Wave Generator (IOT)

In this project, I built a system to control a wave tank remotely using a stepper motor, an Arduino, and a custom Python GUI. By leveraging the MQTT protocol, the system allows for real-time control of wave patterns, speed, and distance without needing a physical connection to the hardware.

How It Works

The system consists of two main components: a Python-based control dashboard and an Arduino-based motor controller. They communicate over WiFi using a public MQTT broker.

1. The Control Dashboard (Python)

The user interface is built with Streamlit. The dashboard allows users to select a wavetype (e.g., MonoPulse), set the speed, and define the distance the motor should travel.

When the “Update and run” button is clicked, the app connects to the test.mosquitto.org broker and publishes a formatted string containing the wave parameters to the topic wave/motor.

2. The Hardware Controller (Arduino)

On the hardware side, an Arduino (using the WiFiNINA library) connects to WiFi and subscribes to the same wave/motor topic.

The main loop listens for incoming messages. When a message is received, it parses the string to extract the wavetype, speed, and distance. Based on the “wavetype” received, the Arduino executes specific motor movements using the AccelStepper library:

• MonoPulse (Type 1): Moves the motor to a set distance and immediately reverses it to create a single pulse.
• Wavetype 2: Constant 10 mono-pulses.
• Wavetype 3: Variable 10 mono-pulses.

Conclusion

This project was a simple IoT project where the physical hardware can now be controlled from a user friendly software interface anywhere on the network.