Pioupiou Circuit Board
Waiting for
receive the propellers, I took the opportunity to adjust the electronics.
It is clearly the
party « easy " of the project. I reuse what I had already done for the previous series. So normally, we should avoid big surprises.
There are 3 PCBs
(printed circuit board) in our Pioupiou:
The little one, in the front.
It contains one of
battery connectors, as well as the rotation counter for
the propeller.
NoTHE S − too fragile, neither hall effect sensor -
too consumer. Here it is a TMR sensor, like Tunnel Magnetoresistance. I talked about it, long ago. Eventually it won't be a MMS2X1H, but one MMS1X1H. The difference is tiny.
The brain
We find the
TD1208 module − which manages both the entire system and
to communicate via the Sigfox network − the compass, the pressure sensor, the GPS chip, and some circuits to manage the power supply.
Tail
Made of 0,8mm thick fiberglass. Both light and strong.
The antenna is hidden inside − here shown in red. It is a half-wave dipole − type of high-performance antenna − so that our Pioupiou is always connected even in the most remote corners.
Week-end !
After spending the week doing electronics, I flew out on Friday morning…
Dream destination for holidays: Toulouse.
Too cool, I can go play spaceman.
So cool, I'm going to be able to discuss the opening of the models at MF.
I met the director of public data there, as well as the deputy director of production. Interesting exchange for both parties − as usual.
Official statement: on the Pioupiou measurements page, you will also have the wind forecasts for the MF models. Yeaaaah!
There will be other official statements, but later 🙂
In any case, I am sure of one thing: for us wind addicts, this year is going to be a real break in terms of the quality of weather information.
6 thoughts on “ Pioupiou Circuit Board »
Well done Nicholas,
2 questions:
1- have you planned on the PCB the possibility (ad hoc pins) of a later update of the embedded software?
2- do the orders on the Pioupiou site correspond to this latest version?
Good luck
1) There are pads on the other side of the PCB to program the internal software. It requires an SWD interface. I will provide the source code and an SDK later.
2) Orders on the Pioupiou site are for the latest version under development = this one. I haven't had time to change the photo on the online shop yet.
On the other hand, it is not foreseen in the "normal" use to have to update the embedded software.
If you yourself make an unplanned update or modify the software, you will need to subscribe to a Sigfox subscription for the product.
I find it a shame not to have placed a solar panel on the pioupiou!
On my Davis station there is a 123V 3lithium battery a bit like yours as well as a gold cap style capacitor which is recharged by a solar panel!
This allowed me to change the battery only after more than 5 years of service. However, I live in a cold and not very sunny region and the Davis station surely consumes much more than the pioupiou!
Not that easy. Already because we have a concern for the durability of small solar panels.
But also because supercapacitors fear heat. The hotter it is, the shorter their lifespan. However, our Pioupiou will often be in full sun. The temperature inside the case may reach 50°C − too much for a capacitor.
DAVIS stations are no exception to this problem. We see a lot of messages on the forums talking about HS capacitors.
Hello Nicolas,
And why not include a small generator instead (with all the problems of this one) which would recover the energy produced by the propeller of course without it being intrusive for the speed measurement. Which would perhaps make it possible to reduce the size/price of this battery in the interest of mass conservation/cost. It was just the idea of the morning when we woke up.