CRT 399: Sunlight Study
Team Europa
Abbey Nix
Purpose of the Sunlight Study
The Sunlight Study was created in order to study the amount of sunlight that touches each side of the Krannert building, as well as the temperature.
Study Questions
1. What is the sunlight distribution on Krannert compared to other buildings?
2. What side of Krannert reaches the hottest temperature?
3. What sides of Krannert had light and shade for the longest amount of time?
This shows from an arial view where the sensors are placed.
The Enclosures
4 3D modeled and 3D printed enclosures were designed in Fusion 360 to house the PCBs individually. They were designed to fit the dimensions of the PCB, allowing it to screw in place for stability, and for the battery to move freely. Vents were added into the design as well to allow proper air flow and circulation. Precise screw holes were added to the bottom and top of the enclosure to allow the piece to be screwed securely together with the help of brass threaded inserts.
3D Model Renders
Placement
Each unit was placed on a different side of the Krannert building. Below are the images of the north, south, east and west sensors in their locations.
Breadboard and Schematic
Included below are images of the PCB schematic created on Easy EDA and the original breadboard layout of the ESP 32, sensor, wires and an LED to test the WiFi connectivity of potential locations around Krannert for the placement of the sensors.
Troubleshooting Issues
We ran into several issues during this project. For two of our sensors, they had to be rewired and soldered to the 5v pins in order for them to work, bypassing the on/off switch. This was unreliable at times and caused the sensor to not constantly collect readings. One of the sensors ended up only being responsive when powered by an outlet, which was difficult to do since there were no outside outlets.
The batteries were replaced when needed and did help on some occasions if the sensor became unresponsive, but the two sensors that were essentially rigged were constantly having issues, despite bringing them to the lab multiple times to try and solve them. Below is a screenshot of our status page on our website. This shows that 3 of the sensors were not working. We got them all to work at some point throughout the study but the data was not consistent.
Website and Scrum Board
The Europa website outlined data collected, info on the study, survey data, mockups, and sensor updates. We also had a scrum board that kept all group members on track for their responsibilities in completing different parts of the assignments.
Below is an example of the data that was collected from the sensors, and the scrum board.
Conclusions
Study Questions and Answers
1. What is the sunlight distribution on Krannert compared to other buildings?
- This was difficult to measure, but Krannert has on average more shade due to overhangs and trees than other buildings.
2. What side of Krannert reaches the hottest temperature?
- south at 130 F.
3. What sides of Krannert had light and shade for the longest amount of time?
- The south sensor had light for the longest, and the east had the most shade.
