Development of a variable climate controlled portable storage facility

Mitchel Timmins; Kamal Yadav; Kennedy Iroanusi; Andrew J. Tickle

doi:10.1117/12.974762

19 October 2012 Development of a variable climate controlled portable storage facility

Mitchel Timmins, Kamal Yadav, Kennedy Iroanusi, Andrew J. Tickle

Proceedings Volume 8540, Unmanned/Unattended Sensors and Sensor Networks IX; 854009 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.974762
Event: SPIE Security + Defence, 2012, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper focuses on the development of a portable variable climate controlled system that can be tailored to the requirements of the item to be stored by manipulating the temperature, humidity and light levels within the controlled area. This could be used to store anything from bio-chemical samples (to preserve them from field work) to cooled electronics (prior to deployment in a given situation) to foodstuffs (such as wine and other alcohols). In this situation however, to provide a relatively simplistic example, the environment will be used to store wine. The system is adaptive in that anything can be stored within it, assuming the storage parameters are known in order to correctly configure the environment. In this paper a microcontroller (PICF4520) is connected to a fridge with various sensors attached to monitor and manipulate the environment and adjust it accordingly. For the chosen item to be stored, a temperature of 13- 14oC is required, a high humidity level and a non-Ultraviolent (UV) light source. This work thus allows for a small handheld unit that could be used to control the climate within without the need for the traditional 12 – 16 foot size portable units traditionally used. The unit could be left in the field and run off a solar cell to assist in longer term studies. This paper presents how the microcontroller is connected to the fridge and its sensors, how it manipulates the environment and the process by which the temperature and other factors can be changed without having to edit and recompile the C code, this allows for a much more friendly device interface.

Citation Download Citation

Mitchel Timmins, Kamal Yadav, Kennedy Iroanusi, and Andrew J. Tickle "Development of a variable climate controlled portable storage facility", Proc. SPIE 8540, Unmanned/Unattended Sensors and Sensor Networks IX, 854009 (19 October 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.974762

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KEYWORDS

Humidity

LCDs

Photonic integrated circuits

Control systems

Relays

Sensors

Climatology

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