Hardware

SmartMeter DL PCB boards arrived

The circuit boards of the second generation of the SmartMeter arrived yesterday. Just in time after 10 workdays. They all appear to be in perfect order, but actually not so cheap for two prototype circuit boards (245 for two PCBs) . I prefer to have perfectly working boards than a few bucks cheaper, and not being sure if everything is correct. That’s why I ordered them at EuroPrint Eger which is widely known as the highest quality PCB manufacturer in Hungary. They also managed the cutouts for me, and could do a black finish of the soldermask. It looks like pretty cool. Enough talking, time for pictures: › Continue reading

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Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 Hardware, SmartSocket 8,683 Comments

Linux based custom Electric Power Analyzer Board

80px-Crystal_energy.svgI have recently designed a custom board to replace the first generation of SmartMeter. SmartMeter DL is a powerful, low-cost, 32-bit ARM9 based, GNU/Linux capable embedded system concept. It is designed especially for real-time analyzing AC mains signals like current and voltage. It has now all the features I need on one board: digitalizes current and voltage signals, has a powerful analyzing capacity on board as well as several data storing opportunities and it’s going to be very easy to use. However the biggest advantage of the new design is that the isolation is done by a few isolation amplifiers, therefore there is no need for a heavy transformer any more.

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Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 Hardware 8,675 Comments