2024 Spring Week 14 Update
Progress
- Things were really going this week! In short, for the first time Kewee Meters have real AC Voltage measurements, even when plugged into the wall.
- Tested the voltage accuracy and we are within 0.1% error in some cases.
To-Do
- Finalize the equations in the hardware sensing code.
- Finish up the project report and document everything I’ve done so far.
I don’t have a picture of the device but below is an image of my test setup and a screenshot of our measurement results.
2024 Spring Week 13 Update
Progress
- It’s been okay this week. All of my work this week has been debugging the use of the current sensor to mixed results. I’ve been trying to isolate parts of the circuit to check for what’s wrong and I haven’t been finding much. Strangely the voltage sensing lines are fluctuating really slowly (like over the period of 10 seconds or so) so I need to investigate what’s going on there.
- Updated the hardware sensing code with Evan. He’s written some functions to make things more repeatable and I’ve been filling out the equations and conversions. It’s going well but it’s hard to verify the equations without a totally working circuit.
To-Do
- Keep troubleshooting that circuit. I’d like to hook up all of the IP- lines and see if that does anything (right now I only have one going back out to the neutral). I also want to try isolating the voltage divider and see what that does since that’s where the strange fluctuations have been coming from.
- If possible do a test with mains power. It might not get to that because I don’t want to plug mains into a breadboard but if I find a way to harness it and I’ve verified the circuit with lower voltage I’ll give it a shot.
- Fill out equations for power factor and wattage (voltage and current are done)
- Make Evan and I’s senior presentation.
2024 Spring Week 12 Update
Progress
- This was a great week! We have established I2C comms and we’re getting data from the chip. It seems there was a problem with the address we were communicating to. Two pins have to be set to use an address on the chip and we had it configured wrong to use the address that the program was using.
- Started on coding the hardware communication module which will push data to the server module
To-Do
- Keep coding the hardware communication module
- Hook up to power and verify our datapoints!
2024 Spring Week 11 Update
Progress
- We’ve been trying to debug our digital communications for this week
- Checked all of our signals under the oscilloscope to make sure that our clock is working correctly
- Determined that we might be having a problem with the particular chip we’re using, thinking about switching to another one that we have (ordered more sockets
To-Do
- Keep debugging
- Going to try hooking up comms only to see if we can get the chip to read 0 power going through it
- Debug our circuit and check everything we can
2024 Spring Week 10 Update
Progress
- Wired up a few different breadboards to test the new chip
- Looked at signals under the oscilloscope
- Began testing software libraries
To-Do
- Study data sheets to understand how exactly the chip is communicating with the Arduino
- Hook up real power to the circuit
- Finally, get usable data from the chip!
2024 Spring Week 9 Update
Progress
- Received new parts in the mail! I had to leave town this weekend so I didn’t get a chance to assemble the breadboard
To-Do
- Test the new chip and try to get I2C measurements from it!
2024 Spring Week 8 Update
Progress
- Began discussing the layout of the new boards
- Sent messages to Digi-Key support to receive new ICs (we are getting a new shipment)
To-Do
- Continue looking into libraries for I2C communication
- Receive parts and begin assembling
2024 Spring Week 6 Update
Progress
- Tested new components that arrived
- New power supply works!
- Began discussing layout with other members of the team
To-Do
- Assemble a full prototype board
- Spec out a library to communicate with new sensing chip over I2C
2024 Spring Week 5 Update
Progress
- Did not complete many tasks this week due to carnival recess
- Been waiting for parts to arrive
To-Do
- Begin creating the new prototype board with new sensor
2024 Spring Week 4 Update
Progress
- Evaluated the ACS37800 for use in the project
- Calculated sensing resistor and isolating resistor values
- Ordered parts for the new prototype board
To-Do for next week
- Receive the new parts
- Get familiar with the ACS37800 and acquiring data from it
- If new parts are received, begin integrating the new sensing chip with the new Arduino
2024 Spring Week 3 Update
Progress
- Began looking into new ICs for sensing voltage
- Began onboarding new members and laying out project schedule
Next week’s goals
- Continue researching ACS71020 for power measurements
- If this IC will work, order it before our next meeting
- Begin drafting schematic and simulating if possible
2023 Fall Week 10 Update
Progress
- Used the old setup with the Arduino Uno to get a baseline for comparing measurement accuracy
- Took data points from lab setup to get a relation between ADC values and voltage
- In other words, we’re successfully measuring voltage!
- Began learning about how to create digital low pass filters
Goals for next week
- Integrate voltage measuring and current measuring
- Make software changes to fix the current readings (baseline calibration and low pass filter)
- Double check current calculation equations
2023 Fall Week 9 Update
Progress
- Modified the hardware test to sample at a set rate to allow for filtering later on
- Fixed a bug that was causing the Arduino to crash when uploading the program
- Measured current waveforms to obtain an image for social media post
Goals for next week
- Analyze noise on the current waveform and begin designing a filter
- Begin calculating a new equation for voltage readings
2023 Fall Week 6 Update
Progress
- Created new software drivers for the current and voltage sensing
- Troubleshot issues with merging to the Arduino Nano (in general, because the Nano runs on 3.3V)
- Began working on the CDR slides summarizing my work so far
Goals for next week
- Continue working with Sierra on power factor calculation
- Continue testing the new software to increase the accuracy of our sensing
2023 Fall Week 4 Update
Progress
- Helped to merge the existing codebase to GitHub with Evan for version control and collaborative programming
- Observed a demonstration of the current product’s hardware and software
- Examined the existing code to better understand how the meters work on the software side
- Ordered new Arduinos so we can fully switch to the Nano Connect RP2040
Goals for next week
- Continue testing the old software build to understand any bugs with merging to the Nano
- Examine the ACS712 library so I can begin writing a replacement
- Begin merging hardware tests to the GitHub / create new hardware tests