Ever forget where you parked or how much time is left on the meter?
Overview
A company called
Nonda is looking to fix those issues with a product called
Zus. Zus is a smart car charger that pairs to an app that remembers when and where you last parked your car.
The Zus Smart Charger
App
The key component that makes the Zus a ‘smart’ charger is the app
that it gets paired to. The app is available in the Google Play Store
and iOS app store. The app runs in the background and monitors to see if
there is still a Bluetooth connection to the Zus charger. If the
connection to the charger is lost the app remembers the GPS location and
displays a pop-up notification asking the user if they would like to
set a timer. In the app, the user has the ability to look at the timer
(if one was set), distance and direction to the parking spot, and a map
of the parking location. Cellular coverage is not needed to navigate
back to the parking spot; only a GPS connection is needed.
The Zus App!
Teardown!
The bottom of the shell with the light pipe
The Zus is made out of a two-piece shell that is comprised of a
polycarbonate and
ABS blend from
Covestro (formerly
Bayer Plastics).
Opening up the charger was a lot of work. There are no external (or
internal) fasteners on the charger. It appears that the shell of the
charger is joined through
solvent welding.
The seam of the Zus charger
Bluetooth Module
The Trusted Link Bluetooth charger
The smarts in this charger is a
BLE012 Bluetooth module made by
Trusted Link. At the heart of the Bluetooth module is a CSR1012 Bluetooth SOC. This Bluetooth module supports
Bluetooth 4.1 low energy that is used to connect to a smartphone.
The CSR1012 Bluetooth SOC
The Bluetooth module indicates its pairing state with the help of two
white LEDs. These LEDs shine through two light pipes that are mounted
to the top of the plastic shell.
The pairing LEDs
Powering the Bluetooth module is a small 3.3v
linear regulator. This charger uses an
SGM2021 (PDF) voltage regulator made by
SG Micro. This regulator is marked YL33.
The 3.3V voltage regulator and Bluetooth module
Charging ICs
The charging controllers and an LED
The ‘charging’ part of this smart charger are two
MA5887 USB fast-charging controllers manufactured by
Prolific.
This charging controller supports automatic device detection for Apple,
Samsung, and Nexus devices. Based on the type of device connected, the
IC can enable charging up to 2.8A. Also in the image above is one of the
two LEDs that are part of the ElegantShine Lighting system on the
charger.
Switching Power Supply
The GSTek GS9206 voltage regulator
To provide the power to the charging ICs, the Zus charger uses a switching power supply with buck topology. On
the Zus's webpage Nonda refers to a “ZUS Cooling System” and a "special
cooling system". This system is most likely the switching power supply
since there were no other prominent cooling mechanisms (active or
passive) inside. Switching power supplies run cooler and more
efficiently than linear power supplies that are often used on car
chargers. This is a pretty typical switching power supply design. At the
heart of the supply is a GS9206 (PDF) buck regulator made by GSTek. Paired to the buck regulator is a relatively large inductor in a through-hole package.
The inductor for the switching power supply
Conclusion
The Zus charger without its shell top
The Zus Smart Car Charger is more advanced than typical car chargers
due to the Bluetooth module. The mobile app is well-designed and easy to
use. As advertised, the charger stays cool due to the switching power
supply. Additionally, the charger does rapidly charge iPhone 6S and
Nexus 5s's.
A big thank you to Nonda for sending us this charger and making this teardown possible!
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