I did find a practical use for the the temperature measurements using the Pi (see my past several blog posts). We thought the temperature in our refrigerator was a bit too high. To check it out, I put the Pi with the DS18B20 temperature sensors in the refrigerator. The Pi was powered by SparkFun's solar charger and battery back. The Pi was on a lower shelf while the cable sensor was in a glass of water on an upper shelf. The whole assembly was in the refrigerator for several hours. It all worked well at the temperature that got down to just under 40F (a little too warm for the food though).
The lower left corner of the switch (white square with the 4 printed on it) is pointing to the DS18B20 To-92 sensor. It's just a small black blob in the photo (not one of my best photographs. I didn't want to hold the refrigerator door open too long to get that perfect shot). The three pin connector for the DS18B20 cable sensor is just under the TO-92 sensor. I made that little connector to interface the three leads of the cable to the breadboard.
That is so cool! I love the creative use of the solar cell phone charger. Congratulations on a successful experiment!
ReplyDelete