Final Project
Background
Hydrogen Village
One of Fab Lab Bali’s ongoing projects at the moment is ‘Hydrogen Village’, addressing energy reliance in Bali’s coastal communities through open, accessible, and safe green hydrogen innovation - blending applied research and community development for clean energy communities and ecosystem regeneration.
The Provincial Government of Bali has set a vision to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2045. Due to the location, we feel that green hydrogen as an energy source emerges as the most fitting choice as hydrogen fuel cells are characterized by their superior energy density, reduced weight, and extended lifespan compared to lithium batteries.
However, the production of green hydrogen is still not cost-competitive and is not grounded for underrepresented communities, particularly in coastal areas of Indonesia. As such here in Fab Lab Bali, we recognise the need for a distributed, inclusive, frugal, open-source, bottom-up, and direct grassroots implementation innovation to this problem
The Fab Lab Bali team have decided to work on their final projects centered around the research areas of the Hydrogen Village project.
- Eka is focusing on creating a frugal hydrogen generator, utilising the electrolysis method of hydrogen production.
- Tafia aims to create a frugal kit to measure a catalyst solution’s conductivity. This catalyst is used in the fuel cells to splits water in H2 + O2
- Meanwhile, my area of research focuses on making a frugal and modular hydrogen gen-set for everyday use. The gen-set comes with a wireless power meter display. Since I couldnt get access to a fuel cell, for my spiral 1, my project will be focusing on the Power Meter Display.
Spiral 1: H2 Power Meter
The H2 Power Meter is a handheld fuel cell monitoring kit - measuring power, current, voltage. This spiral one prototype measures DC Powered Devices. It works by receiving current, power and voltage data from the transmitter device wirelessly.
How does it work?
For spiral one, I measured a battery-powered fan
When data is received from the transmitter device. The display will be showing animation indicating any current, power, voltage changes in real life
Bill of Materials
| Category | Item | Amount | Link to Buy | Cost (Rp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microcontroller | Seeed XIAO ESP32-C3 | 1 | 87 000 | |
| Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 | 1 | 126 000 | ||
| Input Device | INA219 Current Sensor | 1 | 31 000 | |
| Rotary Encoder | 1 | 6 500 | ||
| Output Device | TFT ILI9341 Display | 1 | 119 000 | |
| Electronic Production | FR1 PCB Board | 1 | 16 000 | |
| LED Diode 1206 SMD | 2 | 300 | ||
| RES 1K OHM 1% 1/4W 1206 | 2 | 1500 | ||
| Connector | Pin Header Female 1x40 Pin Single Row 2.54mm | 2 | 2400 | |
| Male to Male Jumper Cable | 2 | 900 | ||
| USB Socket - Female | 1 | 2 500 | ||
| Enclosure Design | PLA Filament (50g) | 1 | 13 950 | |
| Acrylic | 1 | 3 600 | ||
| Power Supply | Lithium-ion Polymer (LiPo) Battery 3,7V 2000mAh | 1 | 98 750 | |
| Total Cost | 509 400 | |||
| USD ($) | 31.16 |
What parts and systems were made?
Bought:
- Current Sensor INA219
- TFT ILI9341 Display
- Rotary Encoder
Made:
- PCB Development Board
- Enclosure Design
Project Development
What worked? What didn’t?
Everything worked but there are still may rooms for improvement. Just some key takeaways that could be done better:
- I still need to refine the data mapping on the UI animation
- Enclosure design needs to be improved with a snap fit lid mechanism
- Rotary encoder programming needs to be embedded into the prototype
- I still need to make the enclosure for Rx Board and figure out how to integrate it with a fuel cell and hydrogen tank.
Evaluation
For spiral one, the H2 Power Meter could recognise data from th transmitter device and display a UI animated reading - it means the project is a success. Another key parameter still need to be tested (after the prototype has been refined) is to test it with the residents of Hydrogen Village and gauge their understanding of this device and their knowledge on power consumption - before and after.
To answer some of the questions from the application & implications week
- I think I need to figure out how to make this device more frugal.... A multimeter is way cheaper than this and Rp 509k as a cost is very expensive.
- Still need to figure out how to integrate with hydrogen fuel cell.
- I think my design can be produced in Fab Labs, for mass production - i think it will be ideal to turn this into a mold
Implications
I designed the H2 Power Meter this way because I want to promote energy literacy by giving everyone the ability to monitor their power usage in an engaging way. This power meter can also make the hydrogen residents more informed identify areas for saving energy and make informed decisions about their electronics - which can lead to reduced energy consumption and potentially lower electricity bills.
Especially since this will be integrated with Hydrogen Fuel Cells - the user-friendly and educational feature opens doors for decarbonisation and energy transition in homes and businesses.
Future Development
Next iteration will include Hydrogen Fuel Cell integration, Pressure Transducer to measure the pressure left in the Hydrogen tank as the hydrogen is converted into energy with the fuel cell for every day use.
More or less, the function will be similar to the video below - but I would like to package it better.
Final Reflection
I wished I had more time to work on my final project and made it as close to the first original idea. However, I was working on couple of projects at the same time with Fab Academy so I really could only stick to the bare minimum. Time management was the biggest issue I had with Fab Academy. Trying to balance out work with Fab Academy was too much to handle. Rico mentioned in that following aspect - then planning your time would be the wisest decision as you can prioritise your task but I found the whole process to be even more stressful. My strat is to “just do it” through the chaos and make the best of my situation. I think had I got more time - I would have loved to make more complicated assignments for my weekly tasks - but unfortunately I have very limited time and I struggle alot for documentation. I always struggle with being being elaborate when writing or explaining - so having to document with great level of details for me is the one thing that I disliked most about Fab Academy.
I think I am a tiny bit better now in my digital fabrication skills. I still have a lot to learn but I think I managed to climb couple of steps and knew more things compared to before. I still have a lot to learn and would like to go through the lectures again when I have the time.
Files
Enclosure
Electronics
