Make HEAVY DUTY analog inputs for Arduino / ESP32 / RaspPi projects using.... plumbing valves?!

Hey, you! Are you....
- Disappointed by puny linear potentiometers or rotary knobs in your electronic projects?
- Looking for a big, sturdy input method, made of heavy-duty steel and cast iron?
- In need of a unique, customisable input for your Arduino / Raspberry Pi / ESP32 project?
In this video tutorial, I'll explain how to turn any regular plumbing valve into an analog input that can be read on a microcontroller, using just an LED and a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR).

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

cool idea, I've seen a rotary encoder used inside a rotary valve but using light in a ball valve is genius.

[@tverspeelt]

If you don't have access to both sides of the valve (too many bends or whatever), you could also glue a magnet in the ball of the valve, and use a hall sensor instead of the LDR.

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

??

[@ChemicalArts]

I get so many good ideas from your videos. I'm making escape room type puzzles for my chemistry classes and this one could be potentially useful.

[@PlayfulTechnology]

Awh, thanks for the comment, and I'm so glad that I'm able to share some ideas with you!

[@mikeglide1292]

Seriously, your one of the most clever persons I've ever come across. Do you have any idea how useful this is? You probably do, but this is so cool. Thank you so much for this!

[@MGMT1000Videos]

Brilliant! I love this idea. My application is a management science class for MBA students and I've been doing "breakout box" type things - solve the linear program, use the objective function to open a combination lock - those sorts of things. This would have a "wow factor" that a toolbox with a hasp and six combo locks doesn't. Love the videos - thanks for sharing.

[@suryaananth2744]

You have effectively created an optocoupler but with fancy switching valves!

[@SteliosPavlou]

Great video. Another option would be to use plastic pipe to reduce the risk of a short circuit, but they'd need to be better supported with pipe clips.

[@martinrydahlpedersen8884]

What a great idea 😊 Thanx for sharing all your phenomenal ideas and solutions 🙏🏻

[@JeremyCook]

I was not expecting you to use a light there. What a neat solution! BTW, if you haven't, would suggest you check out the Arduino IDE 2.0 - nice improvement.

[@PlayfulTechnology]

Thanks! I do have the Arduino IDE v2.0 installed as well, and I could have used it for this particular project but I'm still in the habit of using v1.x since 2.0 doesn't yet support any plugins that I often rely on (exception decoder, SPIFFS uploaded etc.)

[@JeremyCook]

@@PlayfulTechnology Ah, makes sense. I hear VSCode/Platformio is even better, though I don't use it at this point.

[@cezarywieczorkowski5642]

@@JeremyCook Vs code with platformio is waaay better than arduino ide

[@JeremyCook]

@@cezarywieczorkowski5642 So I hear. I tried it some time ago, not entirely sure why I didn't continue with it... Actually, sounds silly, but maybe it was that it didn't have the same set of examples to refer back to? Perhaps that seems silly, but I use them all the time.

[@PlayfulTechnology]

@@cezarywieczorkowski5642 I use Visual Studio extensively, but I just never got on with VS Code - I think it's because I expect it to behave the same way as VS - they probably should have just marketed it as a completely different product.

[@tomran247]

Brilliant idea!

[@dlepierres]

great idea

[@olivernovelles8609]

That's amazing , dude!!

[@merrymonkey5172]

cool idea!

[@GearClinkz]

Absolutely amazing

[@wqwwqwqqpoppopoo]

One issue i did run into with this, is that for whatever reason my LEDs started to dim over time, which changed the range of readings I got from the photo resistors.

[@metinoheat]

Great video. Question - Why can't you just measure the voltage drop from the LDR directly? Why do you even need the second resistor?

[@PlayfulTechnology]

The LDR changes its _resistance_ according to the amount of light falling on it. But the Arduino analog pins can't measure resistance directly - they can only measure voltage. So, we create a voltage divider circuit so we can measure change in voltage based on the change in resistance.

[@metinoheat]

@@PlayfulTechnology got it! Thank you!

[@kartikeyajp8294]

Absolute Mad-lad❤

[@shaneburke7728]

I love your work do you offer and escape room build service? Many Thanks

[@smay4finger]

Brilliant!

[@JeffreyYan1986]

goodjob

[@puvvadisairam9392]

What is use of it

[@PlayfulTechnology]

What are the use of user inputs in a system?

[@davechatting]

Very canny!