Sensebender Micro

[FotoFieber]

Playing with 2.0 I wanted to upgrade my sensebenders but I didn't find the sketch (neither in the main distribution nor in the examples folder).

Is there a version 2.0 compatible sketch?

[hek]

Yep, it was moved to the Sensebender repo during the 2.0 release:

https://github.com/mysensors/SensebenderMicro/blob/master/Arduino/SensebenderMicro/SensebenderMicro.ino

[Anticimex]

@FotoFieber it is low located in the SenseBender repo in GitHub

[FotoFieber]

@Anticimex
Thx. This is an old version. I found a newer on my hard drive (old development branch). As I do only need temp/hum, I reduced the sketch and it is working fine.

[Anticimex]

@FotoFieber @tbowmo isn't the one in the SenseBender repo supposed to be the latest&greatest?

[tbowmo]

@Anticimex @FotoFieber

Yup, it was moved over from development branch on the release night. So should be the latest and greatest

[jovo]

Hi!
I am in process of upgrading my Sensebenders to V2.0 and like to enable the OTA function.

Who can give me some pointers on the capabilities of OTA for this Sensebender Micro board?
I know that has external flash for this purpose, but i am stuggling a bit finding how to use it.
So I am keen to read information on dependencies of the Sensebender sketch as well as the controller options.
My environment:
6x Sensebender
Wifi based Gateway
Domoticz as controller

Things I like to know:

• Is my sensebender shipped with optiboot bootloader? (have them about 1 year now)?
• do i require special Gateway software? (i noticed a sketch called something like GatewayESP8266OTA)
• what can i expect from Domoticz? probably not much, so do i need to connect to another controller (e.g. MYSController) to perform an update?
• What controller is advised for the standard bootloader (optiboot bootloader)?

I am sure those things are discussed in the past, but I was unable to find it.
Would be great if somebody can share a howto or wiki on this topic.

thanks in advance

[tbowmo]

@jovo

Sensebender is delivered with "DualOptiboot" which uses the external flash.

To enable OTA with 2.0.0, you have to compile your sketches with

#define MY_OTA_FIRMWARE_FEATURE

enabled. For controller / Gateway, you need something else than domoticz. I haven't tried OTA firmware upgrades myself yet, so I do not have any experience with what works, and what doesn't work, other than the fact that domoticz doesn't support OTA..

[TheoL]

Today I soldered the headers to a new sensebender and try to start it. I've uploaded the 2.0 example but it can't find the gateway:

Started
Starting sensor (RNONA-, 2.0.0)
TSM:INIT
TSM:RADIO:OK
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
!TSM:FPAR:FAIL
!TSM:FAILURE
TSM:PDT

My other sense benders worked flawelessly. But this one can't communicate. Does anyone have any idea, what might be wrong?

[alexsh1]

@TheoL I have exactly the same issue with one of the nodes though not the sensebender.
All other nodes work just fine.
Take a look:

https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/4723/tsp-chkupl-fail

[Qu3Uk]

@TheoL I had this problem last night, its unable to find the parent/gateway. I ended up swapping out the radio with one I'd extended the antenna on and it worked. I then attached a piece of wire to the original radio and that was worked too. I put it down to knock off components.

I think there is a video detailing the correct length etc.

[TheoL]

Solved. I had forgotten to config the correct baudrate. My network is on one 1 mbyte, because of the mixed NRF24L01 and NRF24L01+ radios.

[stefaanv]

I get "not in sync" errors from avrdude if I try uploading a sketch to the sensorbender.
I do have correct serial communication, when I open the serial monitor, I get the info from the default sketch (which unfortunately uses the 1.4.1 API).
I tried with a different SenseBender board, same result. Tried with an older IDE version (1.6.9) on an other computer, same result.
Any suggestions ?

avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x20
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x2d
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x20
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 4 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x4f
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 5 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6e
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 6 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6c
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 7 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x69
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 8 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x6e
An error occurred while uploading the sketch
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 9 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x65
avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 10 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x21

[alexsh1]

@stefaanv sounds like you have a wrong board in Arduino. Did you install the correct board in Arduino IDE? I'm programming the Sensebender in 1.6.9 via the FTDI adapter without any difficulties

[stefaanv]

@alexsh1 I'm using the Uno board. Which one should I use ? Can't find anything in the SenseBender page.

[alexsh1]

@stefaanv well, that's the problem - you must install Sensebender Micro (or I think you can use Arduino Pro Mini 3.3V) board. You MUST NOT provide more than 3.3V otherwise you may damage the board or radio. Please double check

Please refer to this link below to install the correct board in Arduino:

https://github.com/mysensors/ArduinoBoards

[stefaanv]

@alexsh1 Thanks, got it working now.

[jovo]

Is there anybody who can comment if the battery usage is increased in V2.0?

I feel that my batteries are draining faster then with 1.4 I had installed before.

Also I am seeing issues with the Force Retransmit. I dont see this working either. it just transmits when Transmit_Treshhold is kicked.

My sketch is pretty default. As far as I can see, I only turned Batt_Sensor on.

[mvader]

@jovo what is your usage? I'm getting 8+ months easily
I have a sensor in my deep freeze, been there for 8+ months and still working fine.

[jovo]

@mvader Hi,
I guess you are not for 8 months on v2?
I had a long time on the previous version as well.
Haven't done the measurements, but I noticed my batteries were depleted quickly since v2 was on.
I am more concerned about the fact that the force transmission doesn't seem to be working.