Digital Lumens

July-December 2019
matt-downing.com


Underdesk Sensor

Goal: Create a PCB with a sensor that can detect if someone is at their desk reliably and report that information to the cloud infrastructure DL 1 DL 2
Challenge: Keep it very low power so that can be powered by a battery for a very long time (1-2 years), increase sensor reliability and improve form factor, Switch to a different sensor method (from PIR to thermopile) after having issues with PIR technology for presence detection DL 3 DL 4
Success: Initial prototype proved that it would work well at being low power and that it could be created with a relatively small form factor, next prototype had better PCB layout and allowed for a more logical and presentable size and shape, switched sensor and initial testing proved sensor would work so another PCB prototype was designed DL 5 DL 6

Hardware and Software Tools

Altium PCBWay PIR Sensor