Sipping means "using very little". Like sipping water form a cup means taking a long time to finish the drink.

And of course what you are saying is very true if you are trying to teach people real programming. The project I'm working on is not getting close to that though.

@rozpruwacz Please don't make assumptions. All will be revealed in due time

And for the hardware I'm using

being turned off + sipping power when window is open

uses less power than

sipping power all the time

@mfalkvidd But if I build it into the gateway, then it will work with all existing controllers. Otherwise I would have to get new code into all the different controllers.

@frits, unfortunately not, as the project I'm working on is designed for beginners.

For these sensors I will use the BBC Micro:bit, which has all kinds of sensors on board. So I suspect I can't really do what you ask. Or better put: I myself am not good enough at programming to create this.

I could also use Arduino Nano's embedded in Nano Wireless Expansion Boards, which are great for beginners. But this means their base current is always 5Ma while powered, which would cost a lot of battery. The people I'm giving the workshops to might just be able to handle wiring those boards to a 9v battery.

@zboblamont @parachutesj Thanks! Good to hear your perspectives.

I always do it this way. Using this:
https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/9696/i-got-a-plug-and-play-nrf24-shield-for-the-pi-on-aliexpress

Congratulations

@zboblamont But I want to help the controller understand the complexity of the device it's talking to. Right now it is told this:

PARENT

• child
• child
• child
• child
• child

All I'm asking us to explore is adding another level:

PARENT

• Group
• • child
• • child
• Group
• • child
• • child
• • child

I think it would be very useful.

• Devices like NRF52 are getting more powerful and have more pins. This may make people want to integrate devices into one hardware form. A thermostat with a BME280 could at the same time present a weather station. A smart clock could at the same time present a security motion sensor. A plant irrigation sensor could at the same time present an air quality sensor.
• It would be more user friendly. It's nice if you can tell the controller how to initially set up the interface for the user, instead of just dumping all the children on them and going "Ask the user to sort and group this stuff". Controllers tend to think in devices, and accept and represent them as such (with Domoticz being an exception).

You can now buy the USB-stick version for $22 on Aliexpress without shipping.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NRF52840-Dongle/32946349826.html

For $15 there is an expansion-less USB-stick:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Nordic-nRF52840-BLE-dongle-bluetooth-4-0-bluetooth-5-0-for-computer/32951812498.html

Little dev boards for $30:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NRF52840-Development-board-Bluetooth-5-Bluetooth-low-power-consumption/32935228197.html

And this interesting dev board for $33:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Nrf52840-development-board/32921005555.html

And a larger one with integrated ESP32 for $42:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Nrf52840-development-board-ESP32-development-board-Mini/32921001572.html

NRF52840 Dongle

$22.00

NRF52840 Development board Bluetooth 5 Bluetooth low power consumption

$28.48

@mfalkvidd I don't mind that MySensors uses one node I per device "under the hood". But perhaps the gateway could present the one device as 6 separate devices to the controller? And when it gets requests for one of those 6 devices, it just merges things back?

@Gerard-van-Seventer I have also not had any problems with Domoticz receiving data. I send data only once per second (so sending data for 6 sensors takes 6 seconds).

Thanks!!