3 ms·
In particular, for portable soldering irons the whole "plug it in" part is not simple. The small irons that are the target for this software predominantly use
by Majromax 3y ago
In particular, for portable soldering irons the whole "plug it in" part is not simple. The small irons that are the target for this software predominantly use batteries, USB-PD, or QC for power. The former needs voltage measurement and cutoff, and the latter have negotiation steps before drawing high power.
This firmware also controls tip temperature with a PID loop, whereas a classic 'dumb' temperature-controlled soldering iron might use a thermostat with on/off control.
- fanf2 3y agoSmart irons also have a configurable target temperature, so they can be adjusted to work better with the particular solder alloy you are using. Their cost is more like a dumb iron, with functionality like an expensive soldering station.
- jsheard 3y agoThese "smart" irons also have an automatic shut-off if they're not being used, which is based on an embedded accelerometer, so the firmware needs to be able to filter the noisy IMU data into a reliable on/off signal.
- kevin_nisbet 3y agoAlso, I can understand for some the cable being quite annoying. In electronics class in highschool, a few soldering irons got wrecked by students melting the cable insulation and sparks would fly.
- ilyt 3y ago> This firmware also controls tip temperature with a PID loop, whereas a classic 'dumb' temperature-controlled soldering iron might use a thermostat with on/off control. I'd imagine on-off being perfectly fine for thermocouple-and-heater-in-tip, as you have very short feedback loop there
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]