Design of a Microcontrolled Water Fountain

Water fountains have been used for thousands of years for utilitarian and aesthetic purposes. The design of a fountain provides an excellent opportunity as a multidisciplinary project for engineering and art students. In this paper, detailed design of an indoor fountain with a special effect feature is presented. Comprising of nine individual jets, the fountain produces letters of the alphabet, simple shapes, and symbols with water jets. A microcontroller is programmed to create and sequence through interesting arrangements of water displays. With a total material cost of $550, this design, or variations of it, can be adopted for various implementations in fluids and design courses. Suggestions for student design projects are also made.