
7. Set TWILLIO_TOKEN to the token credential provided by Twilio
8. Set TWILLIO_NOTIFICATION_FROM to the phone number that will be used to send the message provided by Twilio
9. Set TWILLIO_NOTIFICATION_TO to the phone number that the text messages should be sent to.

Running

1. Point the NXT Ultrasonic Sensor at the bottom of the sump pump
2. Connect the Arduino to the PC
3. Open the command prompt
4. Navigate to the PySumpMonFolder using the command cd C:/PySumpMon
5. Run the Python Server with the command python app.py
6. Distance can be viewed by going to the page http://localhost:5000 in your web browser.