Dispensador de agua inteligente controlado por voz a través de ALEXA

Abstract

The intersection of technology and people with disabilities presents simple but complex challenges. A visual disability makes appliances such as blenders, ovens or coffee makers a challenge to use and can represent an imminent risk despite being machines with a simple and everyday purpose. When designing an appliance, it is necessary to be clear when giving management instructions to the user so that he can use the machine correctly. The most common method is to use symbols, for example, the numbers on a blender indicating the power that the motor will use to move its blades or the input of a turn-on time on a microwave oven. The objective is to design a water dispenser capable of dispensing water at three different temperatures: cold, hot and room temperature. Based on a visual disability, great distances are evident in the interaction with the consumer by not being able to interpret signals such as those mentioned above, therefore, the use of voice commands is proposed in order to use a sense other than sight in order to have efficient communication between the user and the machine. Temperature thresholds used were 70°C for hot water and 13°C for cold water, controlled by an on/off controller. As a result, correct communication between users and machines was obtained without the need for interpretation of visual symbols thanks to the correct implementation of voice commands assisted by Alexa, which, apart from helping the user to use the device, opens a great step in future projects related to home automation, by being able to connect in an easy way through a microcontroller with an internet connection and the use of Arduino Cloud.