Your Engineer was engaged by the CSIRO to rapidly develop (8 weeks from concept to deployment) a device that could be deployed in the hundreds to collate comprehensive data on the solar resources of Australia.
The device was to be:
- self powered and self managing;
- vehicle mounted but easily installed or removed;
- Capable of continuously measuring the solar irradiance levels while moving, recording the time and location where the measurement was taken.
Your Engineer met the deployment schedule and deployed 2 prototypes to be used during the World Solar Car Challenge, a global event racing solar vehicles across Australia from Darwin to Adelaide.
Above – Initial prototype deployed for the World Solar Car Challenge 2015.
Based on the experience gained deploying the initial prototypes, Your Engineer further developed the concept to a full IoT wireless data collection solution.
Development continues!
Above – A fully functional prototype wireless data collection node. The device is secured to the vehicle with rare earth magnets.
