We are developing a control board for an egg incubator. The controller will control the temperature and humidity inside the incubator. It will provide power to a heater, a fan, an egg turner motor and a water pump or valve.
Specifically, we would like the control board to have the following functions:
1. Measure, control and display temperature:
a. Display should be a 60 second rolling average of the actual temperature.
b. Thermostat control should switch on/off, be solid-state and able to switch up to 500 watts.
c. Temperature can be set by user in 0.1 degree increments, from 32F to 120F
d. Temperature Sensor should be attached to a wire and should be 24” long.
e. Power output wires should be soldered to the control board and be 8” long
f. Temperature measurement is able to be calibrated
g. Temperature accuracy should be +/- 0.5 F or better
2. Power input
a. Have a power wire attached to the board that is 8” long
3. We need the control board for both 110/120V AC and 220/240V AC. Ideally one version will work for both (whatever power goes in will come out). But if this is not possible, we need a 110/120V AC version and a 220/240V AC version.
4. Provide power to a fan motor (up to 60 watts)
a. Power output wires should be soldered to the control board and be 8” long
b. User has the option to turn the fan power off
5. Provide power to a turner motor (up to 20 watts)
a. Power output wires should be soldered to the control board and be 8” long
b. Power to motor should be 110VAC or 220/240VAC depending on voltage input.
6. Measure humidity and control humidity (provide power to a small water pump or valve)
a. Measure and display relative humidity in 1% increments (take a measurement every 30 seconds)
b. Provide power to a pump or valve based on the humidity level. User can adjust the set point.
c. Humidity sensor should be integrated with the temperature sensor
d. Power output will be 6VDC or 12VDC (this will be determined soon) and wires should be soldered to the control board and be 8” long
e. Humidity measurement is able to be calibrated in 1% increments with a range of +/- 10%
7. Hatch timer
a. User may input the number of days required to hatch the particular eggs they are incubating. The timer then counts down in 1 day increments from that point. This setting should not re-set if power goes out. When power is restored, it will simply continue counting down from where it left off.
8. Alarm for high/low temperature and high/low relative humidity
a. High/low temperature alarm
i. The control board will have an alarm that will sound when the temperature raises more than 2.0 degrees F (1.0 degree C) above or below the set-point. It will also sound when temperature falls more than 2.0 degrees F below set point for more than 5 minutes.
ii. The user has the option to completely disengage the alarm feature so it will not sound until they re-engage it
b. High/low relative humidity alarm
i. The control board will have an alarm that will sound (same alarm as temperature alarm) when the relative humidity rises or falls 20% above or below the set-point.
ii. All other features and functions will be the same as for the temperature alarm
9. Light
a. The board will have a wire 24” long with an super bright LED on the end. We need to determine the voltage to the LED.
b. User may turn the light on or off at any time by pressing a button on the control panel.
10. Size of the control board
a. Ideally, the PCB will be able to mount using the same hole pattern as a standard 80x80mm computer fan. And the overall size of the board will not exceed 96x96mm. This requirement may change based on design needs, but it is preferred.
11. We need to have 2 prototype boards delivered to us as part of this project. All files, designs and programs necessary to have this produced at a board manufacturer also need to be included
We are a team of skilled professionals with more than 20 years of experience in electronics. We have alerady build the temperature and humidity control system for the wood kilns. Our kilns are used industrially for more than 15 years in Ukraine and in nearest countries.
Hello. I am a veteran Embedded systems AND PCB designer. I have previously worked on Environmental Monitoring & Logging systems design and i design with DFM, DFT rules. Please see PMB for details.
Electrical Engineer(Gold-Medalist) from the oldest and the most reputable engineering institute of Pakistan(UET,Lahore). I have experience in Embedded Systems and Power Electronics I can do this