The Kunzig brothers of Pennsylvania use the word “retired” loosely.
Donald and Robert are both retired—each from long careers in the telecommunications industry. And after retirement, each took on a new job (Donald developing software to track and manage clinical trials managed by BioClinica, Inc., and Robert at a large data center).
So while other semi-retirees might prefer relaxing in poolside chairs or on the couch, what do these two do? They eagerly take on some technologies they haven’t worked with before and build a Wi-Fi-connected device to monitor a home’s power usage. And after two years of trial, error, and, finally, success, they develop an e-commerce website to sell it.
“Robert’s son, Jay, a design engineer working in San Jose, CA, suggested the project,” the two brothers say in article they wrote for the May 2013 edition of Circuit Cellar. “The main purpose was to design a Wi-Fi-connected monitor that would be able to measure usage from both a utility and an alternate source of power such as solar or wind.”
Their article describes how they designed a usable device that offers programmability and function. They used a Microchip MRF24WB0MB 802.11 transceiver for Wi-Fi access and a Microchip Technology PIC24FJ256GB108microprocessor in their design. They eventually wrote the article about the ups and downs of the process (which included five prototypes) because they felt elements of their work would help readers developing their own embedded electronics devices.
“All this effort has been rewarding, perhaps not financially (yet), but certainly intellectually,” the brothers say. “After almost two years of effort, we have produced a product with an excellent hardware design, coupled with software that is better than average. The platform can be used for just about any implementation.”
“We wanted to produce an energy monitor that was fully wireless, very accurate, extremely easy to use, and based on hardware and software that is very stable. We think we were successful on all counts.”
Check out the May issue of Circuit Cellar for their article. And for more information, visit their e-commerce website at www.wattsmyusage.com.
How do you clean a clean-energy generating system? With a microcontroller (and a few other parts, of course). An excellent example is US designer Scott Potter’s award-winning, Renesas RL78 microcontroller-based Electrostatic Cleaning Robot system that cleans heliostats (i.e., solar-tracking mirrors) used in solar energy-harvesting systems. Renesas and Circuit Cellar magazine announced this week at DevCon 2012 in Garden Grove, CA, that Potter’s design won First Prize in the RL78 Green Energy Challenge.
This image depicts two Electrostatic Cleaning Robots set up on two heliostats. (Source: S. Potter)
The nearby image depicts two Electrostatic Cleaning Robots set up vertically in order to clean the two heliostats in a horizontal left-to-right (and vice versa) fashion.
The Electrostatic Cleaning Robot in place to clean
Potter’s design can quickly clean heliostats in Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants. The heliostats must be clean in order to maximize steam production, which generates power.
The robot cleaner prototype
Built around an RL78 microcontroller, the Electrostatic Cleaning Robot provides a reliable cleaning solution that’s powered entirely by photovoltaic cells. The robot traverses the surface of the mirror and uses a high-voltage AC electric field to sweep away dust and debris.
Parts and circuitry inside the robot cleaner
Object oriented C++ software, developed with the IAR Embedded Workbench and the RL78 Demonstration Kit, controls the device.
IAR Embedded Workbench IDE
The RL78 microcontroller uses the following for system control:
• 20 Digital I/Os used as system control lines
• 1 ADC monitors solar cell voltage
• 1 Interval timer provides controller time tick
• Timer array unit: 4 timers capture the width of sensor pulses
• Watchdog timer for system reliability
• Low voltage detection for reliable operation in intermittent solar conditions
• RTC used in diagnostic logs
• 1 UART used for diagnostics
• Flash memory for storing diagnostic logs
The complete project (description, schematics, diagrams, and code) is now available on the Challenge website.
Ready to start a low-power or energy-monitoring microcontroller-based design project? You’re in luck. We’re featuring eight award-winning, green energy-related designs that will help get your creative juices flowing.
The projects listed below placed at the top of Renesas’s RL78 Green Energy Challenge.
Electrostatic Cleaning Robot: Solar tracking mirrors, called heliostats, are an integral part of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants. They must be kept clean to help maximize the production of steam, which generates power. Using an RL78, the innovative Electrostatic Cleaning Robot provides a reliable cleaning solution that’s powered entirely by photovoltaic cells. The robot traverses the surface of the mirror and uses a high voltage AC electric field to sweep away dust and debris.
Parts and circuitry inside the robot cleaner
Cloud Electrofusion Machine: Using approximately 400 times less energy than commercial electrofusion machines, the Cloud Electrofusion Machine is designed for welding 0.5″ to 2″ polyethylene fittings. The RL78-controlled machine is designed to read a barcode on the fitting which determines fusion parameters and traceability. Along with the barcode data, the system logs GPS location to an SD card, if present, and transmits the data for each fusion to a cloud database for tracking purposes and quality control.
Inside the electrofusion machine (Source: M. Hamilton)
The Sun Chaser: A GPS Reference Station: The Sun Chaser is a well-designed, solar-based energy harvesting system that automatically recalculates the direction of a solar panel to ensure it is always facing the sun. Mounted on a rotating disc, the solar panel’s orientation is calculated using the registered GPS position. With an external compass, the internal accelerometer, a DC motor and stepper motor, you can determine the solar panel’s exact position. The system uses the Renesas RDKRL78G13 evaluation board running the Micrium µC/OS-III real-time kernel.
Water Heater by Solar Concentration: This solar water heater is powered by the RL78 evaluation board and designed to deflect concentrated amounts of sunlight onto a water pipe for continual heating. The deflector, armed with a counterweight for easy tilting, automatically adjusts the angle of reflection for maximum solar energy using the lowest power consumption possible.
RL78-based solar water heater (Source: P. Berquin)
Air Quality Mapper: Want to make sure the air along your daily walking path is clean? The Air Quality Mapper is a portable device designed to track levels of CO2 and CO gasses for constructing “Smog Maps” to determine the healthiest routes. Constructed with an RDKRL78G13, the Mapper receives location data from its GPS module, takes readings of the CO2 and CO concentrations along a specific route and stores the data in an SD card. Using a PC, you can parse the SD card data, plot it, and upload it automatically to an online MySQL database that presents the data in a Google map.
Air quality mapper design (Source: R. Alvarez Torrico)
Wireless Remote Solar-Powered “Meteo Sensor”: You can easily measure meteorological parameters with the “Meteo Sensor.” The RL78 MCU-based design takes cyclical measurements of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and supply voltage, and shares them using digital radio transceivers. Receivers are configured for listening of incoming data on the same radio channel. It simplifies the way weather data is gathered and eases construction of local measurement networks while being optimized for low energy usage and long battery life.
The design takes cyclical measurements of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and supply voltage, and shares them using digital radio transceivers. (Source: G. Kaczmarek)
Portable Power Quality Meter: Monitoring electrical usage is becoming increasingly popular in modern homes. The Portable Power Quality Meter uses an RL78 MCU to read power factor, total harmonic distortion, line frequency, voltage, and electrical consumption information and stores the data for analysis.
The portable power quality meter uses an RL78 MCU to read power factor, total harmonic distortion, line frequency, voltage, and electrical consumption information and stores the data for analysis. (Source: A. Barbosa)
High-Altitude Low-Cost Experimental Glider (HALO): The “HALO” experimental glider project consists of three main parts. A weather balloon is the carrier section. A glider (the payload of the balloon) is the return section. A ground base section is used for communication and display telemetry data (not part of the contest project). Using the REFLEX flight simulator for testing, the glider has its own micro-GPS receiver, sensors and low-power MCU unit. It can take off, climb to pre-programmed altitude and return to a given coordinate.
High-altitude low-cost experimental glider (Source: J. Altenburg)
I recently read on CNN.com the transcript of an interview (May 9, 2002) with arachnologist Norman Platnick who stated: “You’re probably within seven or eight feet of spider no matter where you are. The only place on earth that has no spiders at all—as far as we know—is Antarctica.” It didn’t take long for me to start thinking about embedded systems and my proximity to them. Is the average person always within several feet of embedded systems? Probably not. But what about 50% or 60% of the time? E-mail me your thoughts.
Circuit Cellar 265, August 2012 - Embedded Development
Embedded systems are becoming ubiquitous. They’re in vehicles, mobile electronics, toys, industrial applications, home appliances, and more. If you’re indoors, the temperature is likely monitored and controlled by an embedded system. When you’re engaged in outdoor activities (e.g., hiking, golfing, biking, or boating), you probably have a few MCU-controlled devices nearby, such as cell phones, rangefinders, pedometers, and navigation systems. This month we present articles about how embedded systems work, and our authors also provide valuable insight about topics ranging from concurrency to project development.
Freescale’s Mark Pedley kicks off the issue with a revealing article about a tilt-compensating electronic compass (p. 16). Now you can add an e-compass to your next MCU-based project.
E-compass technology (Source: M. Pedley, CC265)
Turn to page 24 for an in-depth interview with Italy-based engineer Guido Ottaviani. His fascination with electronics engineering, and robotics in particular, will inspire you.
Have you ever come across a product that you know you could have designed better? Scott Weber had that experience and then acted on his impulse to build a more effective system. He created an MCU-based light controller (p. 32).
The MCU-based light controller is on the right (Source: S. Weber, CC265)
If you want to ensure a microcontroller works efficiently within one of your systems, you should get to know it inside and out. Shlomo Engelberg examines the internal structure of an I/O pin with a pull-up resistor (p. 40).
Bob Japenga continues his series “Concurrency in Embedded Systems” on page 44. He covers atomicity and time of check to time of use (TOCTTOU).
On page 48 George Novacek presents the second part of his series on project development. He covers project milestones and design reviews.
Ed Nisley’s June 2012 article introduced the topic of MOSFET channel resistance. On page 52 he covers his Arduino-based MOSFET tester circuitry and provides test results.
The MOSFET tester PCB hides the Arduino that runs the control program and communicates through the USB cable on the left edge. (Source: E. Nisley, CC265)
If you read Robert Lacoste’s June 2012 article, you now understand the basics of frequency mixers. This month he presents high-level design methods and tools (p. 58).
Jeff Bachiochi wraps up the issue with an examination of a popular topic—energy harvesting (p. 68). He covers PV cell technology, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), and charge management control.
A great way to investigate MPPT for your design is to use an STMicroelectronics evaluation board, such as this STEVAL-ISV006V2 shown in the top of the photo. The smaller cell in the center is rated at 165 mW (0.55-V output at 0.3 A) measuring 1.5” × 0.75”. At the bottom is a Parallax commercial-quality solar cell that is rated at 2.65 W (0.534-V output at 5.34 A) measuring 125 mm. (Source: J. Bachiochi, CC265)
Ayse Kivilcim Coskun’s research on 3-D stacked systems has gained notoriety in academia, and it could change the way electrical engineers and chip manufacturers think about energy efficiency for years to come. In a recent interview, the Boston University engineering professor briefed us on her work and explained how she came to focus on the topics of green computing and 3-D systems.
Boston University professor Ayse Kivilcim Coskun
The following is an excerpt from an interview that appears in Circuit Cellar 264 (July 2012), which is currently on newsstands.
NAN: When did you first become interested in computer engineering?
AYSE: I’ve been interested in electronics since high school and in science and physics since I was little. My undergraduate major was microelectronics engineering. I actually did not start studying computer engineering officially until graduate school at University of California, San Diego. However, during my undergraduate education, I started taking programming, operating systems, logic design, and computer architecture classes, which spiked my interest in the area.
NAN: Tell us about your teaching position at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Boston University (BU).
AYSE: I have been an assistant professor at BU for almost three years. I teach Introduction to Software Engineering to undergraduates and Introduction to Embedded systems to graduate students. I enjoy that both courses develop computational thinking as well as hands-on implementation skills. It’s great to see the students learning to build systems and have fun while learning.
NAN: As an engineering professor, you have some insight into what excites future engineers. What “hot topics” currently interest your students?
AYSE: Programming and software design in general are certainly attracting a lot of interest. Our introductory software engineering class is attracting a growing number of students across the College of Engineering every year. DSP, image processing, and security are also hot topics among the students. Our engineering students are very keen on seeing a working system at the end of their class projects. Some project examples from my embedded systems class include embedded low-power gaming consoles, autonomous toy vehicles, and embedded systems focusing on healthcare or security applications …
NAN: How did you come to focus on energy efficiency and thermal challenges?
AYSE: Energy efficiency has been a hot topic for embedded systems for several decades, mainly due to battery-life restrictions. With the growth of computing sources at all levels—from embedded to large-scale computers, and following the move to data centers and the cloud—now energy efficiency is a major bottleneck for any computing system. The focus on energy efficiency and temperature management among the academic community was increasing when I started my PhD. I got especially interested in thermally induced problems as I also had some background on fault tolerance and reliability topics. I thought it would be interesting to leverage job scheduling to improve thermal behavior and my advisor liked the idea too. Temperature-aware job scheduling in multiprocessor systems was the first energy-efficiency related project I worked on.
NAN: In May 2011, you were awarded the A. Richard Newton Graduate Scholarship at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) for a joint project, “3-D Systems for Low-Power High-Performance Computing.” Tell us about the project and how you became involved.
AYSE: My vision is that 3-D stacked systems—where multiple dies are stacked together into a single chip—can provide significant benefits in energy efficiency. However, there are design, modeling, and management challenges that need to be addressed in order to simultaneously achieve energy efficiency and reliability. For example, stacking enables putting DRAM and processor cores together on a single 3-D chip. This means we can cut down the memory access latency, which is the main performance bottleneck for a lot of applications today. This gain in performance could be leveraged to run processors at a lower speed or use simpler cores, which would enable low-power, high-performance computing. Or we can use the reduction in memory latency to boost performance of single-chip multicore systems. Higher performance, however, means higher power and temperature. Thermal challenges are already pressing concerns for 3-D design, as cooling these systems is difficult. The project focuses on simultaneously analyzing performance, power, and temperature and using this analysis to design system management methods that maximize performance under power or thermal constraints.
I started researching 3-D systems during a summer internship at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in the last year of my PhD. Now, the area is maturing and there are even some 3-D prototype systems being designed. I think it is an exciting time for 3-D research as we’ll start seeing a larger pool of commercial 3-D stacked chips in a few years. The A. Richard Newton scholarship enabled us to do the preliminary research and collect results. Following the scholarship, I also received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award for designing innovative strategies for modeling and management of 3-D stacked systems.
The Kunzig brothers of Pennsylvania use the word “retired” loosely.
