Working from first principles, let’s discuss the MUSTs and MUST NOTs of the autochlorinator; there is little-to-no wiggle room on these requirements and they are in no particular order.
- Liquid-tight: Electronics and chemical solutions must be isolated from moisture.
- Quick to prototype: We can’t rely on third parties because our time budget to first working prototype is 2 — 3 months.
- Easy to scale: We won’t commit to large-scale mass production runs until the business proves itself. This means no multi-thousand dollar injection molds.
- Open source: We’ve chosen for our software to NOT be “proprietary” and will release it before launch.
- Resilient til the end: If we go under, or the power goes out, or the internet fades, the AutoChlorinator™ must continue to march on.
- Easy to repair: Owning something obsolete is frustrating and wasteful. The AutoChlorinator™ must use off-the-shelf components that can be easily obtained and installed.
- Easy to maintain: It should be really simple and obvious how to charge the battery and top up fluids (chlorine / reagents).
- Float-able: It must float.
- 6-month supply: Battery, chlorine storage, reagent storage should be designed to last for at least 6 months without intervention.
- Chemical resistance: We’re dealing with chlorine and other potentially dangerous chemicals; all materials and components must operate safely.
- Just throw it in: The AutoChlorinator™ must be easy to set up by anyone within one minute.