Smart Humidor Humidifier With Sensor-Guided Mist Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing humidifiers for enclosures like cigar humidors fail to provide continuous monitoring and effective humidity control, leading to issues such as dry or bitter cigars, uneven burning, and mold formation.
Innovation Solution
A smart humidifier with a refillable tank, wick, atomizer, sensor, battery, and microcontroller that adjusts humidity levels by converting liquid to mist, using a standby mode when within a preferred range and operating the atomizer when outside the range to maintain optimal humidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the atomizer operates continuously to maintain humidity, then humidity control reliability is improved, but battery energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The humidifier operates in periodic cycles with standby mode when humidity is within the preferred range and active atomizing mode when humidity is outside the range. The microcontroller monitors humidity continuously and triggers atomizer operation only when needed, creating a periodic on-demand operation pattern that reduces energy consumption while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The humidity sensor provides continuous feedback to the microcontroller about the current humidity level. The microcontroller compares the sensed humidity against the preferred range (65-75% RH) and automatically adjusts atomizer operation accordingly, creating a closed-loop feedback system that maintains reliability while optimizing energy usage.
2Measurement precision
If the microcontroller continuously monitors humidity to maintain optimal levels, then humidity control precision is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The microcontroller enters sleep mode during periods when humidity is within the preferred range and only wakes up when triggered by a wake-up event or when humidity readings indicate a need for adjustment. This periodic monitoring approach maintains measurement precision for control decisions while significantly reducing average energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses event-driven architecture where the microcontroller responds to wake-up events (such as button presses, humidity threshold crossings, or scheduled intervals) rather than continuously active monitoring. The system serves itself by automatically transitioning between sleep and active states based on environmental conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The smart humidifier effectively maintains desired humidity levels, preventing issues like dry cigars and mold, while conserving battery life through a standby mode and providing remote monitoring and control.
Implementation Method 1
an atomizer disposed in the housing between an aperture and an end of the wick, the atomizer being actuatable to vibrate against the end of the wick to convert the liquid in the wick to a mist
Implementation Method 2
a wick disposed in a chamber in the tank and in fluid communication with liquid in the tank
Data Source
AI summary
A smart humidifier (e.g., for humidors, such as cigar humidors) has a built in refillable water tank, a wick disposed in the tank in fluid communication with liquid in the tank, and an automizer operable to convert liquid in the wick to a mist that is dispersed out of a housing of the humidifier. The humidifier includes a sensor that senses relative humidity of a space adjacent the humidifier, and a microcontroller unit controls an operation of the atomizer to adjust the humidity in the space to maintain the humidity within a preferred humidity range.