I’ve got two wall mounted space heaters made by King Electric. They are the Pick-O-Watt series and have a built in thermostat for control. They are easy to install and the option to set the load is useful. Setting the output wattage to match the room they are installed in saves energy. However, they were not centrally controlled. If one was left on, energy was wasted and is potentially dangerous. I wanted to avoid this. First, lets look at how…
When creating PCBs, the quality of the work is the most important element. If the design has a flaw, the work can lead to malfunction, damage, or worse depending on the application. Quality is key. It’s good practice to keep that in mind regardless if the design is complex or rudimentary. I’ve found that component placement on the board to be a good first step. It allows you to know that parts will fit and connect with the outside world…
One challenge with piecing together devices are the connections. We discussed how we’ll use communications protocols to link devices that are physically separate. This same problem occurs for our nodes that have sensors, controllers, or other circuit boards that need to be linked. To solve this, we’ll develop and manufacture printed circuit boards, or PCBs as they are commonly referred to. Having a custom PCB that makes the links also provides us a cleaner build. In addition, devices can be…