Project

Smart Table

The Smart Table is an outdoor solar powered charging station featuring a sensor network. This Smart Table was designed and built to meet the specific needs of the Sonoma State University community. It provides a place for four to six people to gather and charge their devices. The solar panel provides comforting shade and the table is wide enough to allow students to sit with their laptops and school supplies. This project provides the client with a sensor network that shows how the environment can affect power production of an off-grid system. The environmental parameters being monitored are ambient temperature, light intensity and barometric pressure. The sensor network monitors and pushes data to a website. While this specific charge station has been built for the needs of Sonoma State University, the sensor network can be placed on other off-grid power systems in varying environmental conditions. The design of this prototype can also be tailored and sized to the needs of other organizations such as national parks, universities, corporations, public use areas and even for the use in developing countries. This initial prototype solves the issue of limited battery life for portable devices such as cell phones, tablets and laptops. Smart Table serves as a picnic table, a charge station, a power production monitoring system and a weather station. It is user friendly, educational and promotes renewable energy.

Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.