4.2 Pumping

In this intriguing project, we will delve into controlling a water pump using the L293D.

In the realm of water pump control, things are a bit simpler compared to controlling other motors. The beauty of this project lies in its simplicity - there’s no need to worry about the direction of rotation. Our primary goal is to successfully activate the water pump and keep it running.

Required Components

In this project, we need the following components.

It’s definitely convenient to buy a whole kit, here’s the link:

Name	ITEMS IN THIS KIT	LINK
ESP32 Starter Kit	320+	ESP32 Starter Kit

You can also buy them separately from the links below.

COMPONENT INTRODUCTION	PURCHASE LINK
ESP32 WROOM 32E	BUY
ESP32 Camera Extension	-
Breadboard	BUY
Jumper Wires	BUY
Centrifugal Pump	-
L293D	-

Available Pins

Here is a list of available pins on the ESP32 board for this project.

Available Pins

IO13, IO12, IO14, IO27, IO26, IO25, IO33, IO32, IO15, IO2, IO0, IO4, IO5, IO18, IO19, IO21, IO22, IO23

Schematic

Wiring

Note

It is recommended here to insert the battery and then slide the switch on the expansion board to the ON position to activate the battery supply.

Code

Note

• Open the 4.2_pumping.py file located in the esp32-starter-kit-main\micropython\codes path, or copy and paste the code into Thonny. Then, click “Run Current Script” or press F5 to execute it.

• Make sure to select the “MicroPython (ESP32).COMxx” interpreter in the bottom right corner.

import machine
import time

# Create Pin objects representing the motor control pins and set them to output mode
motor1A = machine.Pin(13, machine.Pin.OUT)
motor2A = machine.Pin(14, machine.Pin.OUT)

# Define a function to rotate the pump
def rotate():
    motor1A.value(1)
    motor2A.value(0)

# Define a function to stop the pump
def stop():
    motor1A.value(0)
    motor2A.value(0)

try:
    while True:
        rotate()  # Rotate the motor clockwise
        time.sleep(5)  # Pause for 5 seconds
        stop()  # Stop the motor
        time.sleep(2)

except KeyboardInterrupt:
    stop()  # Stop the motor when KeyboardInterrupt is caught

During the script execution, you will see the pump working and water coming out of the tube, then stopping for 2 seconds before starting to work again.