Pet Bowl Water Sensor

The goal of this design is to create a way for pet owners to be notified when their pets water bowls are low on water. The initial objective was that a notification would be sent out to the users’ phone; however, with a limited budget this was changed to a notification based off an LED light.

The first step to developing this product was to develop user needs and turn those into need statements. From here, quantifiable target product specifications were written up based off the need statements. The next step was creating design alternatives that fit the criteria of the user needs. These concepts were then screened and scored against each other to determine which design alternative was the best for this design. Afterwards the first prototype was created using a ‘works-like’ design to show functionality. From this prototype I learned many things about the sizing of the device as well as how to improve its functionality through the Arduino. The next step was designing the second prototype which functioned and looked closer to the final product. Using this prototype, the sizing for the outer casing of the final product was determined, and using the waterjet, the final casing was cut. The case was assembled, the Arduino components were placed inside, and the final product was complete.