Designing longer lasting smart home sensors
Why long-lasting sensors are key to designing the home of the future! Home automation has been gaining traction over the past few years, with massive developments in features and relevant technologies. However, these technologies are only as effective as their power source. Here, Michele Windsor, global marketing manager at home automation battery provider Ultralife Corporation, explains the importance of having long lasting batteries at the centre of home automationproduct design. Rube Goldberg machines are a fascinating spectacle to watch, with intricate parts moving around to create a symphony of movement to perform tasks. However, to function, every single part must work perfectly, otherwise it takes a lengthy reset before the spectacle can resume. Just like in a Rube Goldberg machine, every piece in a smart house must work perfectly in order to create the spectacle that makes your life easier and more efficient. To make sure your smart house is always working, its sensors must always be working. Sensors are what feed data to the smart house, so it knows what time it is, what the temperature is, or whether the sun is glaring through your windows. Most sensors are battery powered and, as they need to be active constantly, it is important to make sure that they have batteries that are reliable and long lasting. Based on Ultralife’s experience in the sector, many sensors for smart home devices arrive on the market with CR123A model batteries. However, not all these batteries are created equal. Many are often limited in their battery capacity, which means a shorter operating life for the sensor. Design engineers can overcome this by choosing a long-lasting CR123A battery suitable for home automation sensors, such as the CR123A range of batteries produced by Ultralife. They have an improved internal spiral construction that provides a higher capacity than is currently available in similar products on the market, while remaining long lasting for home automation functions. According to data from Strategy Analytics, 38 per cent of homes in the USA will be smart homes by 2019.Because of this, it is incredibly important to set out solid design foundations now. Putting long lasting batteries into smart homes design now will avoid mass sensor outages, customer dissatisfaction and possible backlash against manufacturers in the future. Whether it be your security cameras, lights, sprinklers, or your fans, sensors keep smart devices fed with relevant information to ensure they are working precisely to maximise user comfort and convenience. In a sense, making intelligent decisions about smart homes now will allow our future selves to be awed by anintricate connected Rube Goldberg machine, performing millions of tasks simultaneously to make our lives simpler and stress free.
Powering the Military
The power requirements of military equipment differ to those of many other devices. To guide design engineers when choosing a battery for their military device, global military battery specialist, Ultralife Corporation, has published a checklist highlighting the important considerations. The checklist, which can be downloaded from Ultralife’s website, consists of five key questions that design engineers must ask themselves before choosing a battery for a military device. The answer to each question will depend on the design of the device, how it will be used and in what conditions. “Unlike most battery-powered equipment, military devices are often exposed to incredibly harsh conditions such as extreme temperatures, rough physical handling and high moisture environments,” explained Johnathan Celso, applications engineer at Ultralife. “Design engineers must choose batteries capable of withstanding these conditions. To increase a battery’s robustness, they may also need to incorporate protective structures into the design.” However, robustness isn’t the only essential consideration. The battery must power the device in accordance with the needs of the soldier. For example, some devices are required to lie dormant for long periods, but rapidly activate when needed.” The failure of a device to meet a soldier’s requirements impedes the soldier’s ability to do their job and puts their lives at risk. The earlier that design engineers consider the battery, the better the device they provide to soldiers to meet their needs. As technology advances, the possibilities to provide soldiers with high quality, beneficial equipment are increasing. For example, many military devices now use smart batteries that communicate with the user regarding information such as the state-of-charge or the need to be cooled down. This checklist should prompt design engineers to make the high level considerations before embarking on new projects. Ultralife has a long history of manufacturing batteries and chargers for the military market. To find out more about portable power solutions for military use, contact a sales representative on +1 (315) 332 7100 or +44 (0) 1782 566 622.
