Electrical · Controls & Automation

Smart Building Environmental Control

Intermediate 5 weeks 35-50 hours

Multi-zone HVAC, lighting, humidity control. Automatic setpoint adjustment based on occupancy. Energy usage optimization. Show comfort metrics achieved.

Major

Electrical

Focus area

Controls & Automation

Total hours

35-50 hours

What you'll need

  • Arduino Mega 2560 R3 microcontroller board
  • DHT22 temperature humidity and BMP280 pressure sensor module kit
  • 5V relay module board for Arduino
  • 16x2 LCD display module with I2C for Arduino
  • HC-SR501 PIR motion occupancy sensor module
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Steps

  1. Map out 2 or 3 zones and decide the temperature, humidity, and lighting setpoints for each.
  2. Wire the sensors, PIR occupancy sensor, relays, and LCD to the Arduino Mega.
  3. Log baseline temperature, humidity, and occupancy for a day with no automatic control.
  4. Program control logic that switches relays to hold setpoints and relaxes them when a zone is empty.
  5. Run the system for several days and compare relay on-time (your energy proxy) and comfort to the baseline.
  6. Chart comfort and energy results and document the build for your portfolio.

What to photograph for your portfolio

  • Temperature profiles
  • humidity control
  • occupancy correlation
  • energy optimization graph
  • reports

Resume bullet starters

Copy one, then swap in your own numbers.

  • Designed and built a smart building environmental control using HVAC systems, building automation, Arduino

  • Applied sensor integration and control logic to implement, test, and validate the system end-to-end

  • Quantified performance with [insert your result, such as accuracy, error reduction, response time, or load capacity] after iterative tuning

Skills you'll show off

HVAC systemsbuilding automationArduinosensor integrationcontrol logic

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