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Archive for the ‘temperature controller’ Category

Professionally engineered, SmartPID is a high-tech, programmable temperature and process controller for the DIY community.

Compared to a basic on/off thermostat, SmartPID is an “open platform” that can collect temperature from multiple sensors, apply programmable control logic, and drive different loads with a precise PID algorithm.

Not only can SmartPID control any thermos-regulated process, heating or cooling, it can be used for a number of applications throughout your home, both locally and remotely. You can easily access your process and log data from the web browser on a desktop over Wi-Fi or a smartphone via a dedicated app, which is ideal in case of critical situations that involve alarms and triggers.

The brainchild of Davide Arzarello, SmartPID is a must-have for Makers, do-it-yourselfers, tech enthusiasts, as well as professional engineers seeking an affordable process controller. It’s 100% Arduino-compatible: just plug the SmartPID USB port into your computer and program the board using the Arduino IDE.

SmartPID is neither a simple controller nor a thermostat: it is an “open platform” in which the resources and I/O can be used for a variety of applications and in a variety of environments. The idea behind SmartPID is to develop an ecosystem of “vertical” applications on top of a common set of features, providing tools for people who would like to develop their own applications or hack existing ones. The two main apps included are the smart thermostat and smart brewing app, with a successful crowdfunding campaign, the company hopes to expand the controllers versatility into a number of vertical applications on top of the SmartPID platform.

With its process automation, SmartPID makes everything from homebrewing and winemaking to aquarium maintenance to oven temperature more precise, powerful, and flexible. Want to learn more? Check out Arzarello’s campaign on Indiegogo!

 

Feb
28

Can’t Stand Your Noisy Fan? Here’s a Plan, Man

arduino hacks, Arduino Mini, heatsink, mcp9803, sanity savers, temperature controller Commenti disabilitati su Can’t Stand Your Noisy Fan? Here’s a Plan, Man 

[Brian] adores his GW Instek GPC-1850D power supply, but it’s annoyingly loud and disruptive to his audio projects. The thing works great, so he decided to regulate the fan’s speed based on usage level to save his sanity.

Once [Brian] got under the hood, he found that it actually has four separate heatsinks: one for the bridge rectifiers and one for each power transistor on the three output channels. The heatsinks are electrically and thermally isolated from each other and change temperature based on the channel being used.

[Brian] and his associates had several Microchip MCP9803 temperature sensors kicking around the lab from previous projects, so they put one on each heatsink. The great thing about these is their address selection pins which let all four of them sit together on the I²C bus to Arduinoville. Each sensor is insulated and clamped to its heatsink with a piece of meccano and a dab of thermal paste.

[Brian] used an Arduino Mini and built the circuit on stripboard. The fan runs at 24V, so he’s sharing that with the Arduino through a 7805. He controls the speed of the fan with PWM from the Arduino fed through a MOSFET. The Arduino reads from each sensor and determines which one is hottest. [Brian] wanted the fan to run at all times, so he set a base speed of 20%. When the heatsinks reach 30°C/86°F, the fan speed is increased to 40%. After that, the speed increases at 5°C/9°F intervals until it reaches max speed at 65°C/149°F.

You can grab the code and schematic from [Brian]‘s repo. If you want to study your heatsinks, build this heatsink tester first.


Filed under: Arduino Hacks


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