- Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:02 am
#167317
The purpose of this project is to develop a group of bluetooth connected sensors and controllers. Allowing any smart phone to wirelessly monitor and control electronics.
The project is open source to encourage people to create their own apps and modifications using the hardware as a base.
The current design consists of a group of three types of blocks that stack together to form a sensor/controller array. The base block is the power block, it is the power source for the device, and being modular can be swapped out with other power sources. Power blocks can draw energy from batteries, usb, or any other source. The middle blocks are the sensors and controllers, their exterior surface is interrupted with two holes for wires, and two set screws to secure the wires. The top block is the wireless relay. For now it consists of a Bluetooth module, but can be swapped out with any wireless technology or even a hardwired relay. Each connection has four wires, a power, ground, data in, and data out. The power block provides an initializing byte of data. Each sensor accepts and stores the data being transferred to it, then attaches its current data status to the end of the data stream before sending it to the next block. Control blocks attach and send a null data point. As for incoming data, each block receives the data, and either uses the first data point in the stream (controllers), or does nothing with the data point (sensors). That point is removed, and then passed on to the lower sensor.
As far as progress go, I have some conceptual designs for the hardware (shown below), but I am having difficulty sourcing components and building wiring diagrams as I am a Mechanical Engineer. I have gained access to a prototyping shop to help bring all of this design to life, and hopefully eliminate any issues when it comes time to create molds.
If anybody wants to join this project, or even lend an ear for some questions I have, let me know! Heck, if you have any critiques or questions feel free to ask.
The project is open source to encourage people to create their own apps and modifications using the hardware as a base.
The current design consists of a group of three types of blocks that stack together to form a sensor/controller array. The base block is the power block, it is the power source for the device, and being modular can be swapped out with other power sources. Power blocks can draw energy from batteries, usb, or any other source. The middle blocks are the sensors and controllers, their exterior surface is interrupted with two holes for wires, and two set screws to secure the wires. The top block is the wireless relay. For now it consists of a Bluetooth module, but can be swapped out with any wireless technology or even a hardwired relay. Each connection has four wires, a power, ground, data in, and data out. The power block provides an initializing byte of data. Each sensor accepts and stores the data being transferred to it, then attaches its current data status to the end of the data stream before sending it to the next block. Control blocks attach and send a null data point. As for incoming data, each block receives the data, and either uses the first data point in the stream (controllers), or does nothing with the data point (sensors). That point is removed, and then passed on to the lower sensor.
As far as progress go, I have some conceptual designs for the hardware (shown below), but I am having difficulty sourcing components and building wiring diagrams as I am a Mechanical Engineer. I have gained access to a prototyping shop to help bring all of this design to life, and hopefully eliminate any issues when it comes time to create molds.
If anybody wants to join this project, or even lend an ear for some questions I have, let me know! Heck, if you have any critiques or questions feel free to ask.