Gone are the days of the simple mercury-based dial thermostat. As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to evolve, it is likely that the thermostat will play a central role in managing appliances and sensors throughout the home. For example, multiple sensors could be placed throughout the home to monitor temperature, humidity, motion, water and smoke. Having a dedicated interface for all of these sensors will be a requirement. The Microchip Connected Home Console can serve as a starting point for your smart thermostat or home automation control center design.

The WQVGA display is being driven by the PIC24FJ256DA210 that includes three hardware graphics acceleration units and can drive resolutions up to 640 × 480 with 16 bits of color depth. The AR10120 controls the touchscreen allowing direct user input in a variety of functional modes. With 32 Mbit serial Flash and 256 Kb EEPROM the design has plenty of memory to store images and any required configuration data. The MCP9808 temperature sensor is accurate to ±0.25°C over a range of −40°C to +125°C. The MCP79410 provides Real-Time Clock/Calendar (RTCC) with battery switchover for backup power. The MRF24WB0MA is an agency certified (e.g. FCC) Wi-Fi^® module that has an integrated antenna, matching circuitry, and supports Wi-Fi with the free TCP/IP protocol stack.