Hardware

i see a bug, been without a motion events for a while it is stop working at the same time it can work for a while in case of motion events hmm... fix needed but it is just a prototype. I plan to support 4-6 types of sensors (at least types I have with my security system). Currently only motion sensors are supportde (actually any alert sensor can be treated as a motion sensor but it will be better to differentiate) double radio transmittion is also not good, will be better to have an ethernet gateway directly working with RF433 This way I'm connecting very simple RF433 sensors one way (alert is comming from sensor to home controller). Same idea but different hardware and different sketch are needed to soport RF433 relays and wall switches. #include <avr/eeprom.h> #include <SPI.h> #include <MySensor.h> #include <DHT.h> #include <RCSwitch.h> #define CHILD_ID_HUM 0 #define CHILD_ID_TEMP 1 #define HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN 3 unsigned long SLEEP_TIME = 30000; // Sleep time between reads (in milliseconds) MySensor gw; DHT dht; float lastTemp; float lastHum; boolean metric = true; MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM); MyMessage msgTemp(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP); RCSwitch mySwitch = RCSwitch(); #define RF433_CHILDS_MAX 20 typedef struct { unsigned long key; uint8_t child_id; } rf433_child_type; uint8_t *eeprom_last_id = (uint8_t*)EEPROM_LOCAL_CONFIG_ADDRESS; rf433_child_type *eeprom_rf433_array = (rf433_child_type*)EEPROM_LOCAL_CONFIG_ADDRESS+1; unsigned long dht_period; void setup() { gw.begin(); dht.setup(HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN); mySwitch.enableReceive(0); // Receiver on inerrupt 0 => that is pin #2 digitalWrite(5, HIGH); // Send the Sketch Version Information to the Gateway gw.sendSketchInfo("Humidity", "1.0"); // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices) gw.present(CHILD_ID_HUM, S_HUM); gw.present(CHILD_ID_TEMP, S_TEMP); metric = gw.getConfig().isMetric; } void loop() { if(digitalRead(5)) { Serial.println("-- enetered RF433 init mode"); unsigned long t = millis(); while(millis() - t < 60000) { if (mySwitch.available()) { unsigned long key = mySwitch.getReceivedValue(); mySwitch.resetAvailable(); uint8_t child_id = rf_find_child(key); Serial.print("--- child_id - "); if(child_id == 255) { // key is not presented in EEPROM uint8_t last_id = rf_get_last_id(); if(last_id < RF433_CHILDS_MAX) { // a new id should be created rf433_child_type child; // prepare data to be stored in eeprom child.key = key; child.child_id = last_id + 2; eeprom_write_block(&child, &eeprom_rf433_array[last_id], sizeof(child)); // store new last_id last_id++; rf_set_last_id(last_id); Serial.print("new "); Serial.println(last_id); gw.present(child.child_id, S_MOTION); } else { // no more space in EEPROM Serial.println("no space"); } } else { // existing key Serial.println(child_id); gw.present(child_id, S_MOTION); } break; } } Serial.println("-- left RF433 init mode"); } if (mySwitch.available()) { // motion event unsigned long key = mySwitch.getReceivedValue(); mySwitch.resetAvailable(); uint8_t child_id = rf_find_child(key); Serial.print("-- rf key "); Serial.print(key); Serial.print(" child_id "); Serial.println(child_id); if(child_id != 255) { MyMessage msg(child_id, V_TRIPPED); gw.send(msg.set("1")); // Send tripped value to gw delay(2000); gw.send(msg.set("0")); } } if(dht_period < millis()) { //delay(dht.getMinimumSamplingPeriod()); float temperature = dht.getTemperature(); if (isnan(temperature)) { Serial.println("Failed reading temperature from DHT"); } else if (temperature != lastTemp) { lastTemp = temperature; if (!metric) { temperature = dht.toFahrenheit(temperature); } gw.send(msgTemp.set(temperature, 1)); Serial.print("T: "); Serial.println(temperature); } float humidity = dht.getHumidity(); if (isnan(humidity)) { Serial.println("Failed reading humidity from DHT"); } else if (humidity != lastHum) { lastHum = humidity; gw.send(msgHum.set(humidity, 1)); Serial.print("H: "); Serial.println(humidity); } //gw.sleep(SLEEP_TIME); //sleep a bit dht_period = millis() + SLEEP_TIME; } } uint8_t rf_get_last_id() { uint8_t x = eeprom_read_byte(eeprom_last_id); if(x == 255) x = 0; return x; } void rf_set_last_id(uint8_t last_id) { eeprom_write_byte(eeprom_last_id, last_id); } uint8_t rf_find_child(unsigned long key) { uint8_t last_id = rf_get_last_id(); uint8_t id = 0; while(id != last_id) { rf433_child_type child; eeprom_read_block(&child, &eeprom_rf433_array[id], sizeof(child)); if(child.key == key) return child.child_id; } return 255; }

I'm actually working on a mySensor KeyPad node, but currently i'm struggling with a generic solution to read/write eeprom configurations controlled by the gateway. Maybe i'll ask for help in this forum in near future for future.

Worked! Many Thanks

I'd use a DCDC Step up converter (there is a 1-5V to V mentioned in the MySensors shop). For a 5V device I'd not connect directly to the batteries, because the voltage might drop below 5V although the batteries are still far away from beeing empty. You don't want your approach with the diodes (or any other linear voltage regulator) because it wastes expensive energy to produce heat (In order to get the higher voltage down). With 3.3V Device I'd (and will in the near future :) ) try to just use two batteries (without regulator). They'll have 3V max. Voltage and Adrduino Pro mini / nrf24l01 work down to 1.9V - so most if not all of the charge from the battery can be used. (rechargeable batteries shouldn't go below 0.8V so this fits quiet nicely (2*0.85 = 1.9). Additionally I think it might be easier to use the 3.3 V Arduino over the 5V, because more lowpower people use it and because the power consumption typically drops if you use less voltage as long as we are talking about some mA. E.g. Modern CPUs are working <1V to keep down the (thermal) losses. As a last sentence: Designing real low power and battery applications is hard work. It is dependet on sofware but also -maybe somewhat more- on hardware. You must design/find a power supply that matches the application very well and have to think of the parts of your sensor/circuit you can / must switch off. Maybe some of them must be switched off in hardware (cut power supply). Then it is part of the software to re-enable them in the correct sequence and with proper startup times to have everything work. However for a start I'd recommend to try the mentioned ste up converter. But I fear it has a relative large quiescent current because it is able to deliver 500mA which is much. Maybe someone else knows some modules that suit better and have a defined quiescent current. Best regards DirkH

Thanks I'll keep that in mind. But You can never have enough toys and are as common as stepper motors are around an everyday home but open up new possibilities. Sure you could build it though, but having a community working as one is progress [image: upload-e686a1bb-bee7-40ab-9001-265fb0b8b34c.jpg] [image: upload-d223980b-d4f3-4d36-80de-6f64eebe0624.jpg]

@epierre as a battery operated solution I use li-fe battery's they have a lower voltage per cell then lion and lipo so there is no need for any type of voltage regulation witch makes it simple. I just need to watch out not to over discharge the battery, but with 3Ah on a temp/hum sensor that will not be much of a problem ;) OT: seems like a very interesting board with lots of function and usefull stuff. But for $25 I would mutch rather throw my own hardware on a breadboard or protoboard or something.

@diamantmatch It was just the optocoupler approach to control 12V dc from arduino that caught my attention. It's enough with a simple transistor driver to control it. And yes, always have a diode in reverse across the relay coil. If it's 12V relays, you probably already use the same 12V supply to power both relays, and the arduino (maybe with a voltage regulator for providing 5V to the arduino from the 12V rail), and then the optocoupler approach is defeated, as they have a common ground.

@gregl I have messed about with them too, but it seems for me they are not-ready-for-primetime, but with some hard-knocking effort you can get it to do some basic things. Smart guys will develop a great library and it will all come together, I am sure. Spark Core is my new favorite. After sitting on the bench from last year's initial shipment, I finally got to play with it. It is amazing with its tremendous out of the box capabilities. The Photon (which ships april) is only US$19, has 1 Mb of FLASH and 128 Kb of RAM, moving at 120Mhz... wow! Way overkill for a motion sensor, but it brings a lot of life to the world of Home Automation for a small price. ($10 for a surface mount version!!!) I'm in the process of moving my Vera auxiliary controller project over to spark... I'll re-post the wireless version as soon as I can get it in a proper box.

@ferpando @rosskinard Has anyone made any headway on this project?

@hek said: @bluman Candidate for the project contest perhaps? If all my parts turn up from China in time then it should be ready to submit for judging!

For the size and cost I think you better chose an AC powered device. Additional to the link posted by @m26872, @petewill just posted full instructions on how to build this on $8 Lamp (Outlet) "Smart Plug" Module

@gregl said: I think the main reason why most door/window switches are usually NC is so that should a burglar gain access to the wires to the sensor and cup/snip them the alarm would be tripped. Of course in this type of use batteries are not a consideration.... Back to mysensors.... i too like the status sent periodically so i know if a sensor is alive or dead. Fair point. When it really comes down to it, I got started thinking about this in relation to a mailbox sensor. I want to put it there and not touch it for a year. It's flippin cold in Tennessee right now.

@tbowmo said: Hmm only 64MB of ram, and 400Mhz cpu. Seems very small, still it could run a limited Linux system it is designed for openWRT

:) Most will be of the DS18B20 kind. But still, a good silicone sealant around the sensor should still make it watertight. /M

Works fine for me at 3.3V and 16Mhz. Have not had any problems whatsoever.

Thnx. Any specific hints how to do that with this hardware; I will try to get this working with a few pro-mini's as relay, I might have missed this on the educational pages here, but I'm wondering how to start the network / do the roll-out. "The first time a new sensor boots up" section tells me something about that it will find it's way home (which is great, must have cost some time to get this programmed I guess), but my challenge at the moment is to find out how to get this done effectively. Should I start with the gateway and see how far I can get with a single node and replace it at that position with a repaeter node, or can I simply place some repeaters and check with a serial monitor that they contact the gateway? Thanks, Boozz

@funky81 See the link near the top of the (edited) original post, to a thread which follows up on this one. For board designs created by the community, that thread going to be more up to date (and it tracks some information about what's available). This thread was earlier, but lists commercial options as well, so it's still of some value. I'm thinking to let the other thread keep up with community designs, but if you know of a good commercial offering for our purposes, please leave a reply and I'll add it to the list here.