💬 NModule Temperature, Humidity, Light, Door sensor shield

[openhardware.io]

https://www.openhardware.io/view/398/NModule-Temperature-Humidity-Light-Door-sensor-shield

[dakipro]

Hi @Nca78 I would assume that these are tested and working fine with NModule? :)
Thought on ordering them together with nmodule, save few bucks on the shipping...
Or should I wait some more for hardware to be tested?
Thanks!

[Nca78]

Hello @dakipro !
Thank you for the donation I'll invest it on a NModule PCB ;)

I have not completely tested this one, the best is you wait a few days I will finish testing in priority. No reason for any problem as it's just a small evolution of a previous unpublished version that's running fine, but it's just to be safe.

With what sensors/reed switches are you planning to use it ? with smd of through hole leds ?

[dakipro]

I didn't order any components yet so I am open for suggestions, I was thinking your "favourite combination: SMD SI7021 for temperature and humidity and a MAX44009 for light: both are very low power and both are precise and reliable."

I was thinking about making universal switch, basically using all that board has to offer (light, temp, hum, door), that I can mount in all the rooms. I guess adding a pir would be pushing it, both for size and perhaps for battery (I could use aaa thought). I need ~9 of sensors for each door/room. Probably don't need hum and temp for each, since hallway is pretty close to all the doors, but light and doors are primary features.
If that gets received well into "the family" then I might get another 7-8 for all the windows.
About the casing, I do not have the 3d printer yet, but I could try with something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plastic-Enclosure-Case-DIY-Electronics-Project-Box-Electrical-Equipment-1908-TB-/352080246357?hash=item51f99e3655:g:TrIAAOSwvTxUlQKf and painting them white(er) to match the door frames. They are 46mm wide inside, a bit shy for 5cm board, but enough for two AAA, and for compact nmodule.

About the LEDs, I didn't quite get the purpose of those? What would they show?
If it is status of doors etc, then I wont be installing them.
But if (now my imagination steps in) they could be controller from gateway in a maner that you can signal some event with them blinking or lighting.. then perhaps :)

[Nca78]

@dakipro said in 💬 NModule Temperature, Humidity, Light, Door sensor shield:

I didn't order any components yet so I am open for suggestions, I was thinking your "favourite combination: SMD SI7021 for temperature and humidity and a MAX44009 for light: both are very low power and both are precise and reliable."

For si7021 I'm very happy with accuracy and reproductibility for temperature, I'm more mitigated with humidity. As explained in the datasheet if they stay too long with high humidity they will start to report a value that's too high when humidity gets lower. But for bedrooms it should be fine.

I was thinking about making universal switch, basically using all that board has to offer (light, temp, hum, door), that I can mount in all the rooms. I guess adding a pir would be pushing it, both for size and perhaps for battery (I could use aaa thought). I need ~9 of sensors for each door/room. Probably don't need hum and temp for each, since hallway is pretty close to all the doors, but light and doors are primary features.
Yes for PIR you would need either AAA or CR123, and for that one there's another NModule shield for both PIR (AM612) and light sensor :P
I'm not sure it's a great idea to put everything on one board as it's not convenient to put temperature sensor near the door, it will report wrong values every time you open the door. And putting only door sensor with normally opened + normally closed reed switch allows extremely long battery life with a CR2032.

If that gets received well into "the family" then I might get another 7-8 for all the windows.
About the casing, I do not have the 3d printer yet, but I could try with something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plastic-Enclosure-Case-DIY-Electronics-Project-Box-Electrical-Equipment-1908-TB-/352080246357?hash=item51f99e3655:g:TrIAAOSwvTxUlQKf and painting them white(er) to match the door frames. They are 46mm wide inside, a bit shy for 5cm board, but enough for two AAA, and for compact nmodule.

You should get a 3D printer :P I bought this one for just over 200$ with shipping and you have only a few part to attach before you can start printing.
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Reprap-Prusa-i3-3D-Printer-Cabinet-Base-Easy-assembly-Aluminum-frame-more-stable-safer-The-whole/2395046_32720136567.html

About the LEDs, I didn't quite get the purpose of those? What would they show?
If it is status of doors etc, then I wont be installing them.
But if (now my imagination steps in) they could be controller from gateway in a maner that you can signal some event with them blinking or lighting.. then perhaps :)
No on battery powered node it's not a great idea to use them as signals managed from controller.
I use them to blink in green color when data is sent, and when battery is low they blink in red color. You could use only the red led to warn you when battery gets low.

[dakipro]

What are the dimensions of the module (or the box you are showing, if possible from inside?)
3d printer is on the shopping list, but since we just moved in new apartment, it is pretty low on the list :( (wife thinks we really need a sofa and other details)
So I am trying to find some enclosures on ebay that will suit the modules

[Nca78]

@dakipro said in 💬 NModule Temperature, Humidity, Light, Door sensor shield:

What are the dimensions of the module (or the box you are showing, if possible from inside?)
3d printer is on the shopping list, but since we just moved in new apartment, it is pretty low on the list :( (wife thinks we really need a sofa and other details)
So I am trying to find some enclosures on ebay that will suit the modules

Same here, moving soon but I managed to get the 3D printer before the belt tightening period :D
You can still suggest to 3D print those futile things like sofa, table, chairs etc

I just measured the board you see on picture on the left (temp + light):

• length 40mm
• width 22.5mm, it will be 25mm if you don't cut the part for through-hole led or if you put reed switch on the side
• height a bit less than 15mm

[dakipro]

Great, I think this case should fit nicely. http://www.ebay.com/itm/5PCS-Small-Desk-top-Plastic-Enclosure-Box-Case-White-51x36x20mm-CASE-025-A1-5/192269740428
Internally it is 43 x 28(30) x 16 . Almost perfect for us without much choice (read: without 3d printer) :)

[Nca78]

Hello, I have tested the following things on this shield :

• i2c sensors
• door sensor: simple reed switch and NO/NC reed switch
• led: through hole and SMD
• running on CR2032 battery

Everything is fine, so I'm removing the "work in progress" flag :)

[dakipro]

Awesome!

Just a question, the CR2032 battery would be "sandwiched" between the nmodule and the shields?

Also, if the shield is not used, then the battery would be on the same side where the radio is (based on photos), but are you then using the "power" part of the board as the shield? Or wiring it manually? Or does the "power" part acts as another "power shield"?
Would be great if you could elaborate this part, maybe on the nmodule itself, about how to assemble it together with the cr2032 battery (or maybe I missed something :( )

p.s. you can update the shields description in the table with shields on the main module https://www.openhardware.io/view/364/NModule#tabs-instructions

[Nca78]

@dakipro yes it is, you can see the edge of the CR2032 on the first picture in NModule project.

You have 2 different way to do it for the battery:

• use shield with CR2032 holder, like this one of the ADXL shield, in this case the battery is inserted from the side between NModule and the shield
• use "power" part of the NModule, in this case the CR2032 holder and capacitor on the shield are left empty, the board is wider but it will be thinner because you can put the shield very close to NModule

It just depends on what is more suitable for your use case, what enclosure you found etc.

Here are some images I think it will makes things more clear than writing 3 pages of explanations.
(I use those for testing so I use headers to be able to plug various shields, of course final soldered boards should be soldered to be more thin and more rigid)

NModule with "power" part used for CR2032 and 2xAAA:

NModule with no "power" part and using the CR2032 on the Door/TH sensor shield:

[dakipro]

I am probably annoying you with the questions, but I do hope they will benefit the board and the modules :)
One more about magnetic reed switches, you are recommending the ones that are registering both open and closed, due to battery consumption. And it makes sense to use them, but I would like to use them outside the module casing, and it is difficult to find them with their own casing, like the "normally closed" ones (case only improves waf, but still important... :) ).
Does it make significant difference for doors that open-close 5-10 times a day, is it worth the hassle to go for 3 pin ones and somehow improvise on the casing, or is it easier to just buy more batteries :)

[Nca78]

@dakipro the problem is not the number of opening of the doors. It's the time the door stays closed. Because with "normal" reed switch when the magnet is in front the switch is closed and you have some current flowing through the reed switch. It's not catstrophic but it will probably cut the battery life in half.
You can find them on aliexpress they are not very expensive, and I see no reason to put the reed outside of casing, I suppose it's to hide the case away from view, but then you have a wire from your case to the door and it's pretty ugly too :P

[dakipro]

Well I can do it the easy way as you are describing it :)

Half the battery time is significant then. I now opened one of the "simple" reeds that have their own enclosure, and it is possible to remove 2 pin reed and replace it with 3pin one (just dig out hot glue). Thin white wire from nmodule to the reed should not be noticeable in the frame.

Red is the reed switch, and yes I can put the module on the corner of the doors and have it hidden since most of the doors are open entire day. But in a few years when we redecorate I am planning to get 5V-12V in all the rooms, it will approximately come on the green circle, then I can hide entire nmodule inside the wall, and just have a thin wire to the reed sensor. (I will probably even put reed inside the frame of the doors and put wire inside the wall, but I need a proof of concept for now :) )

[dakipro]

@Nca78 can you please check the "drill holes" file in the source for this shield, I was testing pcbs.io and it complained about "Gerber Normalization Failed For Layer: Drill Holes". (all works fine for the main nModule)

On oshpark I get "I can't find a board outline file." (I get this error on oshpark for all the boards/layouts)

[Nca78]

@dakipro I will have a look ASAP at the Gerber files, I don't have access to my computer at the moment

[Nca78]

@dakipro I just tested on pcbs.io and :

• if I put all the "design" files folder in the zip I upload, I have a "duplicate drill file" error
• if I remove the product.txt file (which is a "legal" thing related to license but has same txt extension than drill files) then pcbs.io seems happy with the upload and shows me the "drill holes" images

[dakipro]

Ahh... its been a few years since I ordered a pcb last time, forgot all the details :)
Thank you, it works like you described it, I am now looking forward to making the modules :)

btw, I found out that local library has a 3d printer I could use, so I am hoping to make a few different/similar cases for the modules.
I am also considering the motion sensor together with light/temp/door... But I will start "simpler" for now, also waiting for your progress report on the nModule motion shield for the best sensor to pick

Thanks again

[dakipro]

hi, I was just playing around with the code while I wait for the boards, and I noticed the use of
ArduinoSystemStatus library, as mentioned in the code

#include <SystemStatus.h>   // Get it here:  https://github.com/cano64/ArduinoSystemStatus

But the library on github does not have a getVCCPercent() method as used in the code on line 262

currentBatteryPercent = SystemStatus().getVCCPercent(BATTERY_VCC_MIN, BATTERY_VCC_MAX);

Do you remember where did you download SystemStatus from, I couldn't find anything on google nor github.
The code does not compile with library from the link above (as method is missing). I guess it is not difficult to replace it, but perhaps it is worth mentioning.

[Nca78]

@dakipro yes it's strange, all reference I find when looking for the method point to MySensors forum.
I don't remember writing this method, but I probably did. I will either make a proper fork of the library, or update my code to include the GetVccPercent method.
Before that here is the method
In h file in "public:" :

    int getVCCPercent(int vccMin, int vccMax);

In c file :

int SystemStatus::getVCCPercent(int vccMin, int vccMax) {
	int vcc = getVCC();
	if (vcc > vccMax) {
		return 100;
	}
	else if (vcc < vccMin) {
		return 0;
	}
	else {
		return (10 * (vcc - vccMin)) / ((vccMax - vccMin) / 10);
	}
}