Navigation

    • Register
    • Login
    • Search
    • OpenHardware.io
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    1. Home
    2. ceech
    • Profile
    • Following
    • Followers
    • Topics
    • Posts
    • Best
    • Groups

    ceech

    @ceech

    Hardware Contributor

    70
    Reputation
    168
    Posts
    2378
    Profile views
    9
    Followers
    0
    Following
    Joined Last Online

    ceech Follow
    Hardware Contributor

    Best posts made by ceech

    • Super capacitor charger/balancer with system backup

      The board charges super capacitors and balances them when the system voltage is available. If this power rail fails, super capacitors power bank takes over and sends power back to the power rail - it acts as uninterruptible power supply.
      0_1496900313510_IMG_0015_800.jpg
      Two capacitors are connected in series, pairs in parallel.
      System voltage can be from 3.3V up to 5V. Charging current is 600mA. Backup voltage is 3.15V. The main IC is LTC3110 and it handles all functions of the board.
      0_1496900435207_IMG_0017_800.jpg
      This board is intended to be a test board for super capacitor chargers and can supply backup power for limited amounts of time.
      10 boards will shortly be available for sale and design files will be available at OpenHardware.

      posted in Hardware
      ceech
      ceech
    • 3D pictures from EagleCAD files

      Would you like to make some 3D pictures of your PCB? Like this one:
      IoT_Pro_011_NRF24.png
      Or some closeups like those:
      All_four.png
      You can do it with a tool that's called EagleUP. EagleUP exports the data from EagleCAD to Google Sketchup. There you can view, modify and export 3D models.
      To run eagleUp you need to download and install:

      Cadsoft Eagle
      Sketchup
      ImageMagick and
      EagleUP

      Here is a nice tutorial:
      https://eagleup.wordpress.com/installation-and-setup/

      Enjoy.

      posted in General Discussion
      ceech
      ceech
    • Ceech board upgrade

      The board will receive a new design with TP4056 battery charger.
      0_1468676002946_IoT_Pro_01_V3.png
      Charge current and battery voltage will be reported on ADC6 and ADC7.
      Mosfet will be available for external load regulation. It is connected to D3.
      There are three sockets for:
      bluetooth
      NRF24l01+ and
      I2C modules.

      posted in Hardware
      ceech
      ceech
    • Energy harvester

      Here are two new boards. Their purpose is to replace batteries in wireless sensor nodes in places where batteries are not appropriate, available or recommended for use.

      The first one is a Thermal Energy Harvester which uses thermopile or thermoelectric generator as a power source:
      1-DSC_0469.jpg
      This board uses a transformer to step-up the voltage and works with voltages as low as 20mV. Here is an intended use:
      Tipical_use.jpg
      There are three outputs:
      Vout
      Vout2 and
      VLDO
      Vout and VLDO turn on as soon as the voltage on those pins is within regulation and Vout2 turns on when the Vout2_EN signal receives a high on its pin from a microcontroller, for example.

      And the second one is a Solar Energy Harvester which is powered by a small 5 - 20V solar cell:
      1-20150825_102109.jpg
      The IC can operate with up to 60V of input voltage and has a built-in CC and CV algorithm.
      There are also some settings available for this one:
      Settings.png
      User can choose output voltage and charge current and also MPPT point of solar cell.
      This power supply can act as a battery charger as well.

      Both boards are designed to fit on top of sensor board:
      1-DSC_0470.jpg
      to help with connections

      posted in My Project
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Sensor board w/ liPo charger and fuel gauge +BMP180 +HTU21

      Finally managed to put all things together and made the first two test boards. They look like this:
      03.jpg
      Main new features are LTC4067 lithium battery charger and XC6210, a low consumption voltage regulator.

      The board comes with a Torex XC6210 3.3V voltage regulator . It has low power consumption of 35μA, while delivering at least 700mA. Voltage drop is 50mV @ 100mA.

      LTC4067 battery charger with Automatic Battery Charging/Load Switchover

      It provides power for the circuit and charges the backup single-cell lithium battery while greatly extends battery life. You can monitor the voltages and currents. It has suspend mode, which reduces current consumption to around 40μA. The power source is a small, 5V solar cell. Connections:

      analog input A1 on ATmega 328 is FAULT signal from LTC4067
      analog input A0 on ATmega328 is battery voltage
      analog input A2 is solar cell voltage
      analog input A6 is input current ( I=V/R x 1000 )
      analog input A7 is battery charge current ( I=V/R x 1000 )
      digital output A9 - drive it high to put LTC4067 in SUSPEND mode

      The two trimmer potentiometers are used to determine the current for both the input side - to better match the internal resistance of the solar cell - and for the battery charge current. At shipping they are both set to about 2.5kOhm, which set both currents to about 75mA. Please refer to technical data sheet of LTC4067 for more information. It is available here:
      Official web page for LTC4067

      Or, ask me.

      This is the back side of the board with place for BMP180, HTU21 and EEPROM chip:
      03_02.jpg

      posted in Hardware
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: 110v-230v AC to Mysensors PCB board

      There is something similar I'm working on. Although mine is more like a solid state relay. And it can be used as an AC dimmer. But has the same concept with AC-DC converter. I used one from Vigortronix. It has a 3.3V output.
      20150619_152947.jpg

      Here it is controlled with Bluetooth serial connection
      20150619_153015-1.jpg
      This is how the board looks like
      board_01.png
      If anyone wants it, let me know.

      @aproxx I like your form factor. Great find with that AC-DC converter.

      posted in Hardware
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Recommendation for 12V battery power

      The charger can be something like this one:
      http://www.ebay.com/itm/LM2596-DC-DC-Step-down-Adjustable-CC-CV-Power-Supply-Module-Converter-LED-driver-/191673918658?hash=item2ca0a7e4c2:g:4H4AAOSwMmBVo4rQ

      It has a buck converter with constant current and constant voltage settings which is what batteries need. It can charge any kind of battery with proper float voltage and current settings. If you would go with 4 lithium cells in series you can use the same module to charge the batteries and use it to drive LEDs. Multiple cell lithium batteries normally also need a balancing circuit. Not absolutely necessary, although recommended.

      Here is a link to a video on driving LEDs with this converter:
      High Power LED Tutorial #1 - How to Drive 1W and 3W LEDs from 12 Volts – 07:56
      — Julian Ilett

      posted in Hardware
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: How best to find the "best" small solar panel of a particular size?

      Anyone interested in super capacitors.
      I'm working on a backup super capacitor storage board. It connects directly to the power rail and charges and balances super capacitors bank. When and if power fails the board steps in and provides power to the circuit.
      0_1495606993310_IMG_0008_800.jpg
      It is based on LTC3110 super capacitor bi-directional charging IC.

      posted in Hardware
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @mfalkvidd Removing --my-controller-ip-address did in fact solve the issue.
      Thank you for your help.
      So, to sum up, these are commands to be used when configuring Gateway for Domoticz ethernet (LAN) connection:

      ./configure --my-transport=nrf24 --my-gateway=ethernet
      
      make
      sudo make install
      
      sudo systemctl enable mysgw.service # << adding to boot
      sudo systemctl start mysgw.service # << starting
      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • EU flag development board

      There is a project I've been working on that I would like to share. It is not a sensor board for home automation, it is more like a development board. There are some sensors on it which can be used, though. It has BMP180 temperature sensor, a LSM9DS1 3D accelerometer, gyroscope & magnetometer and real time clock. This is how it looks like:
      0_1476359730235_EU flag_top_mala.png

      0_1476359579827_EU flag_bottom_mala.png

      The idea is to use those sensors and display its values on the front of the board. Time for example. Microcontroller is an ATmega 2560 with mega bootloader and is Arduino compatible. It can be powered with a rechargeable coin battery or via USB. I'm working on a prototype at the moment and it will soon be ready.
      I made it because I would like to show that Europeans are as much proud of their heritage as Americans and lately Britons.
      Is there someone who would like to help write some code for it? And what do you think about it?

      posted in My Project
      ceech
      ceech

    Latest posts made by ceech

    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @mfalkvidd First thing one does is to follow instructions exactly and hope things will work out. They don't. You try a different type of connection. Which one? Why one or the other? Which option among the same type? It doesn't work, either. Now, you are thinking, ok this guide is for several controllers, so how do I adapt it for my specific case.
      The point being, you can't adapt the instructions on your own. You have to ask someone who's done it before and knows what commands to use in order to make Gateway connect to the specific controller.
      For example: using
      --my-gateway=ethernet --my-controller-url-address=YOUR-CONTROLLER-ADDRESS
      will never connect your Gateway to Domoticz. How can one know that this is the line to be modified?

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @mfalkvidd Of course. Skipping test is a bad idea. It is obvious, though that people who resort to asking questions on the forum have tried the test step several times to try and figure things out for themselves. Maybe if the https://www.mysensors.org/build/raspberry wasn't misleading they would even succeed.

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @mfalkvidd Removing --my-controller-ip-address did in fact solve the issue.
      Thank you for your help.
      So, to sum up, these are commands to be used when configuring Gateway for Domoticz ethernet (LAN) connection:

      ./configure --my-transport=nrf24 --my-gateway=ethernet
      
      make
      sudo make install
      
      sudo systemctl enable mysgw.service # << adding to boot
      sudo systemctl start mysgw.service # << starting
      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @mfalkvidd Right. This is the Domoticz's part of the setting
      0_1505841041884_Untitled.png
      And I configured Gateway like this:
      ./configure --my-transport=nrf24 --my-gateway=ethernet --my-controller-ip-address=192.168.1.120

      make
      sudo make install

      sudo systemctl enable mysgw.service # << adding to boot
      sudo systemctl start mysgw.service # << starting

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @NeverDie There are two serial ports available in Domoticz. Right? And you have to specify which one you are using in Gateway configuration. Right?

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @mfalkvidd It's a good advice, unfortunately it didn't resolve the problem.

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @NeverDie I have no idea.

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      @mfalkvidd @NeverDie I tried all sorts of combinations. Like for example:
      ./configure --my-transport=nrf24
      ./configure --my-gateway=serial
      ./configure --my-serial-is-pty
      ./configure --my-serial-pty=/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway

      and in Domoticz MySensors Gateway USB with dev/ttyAMA0

      then
      ./configure --my-transport=nrf24
      ./configure --my-gateway=ethernet
      ./configure --my-controller-ip-address=192.168.1.120
      and in Domoticz MySensors Gateway with LAN

      I used other different combinations and this is as close to the connection as I could get
      0_1505839132337_Domoticz.png
      I feel like I'm missing something.

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • RE: Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      I tried sudo ./bin/mysgw -d and the Gateway seems to be listening

      0_1505829110671_Gateway.png
      What can I do next?

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech
    • Connecting Gateway to Domoticz

      Decided to switch to Domoticz, ran into problem.
      So, Domoticz
      0_1505828508978_Domoticz.png
      and Gateway
      https://www.mysensors.org/build/raspberry
      got installed.
      How does one make them talk to each other? Any help is appreciated.

      posted in Domoticz
      ceech
      ceech