Lab environment control
IDO Electronics has a broad offer of endurance and climate tests of equipment. Also, all our products are thoroughly tested. We test, for example, the durability, electromagnetic compatibility and the behavior under typical pressure, humidity, and temperature.
We own the equipment needed to conduct the tests. However, that’s not all. To ensure repeatability of the results, we also had to take care of the conditions inside the lab room, as they tend to interfere with the reading of the devices.
We needed the solution that is:
- efficient,
- errorfree,
- able to be controlled remotely.
We used the existing infrastructure and modified the climatization system of the laboratory to suit our needs. To be able to control it, we created the firmware and user interfaces that allow changing the parameters of the climatization. This is also possible remotely.
IDO Demoboard – Air Conditioning Controller
IDO Demoboard – The air conditioning controller is a simple climatization driver based on the IDO Demoboard project. We will write more about The Demoboard later.
The device lets to read the temperature, humidity, air pressure and light intensity in the room and to control the cooling/heating devices as well as the ceiling fan.
The software is designed to allow controlling and changing the conditions inside the room from the level of the device LCD panel as well as remotely, with no direct access to the laboratory.
The use of the driver is possible by:
- the graphic user interfaces (GUI) that allow the communication with the devices on the local level (WWW and LCD screen with the touch panel),
- remote control over the Cloud.
Parameters
The user interface allows a reading (also in the form of a graph) and set all the following parameters:
-
air temperature
-
air humidity
-
air pressure
-
current time
-
light intensity
-
desired temperature
point to be reached during the device work time
-
status of the working element of the decice
heating, cooling, idle
-
fan setting
1-3 speed or auto
Graphic User Interfaces (GUI):
LCD GUI
From the level of the graphic user interfaces installed in the device (the LCD screen), the user is able to set the network preferences of the single device and MQTT server, like:
- turning off/on the DHCP,
- IP address,
- mask
- gateway,
- NTP server,
- domain name,
- Cloud connection data
WWW GUI
Used to link locally with the device. Along with beforementioned functionalities of reading parameters and history of changes in the form of graphs, the WWW GUI lets the user:
- configure the parameters of the network and server for said device,
- manage the users (adding/removing) and their permissions,
- check the user’s log of activities.
The Cloud
After the device is registered in the system, it is possible to manipulate it over the Cloud connection. Every logged user is able to add and remove the devices to the Cloud. Devices in the Cloud may be gathered in the groups and then the parameters can be shown for the groups of devices. It is also possible to change the working parameters and see the graphs of work for many devices. Also, access via the Cloud allows the user to add/remove the users with various levels of the permissions.
The effect of the implementation
Thanks to the implementation of the IDO Demoboard ACC system we could broaden our offer of tests. Currently, we can conduct the research for longer, and remotely too. We are sure that the conditions in our laboratory are constantly surveilled and that their deviations were eliminated so they will not affect the accuracy of the tests.
We plan the expansion of the network and to introduce the remote controlled climatization to other our rooms, not only labs. We test that solution in the office, where our other teams work. Opinions are positive, as the precise control of the temperature and automatic preservation of set parameters improved the comfort of the office.
Our device surely will prove itself useful in the systems of Intelligent Houses, especially if implemented with other products integrated with IDO Demoboard that can control many types of devices.
