Faustino is a
physical computing platform geared towards process monitoring and control. The faustino platform consists of a
single-board microcontroller with embedded analog and digital
I/O support, an input module with
LCD
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but in ...
, sensors and actuators in form of
solid state relays. The development software is based on
Eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
and WinAVR, a variant of
GCC for AVR microcontrollers. For visual presentation of measurements, a
XML
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. ...
-configured Windows status monitor application is available.
Hardware
The hardware is based on an
Atmel AVR
AVR is a family of microcontrollers developed since 1996 by Atmel, acquired by Microchip Technology in 2016. These are modified Harvard architecture 8-bit RISC single-chip microcontrollers. AVR was one of the first microcontroller families ...
microcontroller which can be connected to a PC via a FTDI-USB-
serial converter. An ATMega644 is used. The boards are powered by 6 V - 9 V AC and use an 18.4 MHz
crystal oscillator
A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses a piezoelectric crystal as a frequency-selective element. The oscillator frequency is often used to keep track of time, as in quartz wristwatches, to provide a stable clock ...
.
Use of an AC power source permits
zero cross detection on the secondary side of the power supply and therefore
phase control (PFC) for connected solid state relays. The microcontroller is pre-programmed with a
boot loader
A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader or called boot manager and bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer.
When a computer is turned off, its softwareincluding operating systems, application code, an ...
. It is programmed by its USB port and does not require an external programmer.
The faustino platform is geared towards measurement and
control engineering
Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...
by the hobby enthusiast. For that purpose, it is equipped with vibration resistant connectors, a wide temperature range (for example, silicone insulated leads are used),
galvanic isolation
Galvanic isolation is a principle of isolating functional sections of electrical systems to prevent current flow; no direct conduction path is permitted.John Huntington ''Show Networks and Control Systems: Formerly Control Systems for Live ...
of the PC interface and support for typical sensors such as ratiometric pressure sensors,
thermocouple
A thermocouple, also known as a "thermoelectrical thermometer", is an electrical device consisting of two dissimilar electrical conductors forming an electrical junction. A thermocouple produces a temperature-dependent voltage as a result of th ...
s and a flow meter. Unlike other development platforms such as
Arduino
Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed und ...
, only a few I/O pins of the microcontroller are unassigned and available for use with or by other circuits.
External links
faustino project main pagePID controller for espresso machines
Communication software