Smart Range Hood - Blog Post #3 - Mechanical design complete!

RE: Smart Range Hood - Blog Post #3 - Mechanical design complete!

DAB — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 18:48:33 GMT

Nice update and hood design.

You clearly have good mechanical design capabilities.

DAB

RE: Smart Range Hood - Blog Post #3 - Mechanical design complete!

three-phase — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 16:32:34 GMT

Good progress being made. Nice to see attention being made to the mechanical aspects of the design as well as the electronic. Aesthetics are just as big a selling point to some people as the functionality is.

I would imagine a good fabricator with a plasma cutter will be able to produce curved shapes easily and accurately.

Kind regards

RE: Smart Range Hood - Blog Post #3 - Mechanical design complete!

genebren — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 16:30:02 GMT

The hood is really taking shape. I hope that the deliverable matches your design. Great progress, keep up the good work!

Gene

RE: Smart Range Hood - Blog Post #3 - Mechanical design complete!

beacon_dave — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 13:26:18 GMT

On a side note...

"...This is doubly true since the goal will include the fact that this is a permanent fixture in our house and will outlive our tenure here - I need to make it good enough that when we sell our house it can stay. Granted that the RaspberryPi will be removed and the normal controls will be replaced; but the rest will be here for a long time to come..."

... this must be an increasing issue with DIY home automation type systems these days.

You invest a lot of time, money and effort enhancing your home, not expecting to have to sell up and move, but then when it does happen you may find that all that customisation now actually devalues your property.

Either that or perhaps the sales literature will have to start including phrases such as "Four bedroom detached... ...would suit Raspberry Pi enthusiasts..."

Also in some countries any unauthorised modification to electrical appliances is likely to invalidate their safety certification, so may have be declared at the point of sale to avoid repercussions, and something which insurance companies are likely to pick up upon.

RE: Smart Range Hood - Blog Post #3 - Mechanical design complete!

gecoz — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 11:27:13 GMT

Hi James,

Very nice work you have done there with the design of the new hood.

One thing that got me thinking was the positioning of all your sensors behind the cut-out slots at the very front, between the 2 spotlights. I'm not sure that will be an ideal position for the GridEye. Judging from the marks left on your mat, the 2 spotlights generate quite some heat. Those 2 heat emitting sources are mounted quite close to the GridEye, and will likely interfere with it when switched on.

Another possible issue could be due to the proximity of the GridEye with the fan and the hobs: the aspiration system will probably cause an air flow to hit the sensor, and vapour/fumes/grease might end up on the sensor's lens. Protecting the lens is not a trivial task, as you need to find the right material that is transparent to the IR spectrum the GridEye is sensitive to (5 to 13μm - Far IR). I remember trying placing the GridEye behind a common glass pane during the 1-Wire[emoticon:6abd1cb2558648488dbea31d006afc59] Grid-EYE[emoticon:6abd1cb2558648488dbea31d006afc59] Sensor w/Arduino-Compatible PCB Roadtest, and it completely obscured the sensor.

Perhaps, before finalising your desing and commit to its production, it is worth try testing the sensor, placing it in different spots and check its response during normal operation (i.e. while cooking on the hobs).

Keep up the great work.

Fabio.