Juliet advised a senior design group building and designing sensors for Manna Energy, focused on clean water. The Manna Energy Foundation is installing over 500 water purification devices all across Rwanda at secondary schools. Manna has requested electronic support for a sensing system that will provide near real-time support on the health of the overall system. The main objective of this project is to monitor multiple sensors and perform real-time data-logging of the status of these sensors. There are three types of sensors: pressure, flow, and current sensors to monitor the state of valves, UV sterilization lights, and other components. The recorded data is saved to flash memory and the module generates failure alerts and status updates. These updates are received by Manna Energy via two-way communication between the base station and the module. The base station has a graphical user interface that transmits commands and receives data, status, and alerts built in DAQFactory program. This communication is implemented both on-site with USB and off-site using a GSM cellular interface. The module controls its components based on both an autonomous control algorithm and commands from the base-station. Power for the module is provided by a solar panel and 12V battery, and on-board power electronics provide 3.3V, 5V, and 12V as required by different components. Ultimately, large numbers of these modules will be distributed across Rwanda. As such, they are easily to mass produce and implement. To learn more about this project, please visit The Manna Energy Foundation.
