General Discussion

@skywatch My pleasure

@mfalkvidd Today it did some real testing with the actual setup (not a test node) and it is all working really well so far. I was expecting to have to use limit switches to detect up and down limits, with microswitches to provide emergency power cut out to the motors if it overran. I even considered timing the motion too (done this with Crestron systems and curtains in the past). But I have had two really great surprises...... The little stepper motors, when set within their comfort zone, are very precise. It looks like just counting steps is all that is required. The steppers draw just 77mA when opening the blind. This is such good news for me as solar powered blinds (with li-ion or lead acid battery) will last all year! Big thanks to you all for the hints and finding where I mis-understood. It won't be easy, but I will get there in the end. ;)

@pihome awesome, thanks heaps! I'll check it that video later today 👍

thanks all the design has changed I plan to heat some medium and have the water pass though a head exchanger what way standing water will never be consumed later there is a commercial product called sunamp which is designed for this purpose

Wow! It is interesting! I did not know that this is possible, thanks guys, I'll try in the evening :)

@zboblamont It's not very wasteful if you're not using them for anything else anyway. I'd rather use some extra code than extra hardware.

thanks @Anticimex

@skywatch while i obviously agree with the fact that i we can best change channels, i figured that while we're at it we might as well add encryption too. I don't insist on using any specific channel. I couldn't care less what channel's being used :) That said, i tried recompiling my pi gateway wih the password and one sensor to start with using #define MY_ENCRYPTION_SIMPLE_PASSWD "mypassword" (shut off all other sensors). But i'm seeing all sorts of erroneous messages coming by, the one node is showing up on the gateway as a different ID every time. I'll whip up a simple serial gateway next time i get the chance and try to use #define MY_ENCRYPTION_SIMPLE_PASSWD "mypassword" on both to see if the problem lies with how i configure the pi gateway THanks for all the input everyone so far

I agree you have centered all the critical points: Ordering a pcb, all components and then soldering it is quite a barrier for "ordinary" people. Absolutely true! In fact my plan is to start a second Kickstarter campaign to sell some pre-assembled boards, if there are enough people interested and the feedback form the first campaign (not assembled pcb) is good. I have opened the d-diot website Friday, so the entire project is still a baby and I don't have a clear view of the next steps :grin: . In any case a final goal could be also a full finished product (case + board + Raspberry). For the ordinary user this will mean "plug in, take out your smartphone and play" What keeps you from having it open source and still sell assembled boards? In this moment only one "irrational fear" (please note the "" :wink: ).... loosing the possibility to keep the project sustainable and self-sufficient from an economical point of view (chinese clone, in other words). But I agree opening the hardware will improve and speed up the development and, at the end, the quality of the final product. The open source model works and this is a a fact (see Linux and Arduino). I think that a viable solution for me in this moment is to open at least the schematics; I'm evaluating this possibility from two days. 90% would buy a pre-made board from you. Yes I believe that too. Unfortunately the final price of a fully assembled board will be not so low, probably around 40-50€ (estimated), because today the assembly is not so cheap as the pcb manufacturing and the value of the components + radio modules is around 25€ (see here). So I prefer to keep also the DIY way open. Of course the price of a fully assembled board will drop with a massive production. Sorry for the long post but I think that there are great possibilities around the open source home automation, which is a good thing also for privacy and security, especially now in the cloud era, but, in my opinion, the problem is that the various projects (and there are many!) are fragmented and not integrated in a simple and plug&play solution for the normal user. In fact d-diot is born from this consideration. I have not talked about the other ideas / consideration to improve the experience of the others makers and that can generate some incomes to support the development, but for this post, I have already wasted enough bits with my bla bla bla, so I will proceed, if some other people are interested.

@zboblamont Thank you! - I didn't know if it was possible to send as a float or not. Now it is working as expected - :)

@mouskichab What controller package do you use? Does your controller have a scheduling option?

You don’t need MySensors for this, PubSubClient will do what you need.

Hello @hohm I added the code block to your message. Is the "Pumpe()" function your attempt for the second cycle, or do you want to add a second cycle to the Pumpe() function ? Because from what I see it's doing what you ask ? If humidity percentage is below limit activate pump, when pumped volume is over specified volume stop the pump, and after "fiveMinutes" are passed, reset the counter.

My mini board. [image: 1556711451754-photo_2019-05-01_14-50-00-resized.jpg]

@terence-faul said in Battery reporting: is it possible to implement battery reporting as in Battery status report is probably doable though work is ongoing in GNOME to have this systemwide and integrated into the proper config panels. Likewise with notifications, I'd rather have gnome send this in a generic manner for all battery-powered devices.