The AKKR8 board is accessible by removing the bottom of the casing. The board has support for various external sensors. These are all fitted with robust, green connectors with a screw type fastening to keep the electrical connection secure.
Sensor behaviour
The devices normal operation is to wake up on pre-defined time intervals and read its sensors, store data and go back to sleep. Update to the server will be handled occasionally at pre-defined intervals. These intervals have different settings, all done before shipping the sensor to you. However two of the sensors can trigger the AKKR8 to send data immediately to the server, overriding the battery saving storage of sensor values. These can be either one digital input or the integrated vibration sensor. When using a wired sensor you can cut wholes in the sides of the box, or order the sensor with the right cut-outs from the factory.
Depending on the model these are the inputs and outputs available:
3 x digital inputs for alarm sensors
1 x output with relay
External temperature sensors
input for current loop sensor (4-20 mA)
GPIO port for additional SPI or I2C sensors or for powering up sensors.
The GPIO port is our magical port. Here we can develop new Proof of concepts together with you. As we support standard sensors and our device is based on a firmware when implementing additional functions is usually very easy.
On/off
The board has an on/off switch and in case you have a rechargeable battery, you have the battery connector on top of the board.
Charging battery
The device has a built in charger that will just make sure the battery is always charged. However, it is important to note that the battery charge controller is designed such that the battery will not be charged when the temperature falls below 5 Celsius, similarly when the temperature rises above 45 Celsius. It is possible to use the unit between -20 and 0 Celsius, and also between 45 and 60 Celsius given power is available from the battery or externally; only if it is used from the battery and the charge level is depleted, it will stop operating. This operation is due to the fact that Lithium batteries should not be charged at low or high temperatures. Do not use the wrong battery type in charger based applications. Only Lithium Ion cells can be charged using the built-in charger.
If Primary cells are used, ie disposable batteries, it is essential that no power is connected into the unit via the 5V power input. The Primary battery has to be connected to the battery connection header only.
Embedded sensors
If you want to read more about the embedded and external sensors, follow these links:
External temperature probe
Temperature and humidity
Air quality
3 x Alarm inputs
Analogue input
Movement and acceleration
Relay output
GPIO port