The Design of Temperature and Humidity Chamber Monitor and Controller

Abstract

The temperature and humidity chamber, (climate chamber) is a device located at the Technobothnia Education and Research Center that simulates different climate conditions. The simulated environment is used to test the capabilities of electrical equipment in different temperature and humidity conditions. The climate chamber, among other things houses a dedicated computer, the control PC, and a control software running in it which together are responsible for running and control-ling these simulations. The Electrical department in Technobothnia Education and Research Center has decided that the control PC is outdated with inconvenient input and storage devices. Also the software was found not easy to navigate through and therefore needed a replacement PC and software. This thesis project was in an attempt to design a new control PC and the control software, by replacing the old control PC with a Raspberry Pi and developing a new software with better convenience. The main aim was to design and implement a desktop application software that monitors and exposes communication with the chamber to help facilitate control. An investigation on how the chamber operates and the problems faced by the chamber operator was carried out. As a result, the following functions were included in the newly developed software: A user friendly user interface, a function to monitor the chamber, a function that exposes communication with the chamber to facilitate control and storing test and test result information in an easy to access manner. The software was written using C++ programming language and Qt application framework, using Ubuntu, Linux for development environment and the Qt Creator integrated development environment, IDE. The goals of this project were achieved.