Sketch for Lightning Sensor

[Sparkman]

@jeylites Thanks, I appreciate the offer. July/August are prime thunderstorm season where I live and they are forecasting a possible thunderstorm for today, so I'm hoping to confirm that everything is working today :-)

Cheers
Al

[soward]

I put one of these together a short while ago -- just missed a storm rolling though, but another round might come through later. There's a reference in the code to AS3935_CAPACITANCE and a comment suggesting it be set to "THE NUMBER LISTED ON YOUR BOARD", however I'm seeing no number listed on the board. Am I just over looking it or is it something you derive?

thanx,
JpS

[Sparkman]

@soward So far the thunderstorms have skirted our area, but more to come tonight. Here's hoping ;-)

The Capacitance value is written on the bag the sensor came in. If you don't have the bag anymore, send an email to TechnicalSupport@PlayingWithFusion.com and they should be able to cross reference your order and provide the value. How does your sketch compare to mine?

Cheers
Al

[soward]

@Sparkman great thanx, I do have the bag somewhere in the pile-of-parts-bags. So far I have only used the demo sketch from playingwithfusion, but once it appears to detect something I'll probably use yours as a base and branch out form there. I'm using a Vera so I can try to use VAR_1 as hek suggested.

[hleidecker]

Also, the AS3935 returns the distance in km, but I believe S_DISTANCE is in cm. Is there a way to specify different units or should I have the sketch convert it to cm and then have the controller convert back to km?

The actual value returned can be as large as 16843008. I'll take a look at VAR_1, but don't believe the HomeSeer plugin supports that yet. As a test I used I used V_WATT/S_POWER for now.

Two mechanisms have been implemented in the HomeSeer controller plugin (1.0.5574.17274) to support custom unit strings in the controller UI:

• V_UNIT_PREFIX (only available in the development branch of the MySensors library). The prefix provided in the V_UNIT_PREFIX message will precede the default metric unit (defined by the plugin e.g. m (meter) for the distance sensor). The sensor configuration (metric/imperial) can be set by the user as a property on S_ARDUINO_NODE device via the HomeSeer UI. Please note, the prefix will not take effect when the sensor configuration is set to imperial.
• A user defined unit string. A unit string can be defined by the user. The metric/imperial configuration unit string and unit prefix will be ignored if a user defined unit string exists. The user defined unit string can be set by the user as a property on the device e..g. S_DISTANCE via the HomeSeer UI.

The HomeSeer MySensors plugin is available here.

Best regards,
Henrik

[Sparkman]

@hleidecker Thanks Henrik!

[Sparkman]

Hi all,

Well I was finally home when a thunderstorm rolled through and I was able to test the sensor and the sketch. Even though the sensor appeared to be working at 3.3V, I had to change it to 5V to get it to work properly with the USB powered Nano I have it connected to. I modified the sketch slightly (updated in my earlier post) to no longer send data when disturbers or unknown interrupt sources were detected. It's working great now and just need to put it into a case. I may use a different Arduino as well.

Cheers
Al

[Sparkman]

@hek said:

Sweet. Would you want to create a pull request when you're ready with this example (including AS3935 library)?

Hi Henrik,

Pull request submitted. Hopefully I did it correctly.

Cheers
Al

[hek]

Nice that you finally got some lightings to test your sketch.

Pull request looks all ok!

[Tore André Rosander]

Is it possible to detect the distance to the lightningstrike?
I was thinking to get some sort of detector to notify me if there is ligning registered X km away from my home.

[boozz]

@Tore-André-Rosander

You would need a sound detector for the thunder. Time (in milliseconds) between lightning and thunder times 0.34[m].

Same as you would do it with your own sensors (eyes and ears) :-)

BR,

Boozz

[Sparkman]

@Tore-André-Rosander Yes, the sensor can detect the distance. See the details of the sensor here: http://playingwithfusion.com/productview.php?pdid=22&catid=1001. Although I'm starting to believe that it's actually a lightning repeller rather than a lightning sensor as we've had very little lightning in our area after I installed it :laughing:

Cheers
Al

[alexsh1]

I found a similar sensor in the UK and added this to the list of my to be sensors for the weatherstation. Can I use it inside or it has to be placed outside to have a direct vision?

http://www.embeddedadventures.com/as3935_lightning_sensor_module_mod-1016.html

[Tore André Rosander]

@alexsh1 What i read when researching this chip it can be placed inside.

@Sparkman Nice, i see that it has a detection range about 40km so thats already a pretty good distance to get a notification when lightning is detected.

[alexsh1]

@Sparkman I suppose your wiring diagram above is correct? I noted that the sensor is not working with 3.3V. Did you manage to find what the problem was? Looking at the datasheet http://www.embeddedadventures.com/datasheets/MOD-1016_hw_v8_doc_v4.pdf I can see what the module can operate down to 2.4V

I am going to receive the sensor in a few days and test it.

As I have a different module manufacturer, I may need to change the sketch as it uses a different library. This is unmodified example sketch:

*/

// AS3935 MOD-1016 Lightning Sensor Arduino test sketch
// Written originally by Embedded Adventures


#include <Wire.h>
#include <AS3935.h>

#define IRQ_pin 2

volatile bool detected = false;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  while (!Serial) {}
  Serial.println("Welcome to the MOD-1016 (AS3935) Lightning Sensor test sketch!");
  Serial.println("Embedded Adventures (www.embeddedadventures.com)\n");

  Wire.begin();
  mod1016.init(IRQ_pin);
 
  //Tune Caps, Set AFE, Set Noise Floor
  //autoTuneCaps(IRQ_pin);
  
  mod1016.setTuneCaps(7);
  mod1016.setOutdoors();
  mod1016.setNoiseFloor(5);
  
  
  Serial.println("TUNE\tIN/OUT\tNOISEFLOOR");
  Serial.print(mod1016.getTuneCaps(), HEX);
  Serial.print("\t");
  Serial.print(mod1016.getAFE(), BIN);
  Serial.print("\t");
  Serial.println(mod1016.getNoiseFloor(), HEX);
  Serial.print("\n");

  pinMode(IRQ_pin, INPUT);
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(IRQ_pin), alert, RISING);
  Serial.println("after interrupt");
}

void loop() {
  if (detected) {
    translateIRQ(mod1016.getIRQ());
    detected = false;
  }
}

void alert() {
  detected = true;
}

void translateIRQ(uns8 irq) {
  switch(irq) {
      case 1:
        Serial.println("NOISE DETECTED");
        break;
      case 4:
        Serial.println("DISTURBER DETECTED");
        break;
      case 8: 
        Serial.println("LIGHTNING DETECTED");
        printDistance();
        break;
    }
}

void printDistance() {
  int distance = mod1016.calculateDistance();
  if (distance == -1)
    Serial.println("Lightning out of range");
  else if (distance == 1)
    Serial.println("Distance not in table");
  else if (distance == 0)
    Serial.println("Lightning overhead");
  else {
    Serial.print("Lightning ~");
    Serial.print(distance);
    Serial.println("km away\n");  
  }
}

This is SPI sketch, I'd like to use I2C connection. Generally, the procedure is as follows:

Wait a few milliseconds for the system to stabilise
 Set the tune capacitor to the value indicated on the packaging, by setting the
TUNE_CAP bits of register 8
 Wait 2 milliseconds
 Callibrate RCO by:
o Sending a calibrate RCO direct command (set memory location 0x3d to the
value 0x96)
o Set Register 0x08, bit 5 to 1
o Wait 2 milliseconds
o Set Register 0x08, bit 5 to 0
The factory calibrating tuning cap value will be fine for general use. When you have a
MOD-1016 in an enclosure or close to other electronics it is worth calibrating the tuning
cap again.

[scalz]

can't wait to test this one too ;) i have pcbs for a weather shield (with bme280, veml6070 etc. ) and i have this sensor on it too (https://forum.mysensors.org/uploads/files/1459631385870-stacked.jpg). But not assembled yet, was busy, i hope asap.. i plan to use it with 3v and i2c. @alexsh1 There are libs for i2c if you want :)

Thx @Sparkman for your work on it ;)

[alexsh1]

@scalz yes, please (for i2c lib). What is this red board you have?

[Sparkman]

@alexsh1 @scalz

I'm running my sketch with I2C now, rather than SPI. I found the sensor would lock up occassionally, so recently converted it and am still testing it. I have mine running at 5v now as well instead of 3.3v, but it works fine with either.

I'll post an updated sketch (and wiring diagram) soon. I based both the spi and i2c sketches on the examples found here: http://playingwithfusion.com/productview.php?pdid=22&catid=1001.

Cheers
Al

[alexsh1]

@Sparkman Thanks. Your sketch is very much appreciated. I'll have to adopt it anyway as I have a different manufacture and there is a certain process I have to follow to get it initiated (posted above).

[alexsh1]

Absolutely delighted with the module I have received today by post. The weather is sh@t tonight (lightning, rain etc.) which means that I can test it:

Welcome to the MOD-1016 (AS3935) Lightning Sensor test sketch!
TUNE	IN/OUT	NOISEFLOOR
6	10010	5

after interrupt
DISTURBER DETECTED
DISTURBER DETECTED
DISTURBER DETECTED
DISTURBER DETECTED
DISTURBER DETECTED
LIGHTNING DETECTED
Lightning ~27km away

DISTURBER DETECTED
DISTURBER DETECTED
LIGHTNING DETECTED
Lightning ~17km away

DISTURBER DETECTED
LIGHTNING DETECTED
Lightning ~10km away

I calibrated the sensor and put a reasonable "noise floor". Now I have to convert it into MySensors and hook up to the ceech board outside.

@Sparkman I have my sensor running at 3.3V