IOT Waterballoon Launcher

Its fun to play with waterballoons and shoot at people, but then what bad happens that the guy down there is able to see you throwing it on him and gets angry, which causes him to have a good talk with your parents complaining them about your mischeif.
Having this trouble with myself (as it has happened with me in past) I thought why not to make use of technology to overcome my problem , which was stopping me to have fun! So if you also want to have fun like me, lets start building it...

Step 1: Materials

Hardware:-

. 2x Aluminium bars (about 1.5 m long)
. A cardboard box
. A cardboard tube
. ESP8266 module
. Breadboard/PCB
. Nut and bolts
. Tape
. metal /cardboard strip (according to length of water balloon, 5-6 cm approx.)
. Zip tags
. USB to TTL converter/FTDI module (for programming ESP8266)
. Servo motor

Software:-

*Arduino IDE link: https://www.arduino.cc/en/main/software
*Latest BLYNK library link: https://github.com/blynkkk/blynk-library *Blynk_v0.3.4.zip https://github.com/blynkkk/blynk-library *pySerial link: https://github.com/blynkkk/blynk-library

*ESP8266 blynk library:https://github.com/vshymanskyy/ITEADLIB_Arduino_W...

*Blynk app on iphone or android.

Step 2: Connecting Esp866

Connect esp866 to ftdi as shown in the schematic above.Download and install Arduino IDE software. Once installed, run the software and on the top menu bar click File - Preferences and you'll see a field that says Additional Boards Manager URLS:. Copy and paste this into that field:

http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266c... and Click OK

On the top menu bar click Tools - Board: - Boards Manager and scroll down to verify that the ESP8266 by ESP8266 Community is INSTALLED. If so, click close and once again go to Tools - Board: - Boards Manager, and you'll now see a bunch of ESP8266 type boards that you can program using the Arduino IDE.

Step 3: Adding Blynk Library

Download the latest Blynk Release Library from GitHub to somewhere familiar like your desktop (it might download to your Downloads Folder). Right click on the file you just downloaded and select Extract All, (if Extract All is not available to you, download and use Winzip trial to Extract). Open the newly created folder and copy the contents to your Documents\Arduino\libraries folder. Its should look like the above pictures.

Step 4: Change IDE Hardware Settings

Connect your USB to Serial adapter to your computer, the ESP-01 should be connected to it.

Download the attached sketch ".ino" file, then double click it and it should load into the Arduino IDE. In the IDE click Tools - Boards and choose Generic ESP8266 Module. Again click Tools - Port and choose the COM port of ESP-01 you just plugged into your computer. (Note you can unplug and re-plug the adapter to figure out which COM port it is) Once again click Tools - Upload Speed and choose either 115200 or 9600. You have to change a few things in the sketch code, the "Auth Token", the "ssid" and the "password" The next will show you where to get your "AUTH CODE"

Step 5: Download the Blynk Android / IOS App

Get the Blynk App and your Auth Token
To start:

1. Download Blynk App: http://j.mp/blynk_Android or http://j.mp/blynk_Android

2. Create your account and name your new project."Auth Token" will be provided to you when you select new project.

3. Select esp8266 under devices label.

4. Touch the '+' icon and add a button. Then configure it by selecting virtual button 'V1'.

Step 6: Final Connections

Connect the servo and esp8266 as per the connections shown above.

Step 7: Mechanical Part

Take aluminium bars and drill holes on each end for bolts. You also need to drill holes on the ends of metal strips. Attach the strips on the end of the bars, joining the two bars with the help of nut and bolts.To the other end attach a long bolt vertically as shown.

Step 8: Launching Mechanism

Take the cardboard tube and cover it with tape. It is being done to prevent its spoiling from water. Make a hole to attach servo. You can use some wires to provide it some strength.

Step 9: Launching Mechanism Continued...

Cut the front side of the box as shown. Cover it with tape nicely. You can attach some ice-cream sticks at the back to provide it some strenght. Stick the servo on the side of the box . It should finally look as in the picture. Now connect the servo ro the circuit.

Step 10: Setting Up All Together

Put the circuit inside the box. Attach aluminium bars to the grills by opening one side of the metal strip and then closing it again by nut and bolt. Put the launching mechanism above it and tie it to the grill using zip ties. The setup should be finally look like what in the pic. Now just power it on and enjoy!!!!