Our smart water dispenser solution is built around the CD100 module, which detects no-cup, empty-cup and full-cup states so the dispenser can start or stop dispensing automatically. It offers a high recognition rate for both regular and irregularly shaped cups, and can also identify non-cup objects such as a hand or a solid cylinder to effectively prevent accidental dispensing. A TOF101 module monitors the water level in the tank and issues a smart reminder to refill when the water runs low.
Solution Overview
The functional block diagram of the smart water dispenser solution is shown below. The TOF101 module monitors the liquid level in the water tank and issues a smart reminder to the user to refill when the level is too low; the CD100 module detects the state of the cup under the spout, enabling automatic dispensing when a cup is present, automatic stop when the cup is full, and emergency stop when no cup is present.
Recommended Devices
- Full-cup detection module — CD100: input voltage: DC 3.3/5V; supply current: less than 50mA in normal operation (without driving the heating film), maximum heating-film drive current 500mA; response speed: up to 10Hz (the rate at which the module repeatedly detects the cup state and reports it to the host); communication baud rate: 115200 (default), with 2400, 4800, 9600 and 56000 also selectable; communication protocol: command frame format (see the user manual for details); detection light characteristics: 940nm near-infrared light with strong immunity to ambient light interference; detection parameters: cup state (no cup, cup present, cup full), sensor-to-cup-rim height, and liquid level height; defogging function: the host sends a heating command (with a target temperature parameter) to the module, and the module heats the electrically heated glass via electrodes to the specified temperature to prevent the lens from fogging up
- Ranging module — TOF10x: input voltage: DC 3.3/5V; UART or I2C communication selectable; command frame communication protocol for simple operation; accuracy up to ±3%; measurement rate up to 30Hz; strong immunity to ambient light interference; strong resistance to oil and grease contamination
Test & Certification
Cup recognition rate: 95% (the probability that a cup is recognized once placed in the required position)
Full-cup detection accuracy: -17mm~+10mm (negative when below the set liquid level, positive when above it)
Full-cup detection success rate: 92.5% @ ±10mm accuracy (the rate at which the actual liquid level at full-cup detection is within ±10mm of the level set in software)
Full-cup false-detection overflow rate: 0%; not yet observed in testing (cases where a full-cup misjudgment causes continuous dispensing under the specified placement conditions)
Note: the figures above were obtained from laboratory testing of this solution, covering both room-temperature and hot water (hot-water tests were performed with the anti-fog heated glass effectively heated).
Core Components
- AC-DC: MPS, full part number available on request
- DC-DC: MPS, full part number available on request
- Drive: onsemi/MPS, full part number available on request
Key Features
- Fully automatic smart start/stop dispensing
- Immunity to false recognition
- Anti-jitter and scald protection
Functional Block Diagram
