Hello, I would like to share with you my first impression about the kit that I got for RoadTesting. In my opinion, the great thing is that just after opening the box, the kit is ready to use – you do not need to plug it into any computer to test its basic functionality. The harvesting board is cleverly divided into sections and you can employ your own transducers right away. If you do not have any, you can always use the onboard ones: peltier module (with radiator) and small solar panel. To chose the harvester you want to work with, use a jumper. By using another jumper you can select capacitors which you want to add as your energy storage. This is quite nice. So basically, the initial configuration is very simple.
In the box, there is also Energy Micro’s EFM32 Giant Gecko Starter Kit. I have been using these chips for quite a while and they fit perfectly to my applications. For me, the chips’ software ecosystem (Simplicity Studio and support forum) is a very good way to show the customers that the company cares about them. In one of the applications (energyAware Profiler) one can check the current consumption and voltage level in real time. This is perfect to check the supply voltage from energy harvesting kit.
I am glad that I got this boards to do my project. And what is my project about? I will share my ideas in future posts. Meanwhile, you can check my short video from unboxing the package and testing the peltier module and thermal energy harvester.
