Efika 5200B Project Solar-powered Efika measuring temperature and humidity using Embedded Linux in category Embedded proposed by Akinori Tsuji on 1st January 2008 (accepted on 1st January 2008) [View Full Project]

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	Solar-powered Efika posted by Akinori Tsuji on 15th January 2008 Although the project was accepted a couple of weeks ago, I have already finished building the solar-powered Efika. Now, I set up the web server on the solar-powered Efika and am measuring the temperature and humidity of the room by using it. In this blog, therefore, I will write about the details of the project what I have done. Solar-powered Efika: Actually, I have never seen the small-scale solar-powered PC. If it is realized, it provides us extending the possibility of solar-powered embedded systems. The Efika features of interest is very low power consumption, around 6 W at the operation without monitor. It is sufficient power consumption in order to realize the solar-powered system. I planned to build the measurement equipment with small-scale photovoltaics which is portable, self-powered, and can be used anywhere. Since the Efika can be used as a PC, it means to be able to perform complicated processing easily, which is difficult to be constructed by general microcontroller that has only several I/Os and A/Ds. The measurement equipment is just one example of solar-powered Efika, there might be other applications that dramatically improve the efficiency in our eco-life. Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the solar-powered Efika. The major parts of the system are; - Solar battery (12V, 1.5A) - Battery charge controller - Analog meter (optional) - Efika - Keyboard, Monitor (for debug) Figure 1 A block diagram of the solar-powered Efika