Flower Power is an environmental monitor that you stick in the soil of a potted plant. It measures 4 things: sunlight, temperature, fertilizer, and moisture. Powered by a replaceable AAA battery, it’s water resistant and good for indoor and outdoor use.

该公司背后的公司，鹦鹉，来自法国的冰雹，并制作了多种产品阵容：无人机，蓝牙耳机，耳机和GPS平板电脑。花卉力量与他们的传统排队中的任何东西不同，但毫无疑问，他们拥有足够的工程人才，可以在智能家庭或物品类别中制作产品。

Packaging

外包装是一个透明的宠物折叠纸箱，带有浅卡托盘粘合到底部。宠物箱是在架子上展示你的产品的好方法，帮助它从竞争中脱颖而出。

PET cartons are printed, die-cut, creased, and shipped flat to the assembly factory and then folded at the time of packaging. It’s widely available and inexpensive.

传感器由纸浆“花盆”和卡片“土壤”保持。“土壤”片在表面下隐藏了一些聪明的折纸。

甚至还有一个花园标签，可以快速登机说明。鹦鹉的包装设计师用可爱杀死了我们。

这种包装在我的书中获得了一个+在环保友好中的一个+：只有宠物塑料，卡片​​，纸张和粘合剂。一切都很容易分开和可回收。

Flower Power

Moving on to the construction of the Flower Power itself:

你应该将整个黑色下部粘在你植物附近的土壤中。仔细观察揭示它实际上是一种从豆芽形蓝部分延伸出的多层PCB。它并不像传统的PCB，因为没有暴露的铜迹线和垫。

沿着蓝色“萌芽”的接缝，但塑料外壳半部超声波焊接在一起。该组装方法通常在需要防水的产品上找到。

Nothing can stop our Dremel though!

在我们分发外壳后，我们发现只有两个PCBA，两个螺钉，三个聚氨酯垫片和三个钣金零件。颚式滴，优雅。

值得注意的是，花动力的唯一动力部分是扭转电池盒。防水更容易的成分越少。移动部件可以是防水的疼痛。

Two sheet metal “barrels” are used to hold the battery. A third sheet metal part connects the battery’s positive terminal to a pad on the main PCBA. Sheet metal spring contact is a great way to conduct electricity without soldering or using expensive connectors.

This part is heat staked to the plastic enclosure, eliminating the need for messy adhesives, and fasteners would be overkill for this application.

垫圈（如下图所示）放置在塑料外壳不能焊接在一起，例如在光传感器窗口，电池盖和外壳和主PCB之间焊接在一起。使用垫圈是一种经过旧的防水技术。

The main PCBA holds most of the goodies: MCU, antenna, and some of the environmental sensors. The finish on the PCBA indicates that there is a conformal coating, which is a super thin polymeric film used to protect circuitry against moisture and dust.

The system’s brain is aTI CC2540Bluetooth Low Energy microcontroller.

There is also a thermistor for sensing air temperature on the other side of the board (bottom right; L202).

在PCBA的暴露部分上，两个PCB叉子测量它们之间的土壤水分。

你问过这项工作怎么样？科学时间！

The prongs and the soil act together as a capacitor that completes a circuit. The soil is the dielectric of the capacitor, while the prongs are the parallel plates.

电容与介电介电常数直接相关，也称为介电常数。该值在3到5之间，干燥的土壤介于3到5之间，水约80次。因此，土壤水分含量的变化基本上改变了土壤的介电常数。整个电路的输出结果发生变化，从而转换为花电随附的应用程序中的水分百分比。

The two metal domes sense fertilizer levels by measuring electrical conductivity. However, this only works when the plant gets watered because dry soil is not conductive.

Fertilizer level is roughly indicated by the amount of ions in the soil that then gets dissolved in the added water. Electrical conductivity of water increases as the number of ions in water increases. In fact, the Flower Power app shows fertilizer level in deciSiemens per meter (dS/m), a unit for electrical conductivity.

环境光传感器是安装在一个小/ipheral PCBA. A ribbon cable connects the light sensor board to the main PCBA by through-hole solder. Again, no connector — that costs money!

花费59.99美元的花卉零售（低至32.07美元）。对于这样的低成本消费产品，最大限度地减少部件成本和简化组装是充分利润的关键。花电已经完成了。

花电的美丽是简单的，内外都是如此！