In the last two weeks we have validated the proof of concept designs for the humidity control and fresh air exchange. We now have the ability to control these two systems and are confident they will function correctly on our final prototype. The next step is to fit them onto our wooden prototype to make final decisions on placement of the systems. We have also managed to partly validate the temperature control system. Due to some electrical safety concerns, we decided to construct a plywood box at one third the volume of our final desired volume. We then attached our heating/cooling elements and ran them at a third of their max output. This resulted in a temperature change from 23 degrees celsius that steadied at around 17 degrees celsius when we attempted to cool the box. When we tested the heating of the box, it was easily able to maintain 35 degrees celsius. Our goal is to be able to drop the temperature of the box to around 10 degrees celsius, so a result of 17 degrees means we need to continue the development of the solution. However, this test was conducted in an unsealed, plywood box that lacked any insulation. We are confident that when we have our custom made, insulated chamber and have our full complement of heating/cooling elements attached, the result will improve significantly (although time will only tell). The temperature control system we have ideated on has its benefits and its drawbacks. It is cost-effective and simple to control, construct and replace. However, at the end of the day, it needs to work efficiently, so the upcoming tests will dictate whether we continue with the current designs.
The past two weeks of software development have been all about devops and refining our software deployments and development process throughout the entire stack. In order to set a good foundation for the great amount of work to come, these kinds of things are incredibly important though quite time-consuming. The hope is once more developers are set to come on to the project with their own ideas and ways of doing things, the process of onboarding is easy, the technical vision is clear and consistent, and the codebase is able to hold up well with all the future changes to come and increased load. With the new devops changes coming in, our secret variables like API keys and database passwords will be better protected, messaging between services will be encrypted and new code will be automatically pushed to the website as it is created.
