Follow along with me in this video series as I build an IoT product from start to finish – check out the project page!

This Week’s Summary

Here’s a summary of what happened last week on my “Designing an IoT Product” video series:

• Entered the Hackaday Build Contest – see my project entry here. Also updated the project page with some new graphics and BOM (bill of materials).
• Overview of Connected Pool Monitor

• System Diagram

• Current Bill of Materials

• Got an analog temp sensor working with Nokia LCD display to show air temperature on Arduino. This will be the base setup for reading probe sensors next.
• Was planning on setting up and testing Bluetooth Arduino shield.(do it next week)
• Did some research and wrote up some stuff on how pH probes work and understanding water quality measurements. Should discuss that making probes would be out of scope of production – need to define your limits when making a production part and leave some things up to other companies that you can buy from or partner with. I could however (and probably will) make my own probe adapter circuits for better integration and smaller PCB foot print down the road.
• Talk about pool water quality:

• Found some different display options that work with the Arduino.

• Made a test case for just the Arduino UNO in Fusion 360 to get more practice in Fusion 360 and to start thinking about the pool monitor physical packaging design. 3D CAD options are usually Solid Works (not free but industry standard) vs. newcomers that are cloud based like Fusion 360 and OnShape.

Design Notes and Current Challenges

• Probes: Will I need Alkalinity and maybe other probes to get more accurate results? This would increase cost a lot.
• Features 2.0: Right now only telling user when to add chemicals – what if system did it for you? Could start by just adding shock since it’s most common one that needs to be added every couple of weeks. Then would also have to control the pool filter when to turn on/off and maybe add remote options for controlling it and setting on timer. Would definitely add complexity to the project but make more useful and maybe next level product compared to available competing products.

Business Notes and Current Challenges

• Going to attend free webinar “Getting Your Hardware Startup Ready for Investment” hosted by Startup BootCamp IoT on July 6 to see what they have to say about trying to take your hardware prototype to market.
• Read an article about a hardware accelerator called Hax and signed up for their newsletter.

Plans for Next Week

• Get pH probe and conversion board up and running with Arduino board with LCD display. Compare results to commercial stand-alone pH meter to test accuracy.
• Test Bluetooth shield with Arduino.