The First Protoype

One of the things we realized about our first prototype is that there’s a LOT we need to change. A lot. After fixing a minor snafu with the mill that caused our electronics boards to machine improperly, we have made a through-hole PCB and have soldered a basic prototype. Here’s a photo of the CNC Mill cutting our first working prototype board.

It turned on and didn’t short circuit the first time we powered it up, which is exciting!

On the case side, we made several gaskets and also sealed the breather enclosure into the lid of the sensor. The enclosure uses louvers with a foam filter to allow air (and moisture) to pass through, while preventing liquid from entering the inner area. We still need to conduct tests to see if this actually allows us to sense humidity, but it currently looks pretty promising!

Most of the gaskets are some type of rubber, and we plan to cut them on a laser cutter. However, we’re still figuring out which of them will be safe to cut, as burning through the rubber may cause toxic fumes. The current gaskets are cut by hand, but we’ve also 3D printed a gasket using flexible filament that also might be a safer solution.