Скачать или смотреть NEW V2 Automatic Egg incubator - Arduino Raspberry and Python GUI!

🔧 Automatic Incubator – Version 2
Hi everyone! After a year of design, wiring, and software development (yes, for at least 70% of it I used ChatGPT), I’ve completed the new version of my automatic incubator. It’s still built from a fridge to take advantage of its insulation and humidity resistance, and the mechanical structure is the same, but I completely redesigned the electrical system with new components and added many new software features!
🛠 Mechanical System
3-tier structure for egg trays
Stepper motor with a 2-stage gear reducer, pulley, and timing belt for automatic rotation
Four-bar linkage mechanism + homemade 3D-printed encoder to limit rotation to ±90°

⚡ Electrical System
New wooden control panel for better organization
New electrical components: 220V rack for various loads, Vemer digital thermostat for independent temperature measurement, Arduino relay module
Optocouplers to isolate logic and power circuits, custom board for warning light and voltage dividers, homemade board for A4988 stepper driver
Arduino Mega and Raspberry Pi as controllers, video monitor for the GUI written in Python + PyQt5 framework
DHT22 humidity sensor and 4×DS18B20 temperature sensors

💻 Control & Software
Arduino: collects data from sensors and sends it to the Raspberry Pi, executes commands such as turning the heater on/off and controlling stepper motor movement
Raspberry Pi: runs Python software that manages the entire system. Once it receives data from the Arduino, it saves it in dedicated files to maintain a history of temperature and humidity. It also decides how to control the heater based on the incubator’s average temperature (hysteresis control).
To make it more interactive, I developed a graphical user interface (GUI) in Python (PyQt5 framework), which also provides statistics and the ability to graph temperature and humidity trends.
Arduino and Raspberry communicate via serial cable, using a custom serial protocol developed with ChatGPT to ensure safer data reception and command transmission.
Automatic Recovery Feature: restores operation after a power outage by saving parameters in a file so that, when the machine restarts, it resumes exactly from where it left off.

🛡 Safety
Safety thermostat at 38.5°C in series with the heater to prevent overheating. This independent NC (normally closed) device keeps the heater active during normal operation. If the temperature exceeds 38.5°C, it opens the circuit, stopping the heating process.
Software with error checks and logging for real-time monitoring.


🔜 Next Developments
Automatic humidity control: a floating system to maintain a constant water level in the tray at the bottom of the fridge, plus an automatic pneumatic water misting system to increase humidity inside the incubator.
PID temperature control with SSR: for more stability, keeping the temperature constant at 37.8°C and avoiding the fluctuations caused by the current hysteresis control.