Thermostat

A thermostat is a component which senses the temperature of a system so that the system's
temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint.

A thermostat can often be the main control unit for a heating or cooling system, in applications
ranging from ambient air control, to such as automotive coolant control, but is also used in many
other applications, such as an electric clothes iron.

It is a "closed loop" control device, as it seeks to reduce the error between the desired and
measured temperatures. Sometimes a thermostat combines both the sensing and control action
elements of control system, such as in an automotive thermostat.

Thermostats can be constructed in many ways and may use a variety of sensors to measure the
temperature, commonly a thermistor or bimetallic strip.

A bimetallic strip is used to convert a temperature change into mechanical displacement. The strip
consists of two strips of different metals which expand at different rates as they are heated,
usually steel and copper, or in some cases steel and brass. The strips are joined together throughout
their length by riveting, brazing or welding. The different expansions force the flat strip to bend one
way if heated, and in the opposite direction if cooled below its initial temperature. The metal with the
higher coefficient of thermal expansion is on the outer side of the curve when the strip is heated and
on the inner side when cooled

A thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance is dependent on temperature, more so than in

standard resistors. The word is a portmanteau of thermal and resistor. Thermistors are widely used
as inrush current limiter, temperature sensors (Negative Temperature Coefficient or NTC type
typically), self-resetting overcurrent protectors, and self-regulating heating elements (Positive
Temperature Coefficient or PTC type typically). A temperature coefficient describes the relative
change of a physical property that is associated with a given change in temperature. For a
property R that changes by dR when the temperature changes by dT, the temperature coefficient
is defined by

dR/R = dT
(temperature coefficient) = temperature coefficient (1/K or K -1)

Many NTC thermistors are made from a pressed disc, rod, plate, and bead or cast chip
of semiconducting material such as sintered metal oxides. They work because raising the
temperature of a semiconductor increases the number of active charge carriers - it promotes them
into the conduction band. The more charge carriers that are available, the more current a material
can conduct. In certain materials like ferric oxide (Fe2O3) with titanium (Ti) doping an n-
type semiconductor is formed and the charge carriers are electrons. In materials such as nickel
oxide (NiO) with lithium (Li) doping a p-type semiconductor is created where holes are the charge
carriers.[4]
 Wireless thermostat
RF module
An RF module (radio frequency module) is a (usually) small electronic device used to transmit
and/or receive radio signals between two devices. In an embedded system it is often desirable to
communicate with another device wirelessly. This wireless communication may be accomplished
through optical communication or through radio frequency (RF) communication. For many
applications the medium of choice is RF since it does not require line of sight. RF communications
incorporate a transmitter or receiver.

RF modules are widely used in electronic design owing to the difficulty of designing radio circuitry.
Good electronic radio design is notoriously complex because of the sensitivity of radio circuits and
the accuracy of components and layouts required to achieve operation on a specific frequency. In
addition, reliable RF communication circuit requires careful monitoring of the manufacturing process
to ensure that the RF performance is not adversely affected. Finally, radio circuits are usually subject
to limits on radiated emissions, and require Conformance testing and certification by
a standardization organization such as ETSI or the U.S. Federal Communications
Commission (FCC). For these reasons, design engineers will often design a circuit for an application
which requires radio communication and then "drop in" a pre-made radio module rather than attempt
a discrete design, saving time and money on development.

RF modules are most often used in medium and low volume products for consumer applications
such as garage door openers, wireless alarm systems, industrial remote controls, smart sensor
applications, and wireless home automation systems. They are sometimes used to replace
older infra red communication designs as they have the advantage of not requiring line-of-sight
operation.

Several carrier frequencies are commonly used in commercially available RF modules, including
those in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands such as 433.92 MHz, 915 MHz, and
2400 MHz. These frequencies are used because of national and international regulations governing
the used of radio for communication. Short Range Devices may also use frequencies available for
unlicensed such as 315 MHz and 868 MHz.

RF modules may comply with a defined protocol for RF communications such as Zigbee, Bluetooth
low energy, or Wi-Fi, or they may implement a proprietary protocol.

Microwaves
Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from one meter to
one millimeter; with frequencies between 300 MHz (100 cm) and 300 GHz (0.1 cm).[1][2] This broad
definition includes both UHF and EHF (millimeter wave) bands, and various sources use different
boundaries. In all cases, microwaves include the entire SHF band (3 to 30 GHz, or 10 to 1 cm) at
minimum, with RF engineering often restricting the range between 1 and 100 GHz (300 and 3 mm).
Frequencies in the microwave range are often referred to by their IEEE radar
band designations: S, C, X, Ku, K, or Ka band, or by similar NATO or EU designations.

The prefix micro- in microwave is not meant to suggest a wavelength in the micrometer range. It
indicates that microwaves are "small", compared to waves used in typical radio broadcasting, in that
they have shorter wavelengths. The boundaries between far infrared, terahertz radiation,
microwaves, and ultra-high-frequency radio waves are fairly arbitrary and are used variously
between different fields of study.

Microwaves travel by line-of-sight; unlike lower frequency radio waves they do not diffract around
hills, follow the earth's surface as ground waves, or reflect from the ionosphere, so terrestrial
microwave communication links are limited by the visual horizon to about 40 miles (64 km). At the
high end of the band they are absorbed by gases in the atmosphere, limiting practical
communication distances to around a kilometer. Microwaves are extremely widely used in modern
technology. They are used for point-to-point communication links, wireless networks, microwave
radio relay networks, radar, satellite and spacecraft communication, medical diathermy and cancer
treatment, remote sensing, radio astronomy, particle accelerators, spectroscopy, industrial
heating, collision avoidance systems, garage door openers and keyless entry systems, and for
cooking food in microwave ovens.

Infrared radiation
Infrared radiation, or simply infrared or IR, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with
longer wavelengths than those of visible light, and is therefore invisible, although it is sometimes
loosely called infrared light. It extends from the nominal red edge of the visible spectrum at
700 nanometers (frequency 430 THz), to 1000000 nm (300 GHz)[1] (although people can see infrared
up to at least 1050 nm in experiments[2][3][4][5]). Most of the thermal radiation emitted by objects near
room temperature is infrared. Like all EMR, IR carries radiant energy, and behaves both like a wave
and like its quantum particle, the photon.

Infrared was discovered in 1800 by astronomer Sir William Herschel, who discovered a type of
invisible radiation in the spectrum lower in energy than red light, by means of its effect on a
thermometer.[6] Slightly more than half of the total energy from the Sun was eventually found to arrive
on Earth in the form of infrared. The balance between absorbed and emitted infrared radiation has a
critical effect on Earth's climate.

Infrared radiation is emitted or absorbed by molecules when they change their rotational-
vibrational movements. It excites vibrational modes in a molecule through a change in the dipole
moment, making it a useful frequency range for study of these energy states for molecules of the
proper symmetry. Infrared spectroscopy examines absorption and transmission of photons in the
infrared range.[7]

Infrared radiation is used in industrial, scientific, and medical applications. Night-vision devices using
active near-infrared illumination allow people or animals to be observed without the observer being
detected. Infrared astronomy uses sensor-equipped telescopes to penetrate dusty regions of space
such as molecular clouds, detect objects such as planets, and to view highly red-shifted objects from
the early days of the universe.[8] Infrared thermal-imaging cameras are used to detect heat loss in
insulated systems, to observe changing blood flow in the skin, and to detect overheating of electrical
apparatuses.

Thermal-infrared imaging is used extensively for military and civilian purposes. Military applications
include target acquisition, surveillance, night vision, homing, and tracking. Humans at normal body
temperature radiate chiefly at wavelengths around 10 m (micrometers). Non-military uses
include thermal efficiency analysis, environmental monitoring, industrial facility inspections, remote
temperature sensing, short-ranged wireless communication, spectroscopy, and weather forecasting.