- The document describes the objectives, components, and control systems for the PCAD Alpha Unit, which is used to verify component design and develop control logic. - The key components are a LabJack measurement unit, Arduino Pro Mini microcontroller, sensors, and OLED display. The LabJack acquires sensor data and controls a heating unit relay. The Arduino displays data on the OLED and controls additional sensors via I2C. - Operations include evaluating the control mechanism, testing an Android UI, and selecting the right Arduino board and sensors. Screenshots show the DAQ software interface and Android app screens. Diagrams illustrate the circuitry and component connections.

1. PCAD Alpha Unit
Edward N Carlson
ENCarlson Enterprises LLC
edwardncarlson@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/edwardncarlson/
Tao Jiang
Goal Technologies LLC
tjiang2000@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/taojiang2000

2. 2
Objectives
• Verify Components Design
• Develop Control Logic
• Make BOM Decision

3. 3
PCAD Components
• Heating Unit, etc

4. Heating Unit Test Module
4

5. 5
PCAD Control Unit Overview
LabJack
TC1 TC2 TC3 TC4
Arduino Pro
MINI
Convection
Temperature
Vapor
Temperature
Mixture
Temperature Electronics
Temperature
Barometric Pressure
Sensor
Venturi Pressure
Primaery Air Inlet Airflow
Mixture Outlet Air Flow
BingoPC
USB
DAQFactory
Express
Android UI
End User UI
Evaluation
Test &
Measurement
5 V
VS
3.3 V
DAC0
I2C Bus
SDA
SCL
Infrared Temperature
Sensor
OLED Display
Heater
UART
Count Up
Count Down
INT0
INT1

6. LabJack U6
• A USB based measurement and control
unit configured with:
– A/D: 4 thermocopules, 2 airflow meters and 1
pressure transducer.
– Digital Input: Side Door Open/Close.
– Digital Output: control one relay tick to control
power relay for heating unit.
– D/A: provide 3.3 V voltage source for Arduino
Pro MINI.
6

7. LabJack
7

8. BingoPC
• Windows 7 64 bits Laptop
– DAQFactory Express: Data acquisition and
control software used for Alpha Unit Study.
– Android UI: PCAD Android App running on
Google Android Emulator for UI Evaluation.
8

9. Arduino Pro MINI
• Micro-controller based on ATmega328
running at 8MHz/3.3V
• It controls:
– 0.96” OLED for display via UART (serial).
– I2C bus master for I2C sensors: barometric
pressure and Infrared temperature sensors.
– Tri-color LED via 3 PWM outputs
– Two Interrupts for Count Up/Down buttons.
– Will take over all works from LabJack in Beta.
9

10. 10
PCAD Alpha Control Unit
1. OLED Display
(picture, text, slide
show and movie, etc)
2. 3.3 V grid Powered by
DAC0 from LabJack (blue
jumper wire)
10. 5V grid powered by
VS from LabJack (red
jumper wire)
3. Count Up button
(Go to next slide)
4. Count Down button
(Go to Prev slide)
9. Barometric
Pressure Sensor
(I2C)
5. Infrared
Temperature
Sensor (I2C)
8. I2C bus
connector
6. Button to Reset
OLED Display
7. Arduino Pro MINI
Micro-Controller
Battery Charger Board
3.7 V 1000mA Battery
11. Relay Tick to
Control Heater

11. Breadboard Description
• LabJack U6: Right side in Red Color and middle
row CB37 terminal board in Green.
• Battery and Charger: small breadboard at the
top row small breadboard.
• Arduino Breadboard: large breadboard at the
bottom row.
– Top part power grid runs 5V from VS of Labjack.
– Lower part power grid runs 3.3 V from DAC0.
– DO NOT short two power grids together.
11

12. Alpha Unit
12

13. Shop Vacuum for Suction
13

14. Operations and Objectives
• There are three different operations. Each of them can
run as standalone.
– Alpha Unit Study: Control mechanism and control parameters.
– Android UI Evaluation: End user interface evaluation. UI only
without underneath logic.
– Arduino Board Evaluation to choose right components:
• Micro-controller: enough I/O support, expandability, capable of
running standalone.
• Sensors: size, responsiveness, expandability, etc.
• Display: size, cost, text, graphic, picture and easy programming.
• Development Tool Support: In favor of Open Sourced Tools for
lower development cost.
14

15. Alpha Unit Study Steps
• Power up Bingo PC
• Connect USB cable to LabJack
• Double click Red DAQFactory Express
icon on desktop to start the program.
• Inside DAQFactory Express, “File” 
“Open” and choose file
“c:BingoProjectPCADDAQ.ctl”
• Go to “Page_0” or “Page_1” to open
control pages.
15

16. Temperature, Air Flow, Pressure Page
16

17. Control Logic Page
17

18. Android UI Evaluation
• Power up Bingo PC
• Double click P-CAD2.2 icon on the
desktop
• Wait about 3 minute until Emulator start
• Press “Menu” button on Keyboard Panel
• P-CAD shows on Home Screen
• Click on P-CAD icon to launch the App
• Press each tab at bottom to switch screen
18

19. Android UI Screens
19

20. Android UI Screens (cont)
20

21. Android UI Screens (cont)
21

22. Arduino Board Evaluation
Arduino Pro MINI
• Designed to leave a board embedded in a project
• CPU: ATMega 328 8M HZ/3.3 V
• 14 digital pin and 6 analog pin
• 6 PWM, 2 interrupt lines
• Communication: I2C, UART, SPI
• Size: 0.7" x 1.3 “
• Development Support: Open-source hardware/software
µOLED-96-G1(SGC)
• Low-cost OLED display graphics user interface solution
• 96 x 64 resolution, 65K true to life colours,
• 0.96” diagonal size, 32.7 x 23 x 4.9mm.
• No back lighting with near 180° viewing angle.
• Comprehensive set of built in high level graphics
functions and algorithms that can draw lines, circles, text,
and much more.
• Display full color images, animations, icons and video
clips.
22

23. Sensors Under Evaluation
BMP085 Barometric Pressure Sensor
• I2C digital sensor
• Wide barometric pressure range
• Includes temperature measurement
Infrared Thermometer - MLX90614
• SMBus (I2C) digital sensor
• Internal 17 bits ADC
• Wide temperature ranges: -40 to 85°C for the ambient
temperature and -70 to 382.2°C for the object
temperature
I2C is a serial bus which allows connecting up to 255
sensors.
More sensors will be brought down and controlled by
Arduino board in Beta Design.
23

24. Arduino Board Operation
• Power up Bingo PC
• Connect USB cable to LabJack U6
• Arduino board is powered by Labjack U6
• The OLED should show picture in Compound Gallery
• Barometric Pressure and Temperature Reading should
show on the OLED
• Press Count Up/Down button to go Next/Prev picture.
• Press OLED Reset button to let OLED to screen saver
mode to avoid burn-in effect
• Press Reset button on Arduino Pro MINI board to restart
the board and OLED will show Compound Gallery again.
24