Aura

Aura is an intelligent personal cooling fan designed to provide greater comfort for the user. Its wireless controller improves the user experience by detecting room temperature changes and altering the fan’s speed accordingly.

Year

2021

Client

University Project

Discipline

Industrial design, Embedded systems

Role

Designer

An Aura fan and it's controller.

Project Overview

Create and maintain a unique ambient environment of your choosing.

Proper ventilation has been shown to make people more productive; however, a single central air conditioning system does not allow customisation from the user.

Aura has been designed for workspaces, homes, and hospitals to improve user's comfort and productivity.

Ideation

A breath of fresh air.

Ideation began with form development to understand the basic shape and mechanism. The designs that stood out the most were compact and calm, blending in with the workspace environment.

A group of ideation sketches showing the initial concepts for Aura.

Function

Keeping your cool.

The system is controlled by two PIC microcontrollers, which are programmed to react to ambient temperature changes. The system wirelessly drives the fan through a transmitter and receiver, outputting air thermally regulated to the desired speed.

The product

Being wireless, the controller can be placed in non-traditional locations, allowing for greater accuracy when measuring the ambient temperature, and reducing the user’s direct interaction with the fan.

An Aura fan, and its controller
Two Aura fans.Two Aura fans, one facing forward and one facing backward.
Electronics

The primary electronic components are stored in the base of the fan, enabling the user to take full advantage of Aura’s adjustable design, altering the inclination and azimuth of the airflow.

A flat lay of the Aura fan's components.
The Aura fan with a transparent base, to the see the internal circuit board.The Aura controller and the printed circuit board.

Design

Number one fan.

Aura’s design style is simple, modern and representative of nature - with aesthetics based on existing market solutions.

A group of three Aura fans - each with their own distinct colour.
The Aura controller on a wooden desk, next to an iPhone.

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