Automatic Fridge Door Alert System Using Arduino

Hello people in this instructables i will show you how i made this Automatic Fridge Door Alert System.

There is a common problem in every household, after using the refrigerator, we all forget to close.

I bet most of us also got scoldings from our family also, Even i faced the situation many times.

Now I wanted to find a solution to this common yet uncommon problem, So this led to the building of an automatic fridge door close alert system.

You may be wondering how this device helps to get rid of the issue?

This device has an infrared sensor that activley detects the fridge door and during this time teh device will be on standby mode.

When you pull the fridge out the ir sensor detects no obstacle in front of it this will trigger an LED(you can also use buzzer) But the led was bright enough to alert.

Also to keep everything on the track i added an OLED screen that shows all the messages on real time.

Powered by usb and the device is very small to be able to carry and install in almost all versions of the fridge.

Dont miss to check out the working as well a build tutorial of this project in the end of this instructables.

These are the supplies that is required to build this project. keep it handy so that the build process is very quick

Arduino nano from here

OLED module

LED (choice of your color)

IR sensor

Jumper cables

PLA filament

3D printer

Slicer

Arduino IDE

Programming Cable

Power Bank

To make this design fit for almost any kind of fridge the main challenge was the design, Since I also wanted this to look some sort of crazy piece of tech design was required.

I made a lot of trial and error designs and most of them didn't seem nice, so finally, considering the design and fit for the electronics, I was able to make the design as shown above.

You are free to use my file and customize it according to your needs.

I designed this using TinkerCADand it took me a while to design this considering the standard sizing of all the components.

There are only 2 parts in this project, the first is the main part where the OLED panel and the LED and the IR Sensor is connected.

The other part is where the nano and the power cable are connected.

Slice the model using the settings as shown in the image, there is no need for any rafts or supports at the time of printing.

Print with the choice of your color PLA filament, I chose red PLA for both the parts.

When the model is being printed we can start making the electronics part for this project and we will see it how in the next step.

The connections are simple and straight forward, we are using 3 different components and i will explain the connection component wise.

IR sensor connections

VCC or positive to 5V

GND to GND

Output or D0 to D2 on the nano

OLED connections/Buzzer Connections

VCC to 5V and the ground to GND

SDA to A4 and SCL to A5

LED connections

LED (+) to D3 pin on the nano

LED Negative to ground

You can use buzzer in place of LED but the connections remain the same for both the components.

After all these connections are complete connect nano board to computer and open arduino ide.

Copy and paste the below program inside IDE, Select the proper port number and select the board type and click on the upload button.

After the code is done uploadinng you can simply check the circuit, the best and easy way is seeing the OLED if some message is popping up then the circuit is ready.

Now we will case the eletronics inside the 3d printed case.

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I started by trinnimg the circuit wherever necessary, For example the jumper cables tip comes with a plastic header and using that in an IR sensor consumed extra space so i had to trim it.

I started by cutting the plastic headers and then slicing the cable for copper wire and soldered them to the pins of IR sensor.

The jumper cables on the other hand in the LED i left as it is and it served as a great pin to hold the LED.

I pulled the excess wires from the inside of 3d printed part and glued the tip to prevent the cables from coming out by any chance.

Later i moved on to the connections with arduino nano, It doesnt need any trimming of the circuit since the middle part has room for more cables.

Start by adding a double sided adhesive to the inside base of this part and stick the arduino nano board meanwhile taking care of the arduino nano pin.

Now there will be two halves and this can be connected using the super glue, gently drop some glue and join and hold the two parts firmly until you have a great adhesion.

This is all about building this project, at this point the project is ready and only thing pending is the testing followed by installation of the device on the actual fridge.

This is the most interesting part of the project, Before you put this on your fridge there are certain things you need to perform.

Test this project first by placing the hand or any obstacle in front of the IR sensor, if everything is working fine then you should see the led light off and the OLED showing door close as the message.

When you remove the hand from the IR sensor then the LED should start blinking and also the OLED shows door open as the message.

Now install this setup on the side of the fridhe, i chose the top left part of the fridge where there is plenty of space.

I had to stick a double sided adhesive to the back of this device just to make sure that the device wont come out if it is touched by mistake also.

The IR sensor can be adjusted also if the distance is too less and not be able to detect the door.

I chose power bank for power and you can do the same thing too.

This was all about this project, if you have any questions ask me in the comments.

Don't forget to watch this video that has all the complete build tutorial from the begining and also the working video is also attached so you can solve all your questions simply by watching.

Thank you for showing interest and if you made this project dont forget to post your build in the i made it section.