for
Environmental
Chambers
upto several hundred cubic metres
Developed by Touch Your Idea Solutions
Contact:
(Tap) Tapio Vahamaki – My Resume here: [ http://tapiovahamaki.com/resume ]
(858) 722-1963
Figure 1: Temperature Controller and LCD/Touch panel
What
is it?
A
temperature control system, to adjust the ambient air temperature within a
large room or chamber. It uses an LCD
touch panel as the user interface to configure and control the system. It also has custom hardware and software
developed for this specialized application.
This platform however, is customizable for many other applications
requiring a relatively cost effective custom solution.
Who
Would Use such a device?
Academia
or biotech companies would be typical users, but could be any application where
a volume of air (or other medium) needs to be kept at a constant temperature,
or requiring tight resolution shift in temperature.
Is
there any Competition:
There do
exist controllers that may perform the same functionality as this control
device, no doubt. The benefit of this
product is the customizability of the hardware, software and LCD GUI. The control hardware can be priced lower than
the PLC type devices out there. The
software may take a little longer than the PLC, but it’s a trade of development
time and production cost of the hardware.
Mostly boils down to the ROI and how long the
continued revenue lasts.
How
does it work?
A
PID control loop takes input from single or multiple
high resolution temperature measuring device(s). These temperature devices would be wired,
wireless or both. A setpoint
is entered into a control panel as to the desired temperature, the hysteresis
and several other parameters. The output
controls (in this particular case), a needle valve, which controls the amount
of hot-gas that is bypassed within the refrigeration system. This valve allows a very fine adjustment of
temperature within the evaporator coil, which provides the cool air. The evaporator temperature is dispersed with
the environment, typically using high volume fans.
How
was it developed?
During
the conception phase, a microcontroller was chosen that was cost effective, had
sufficient peripherals to perform the required functions and additional hardware
to support the system. The system
consists of a microcontroller based control board and an LCD touch panel as the
user interface.
Who
developed it?
Tapio
Vahamaki and Henrik Jonson. Tapio is an embedded firmware/software/hardware
engineer, having developed developing control systems for various
applications. Henrik
Jonson is a software engineer, both in developing application level software
and embedded systems software. Both are
excellent at low level debugging, using standard bench tools, instruments and
developing any customized software and/or hardware to perform testing,
prototyping or evaluation.
Stage
of product?
It
was developed as a prototype for a single temperature application. The device is ready for further enhancement
for similar or other applications, with possibly some hardware re-works or
re-design and software enhancements. The
baseline is existing to expand upon with less effort, since the bulk of the
work has been performed.
Benefits
of product?
The
prototype, as it currently stands, was constructed cost effectively, a standard
microcontroller was chosen, very scalable and provides the necessary and
attractive user interface.
Details
of Product:
The
hardware consists of:
-
Kyocera TFT LCD/Touch Panel module
-
Reach Technology
LCD video controller
-
Vecur Wireless
controller:
o
Atmel AVR
ATmega128 microcontroller
o
3 different ADC
devices
o
Stepper motor
controller (used for hot gas bypass valve)
o
SD/MMC memory connector – to log temperature activity for
later analysis.
o
Ethernet
connectivity, via daughter ATmega128 controller, for real time temperature
analysis and remote control of the controller.
Future
of Product:
Presently
awaiting an application that would utilize this type of controller, but also is
ready to be customized for other similar or different applications, that would
call for a embedded user interface.
Finally:
A similar product
may be customized for ‘your’ application.
Vecur specializes in embedded real-time
control system development. With 24
years experience developing custom embedded control systems.
Please contact (Tap) Tapio Vahamaki,
in
(858)722-1963 tap@touchyouridea.com
Figure 2: configuration screen
Figure 3: Setpoint temperature screen
Figure 4: Temperature controller with external ATmega
controller containing an ethernet interface
Figure 5: Different angle, showing the external ATmega controller
(c) 2012 Touch Your Idea (aka Vecur Wireless)
.