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Steps towards a commercially viable device

A project log for Internet of Trash

Trashcan sending the data to the internet!

tomislav-mamiTomislav Mamić 12/06/2016 at 13:050 Comments

Over the past few weeks, both good and bad things about the current hardware configuration of ecotron became apparent. Electronics turned out to be very reliable, method of mounting the thing into actual trash cans proved vital for our long-term mental health, power turned out to be a big issue.

During the summer, I conclude, the device could operate for long periods of time, but as the days grow shorter and sun drops lower, the amount of power our solar panel collects just isn't enough to cover for the losses in idling hardware. I've tried to minimize the idle current, but down to about 10-15mA is as low as I dropped with the current hardware. The pieces used just aren't meant for low power applications, so saving power would require a complete redesign of the device. This has to, and will happen at some point in the future, but not immediately.

Furthermore, since the battery chosen for testing purposes barely cuts the peak current draw, choosing a bigger one with more leeway in maximum current is a must. To make up for the idle power loss, choosing a bigger solar panel will work as a band-aid solution.

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