About
The Home Online Utility iNformation Dashboard (HOUND), enables users to better understand and control the power consumed by electrical appliances. The designed system, in the spirit of the “Internet of Things”, provides a mechanism to control the power delivered to individual devices and allow consumption status to be monitored in real time. Further, schedules may be added to automatically control a device based on a predefined use pattern and all consumption data will be recorded and accessible for further analysis. Ideally, the HOUND will use little electricity itself, making it an especially potent tool in reducing the amount of power consumed while an appliance is powered off or in standby mode, also known as standby power. From a high level perspective, the system will consist of two primary components, an electrical socket called the HOUND Node which provides the electronics to support control and monitoring of appliance power consumption and a web connected “server” providing a method of access and user interface.
Modular Design
This module dubbed "The Control Board" houses the TRIAC which controls the flow of power to the connected appliance. The second iteration of the system we moved to modular PCBs to minimize the impact of layout and design mistakes.
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This board was revision 1 of the HOUND system. This is where we learned not to make monolithic PCBs.
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