Posts made by Chaotic

I made a night light for my son and just used V_VARs
I used the fastLED library And this code to decode from 255,255,255 that I was sending from the controller

https://codebender.cc/sketch:90239

Last time it came up http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1148/need-help-with-turning-a-led-on-off-with-openhab-and-mqtt/4

This came up before.
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1085/node-to-node-communication

Basically when the sensor sends the data to the controller you can have it send the same data to the LCD. That would most likely provide a longer battery life than requesting the data from the sensors. Doing it this way only the LCD (and the controller) have to be on all the time.

I have the 16 LED version and 5 of the diffused LEDs. So far I've only ended up using 2 of the diffused LEDs for a sleep light for my 4yr old.

Haven't found any other real uses for them. I've thought of getting some of the strips and doing lighting since then I wouldn't need to replace bulbs/switches but so far I have been unable to get wife approval.

If you are running MQTT there is a gateway that supports that or if you can read serial input you could use the serial gateway.

You would probably want to look at the Serial protocol and the Full API

@kunall There is V_VAR1-5 actually

V_VAR1	24	Custom value
V_VAR2	25	Custom value
V_VAR3	26	Custom value
V_VAR4	27	Custom value
V_VAR5	28	Custom value

Personally I would set up each value you want as a S_CUSTOM if you can't figure out another sensor type that fits.

For smoke you can use S_SMOKE
For Air Quality S_AIR_QUALITY
Not sure what you'd want to use for CO2 through

http://www.mysensors.org/download/serial_api_14

I haven't done this so I could be totally off. But I would think that if you took a stepper motor and mounted a plate with a piece of cardboard able to block enough sun. You could put a photosensor on each side and move towards the side with the most sun till they are reporting an equal value. Basically this idea http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Solar-Tracker/ <- just one I found googling for sun tracking arduino

I think I'm going to try setting this up soon. I've been using the MQTT gateway but this would be simpler I think.

Any advice for switching from MQTT to serial in openhab.

I think I need to update openhab to use the 1.70 version but I don't think that would be too hard.

I've been looking to buy some things and noticed that some of the aliexpress links aren't going to the item they claim to be.

10pcs DS18B20 Dallas Temperature Sensors is pointing to 10PCS x Single Row round hole 1X40 Pin Crystal socket

8 Channel is pointing to Lillianjake 5V 1 2 4 8 12V 16 Channel Relay Module W LED Indicator Light For Arduino [1 Channel Relay(W LED Indicator)]

Those are just the ones that I have noticed. I'm not sure how the links are created/maintained just letting people know.

Could you just remove the switch from the actual circuit.

I believe you can use a "normal" light switch as just a switch for an arduino. So you could make a small node to go in the wall and read the light switch and send the command to toggle and update the controller at the same time. This might introduce a small delay into turning the light on since it would have to go from the light switch node to the gateway/controller and then back to the actual light.

However I believe (haven't tried it yet my nodes are mostly passive right now) that you could send the command to turn the light on from the light switch node directly to the light at the same time that you send the light is on command to the controller.

This is what I'm suggesting https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/2yxcjc/my_first_project_arduinocontrolled_remote_control/

So instead of the light switch being connected to the house power it is just connected to an arduino/radio.

@phil83 said:

Probably we could open a permanent thread where we can post our experiences with different aliexpress shops regarding nrf24l01+?

I'd be interested to see a list of "good" sellers from aliexpress and not just for the radios. It seems like the store links just point to the cheapest one with free shipping some times. I haven't bought enough stuff to get burnt (7 orders of which 2 have come in and the rest should be in a week or 2) but it is one of the things that keeps me wary.

I just finished something similar. I used a Ws2812B LED so it can change colors.

Arduino Sketch Code Bender Sketch

And Openhab items

Switch Light "On/OFF" (gKR) {mqtt=">[mysensors:/MyMQTT/20/2/V_LIGHT:command:ON:1],>[mysensors:/MyMQTT/20/2/V_LIGHT:command:OFF:0]"}
String KidLight (All) {mqtt=">[mysensors:/MyMQTT/20/1/V_VAR1:command:*:default"}
Color  RGBKidLight  "Kid Light"   (All,gKR)

and openhab.rule

import org.openhab.core.library.types.*
import org.openhab.model.script.actions.*


rule "Set RGB value RGBKidLight"
when
        Item RGBKidLight changed
then
		val hsbValue = RGBKidLight.state as HSBType

		val brightness = hsbValue.brightness.intValue  
		val redValue   = ((((hsbValue.red.intValue * 255) / 100) * brightness) / 100).toString  
		val greenValue = ((((hsbValue.green.intValue * 255) / 100) * brightness) / 100).toString  
		val blueValue  = ((((hsbValue.blue.intValue *255) / 100) * brightness) / 100).toString  

		val color = redValue + "," + greenValue + "," + blueValue  

		sendCommand( KidLight, color )
end

Has anyone tested posting codebender sketches since the update? It used to read the link and just show the sketch and it does not appear to be working.

NM it works it just doesn't show in the preview anymore.

@Brett-Jenkins

It works both ways.

@hek I just lost the development Forum. and the layout for the categories keeps jumping around.

@GuyP Seeing the same thing

I am seeing the Admin Area.

Edit seeing troubleshooting now. and Admin Area is gone now.

For the Record attempting to go into Admin Area gave me a not allowed message.

what type of data are you trying to send and is there a reason you can't use V_VAR1? or V_DIMMER?
I believe V_DIMMER is expecting a % and I know with V_VAR you can send any type you want.

I had the same questions when I started a few weeks ago.

Maybe one of the site admins could add the fact that the controller and not the gateway normally handles assigning IDs since it isn't clear.

@Totche said:

I you read the first message, it is a screencopy of the serial monitor for both, and I don't see the temperature on the gateway. from the node

Ps : ok the two are the same for the last question above

Ps : I don't have a controller

Your going to want a controller in the long term. For testing you can either hard code the node ID in the sketch (you will want to flash the EEPROM clear sketch when you get a controller)

The reason your not seeing the temp on the gateway is because it doesn't get sent if there is no node ID.

Basically the node is asking the gateway/controller who am I and the controller isn't responding so it just keeps asking.

@Totche

1. The controller would do that. If you are using a serial gateway it should be passing all the messages and then the controller would send the correct message back. If you are just setting this up for testing then you can create the message manually.
   I believe that this should work and then just replace X with a number.

   255:255:3:0:4:X

2. That is what the serial gateway does.

@GaryStofer

I can answer the second question.

  // Startup and initialize MySensors library. Set callback for incoming messages. 
  gw.begin(); 

  // Send the sketch version information to the gateway and Controller
   gw.sendSketchInfo("Temperature Sensor", "1.0");

The gateway will respond with a NodeID after you do the gw.begin. Your Node will then send the name (in this case Temperature Sensor) so you can change the name there.

Depending on what gateway/controller you are using you may not see that through. I'm using a MQTT gateway with openhab and while the nodes are sending the name Openhab does not use them (that I'm aware of)

I've recently started building mysensor network and using openhab (and a MQTT gateway) to interface with them.

Currently I only have a sleep light but I have the parts for ~10 sensors on order.

I'm stuck on the openhab side of things now through.

I want to be able to send 2 things and I'm not sure the best way to do that.

1. I want to send the current time so that the sensor can update the RTC.
   I believe I can do this with a cron job and the NTP plugin and then just handle it via the node.

2. I want to send a start/end time for the sleep light or send a start/end command at certain times. For both of these options I'd need a way to select the time from openhab and I can't figure that part out. I believe once I get the openhab part working It will be easy enough to handle it in the arduino but I want to know how the data is going to come in before I do that.

@cleight I think the easiest solution (all theory btw) would be to duplicate the message for each sensor

MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
MyMessage msgHumLCD(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
MyMessage msgTemp(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP);
MyMessage msgTempLCD(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP);
MyMessage msgHTTemp(CHILD_ID_HTTEMP, V_TEMP);
MyMessage msgHTTempLCD(CHILD_ID_HTTEMP, V_TEMP);

then in the setup()

msgHumLCD.setDestination(11);
msgTempLCD.setDestination(11);
msgHTTPempLCD.setDestination(11);

Then in the loop when you are doing the gw.send just do a second one for the LCD message (you shouldn't need the setDestination)

@cleight that is what I get for coding on the fly

change

case TEMP

and

case HUM

with

case TEMP:

and

case HUM:

@cleight I posted code to do just that

#define BEDROOM_NODE_ID 42
#define KITCHEN_NODE_ID 44
#define TEMP 0
#define HUM 1
float bdtemp = 0, bdhum =0, kntemp = 0, knhum =0;
void incomingMessage(const MyMessage &message) {
  switch (message.sender) {
        case BEDROOM_NODE_ID:
             switch (message.sensor){
                   case TEMP
                         bdtemp = message.getFloat();
                  break; 
                  case HUM
                         bdhum = message.getFloat();
                  break;
          } 
          break; 
     case KITCHEN_NODE_ID:
             switch (message.sensor){
                  case TEMP
                         kntemp = message.getFloat();
                  break; 
                  case HUM
                         knhum = message.getFloat();
                  break; 
        } 
         break; 
  }
 updateDisplay();  
}

@blutak I went through this the other day
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1097/wiring-help

yes you need to enable softSPI. I had to pull the latest code from github (I had been using mysensors) in order to get it working. Once I did that and wired it up like the wiki suggests it worked fine.

@cleight said:

@Chaotic I understand what you are saying and have the concept down of the message being sent to the gateway. What I don't understand is the code that Hek provided and how I seperate Node ID 1 Child Sensor 0 (temp Sensor) from Node ID 1 Child Sensor 1 (Humidity Sensor)

Also I tried the code Hek provided but I cannot use Float to store the variable as I am out of room in my sketch, I tried changing to message.getInt(); without luck.

I was putting in an example to do just that when you responded.

as for getInt / getFloat it should let you switch but you might lose anything after the period.

@cleight Your nodes should each have a unique ID. And then the child ID might be 0/1 for each one.

Since you claimed you don't have a programming background I'll try to explain the API (as I understand it anyways) And how to get to each piece

The message that gets passed by the radio is going to look like this

12;6;1;0;0;36.5\n

Looking at each part

12: node-id The unique id of the node that sends or should receive the message (address) message.sender

6: child-sensor-id Each node can have several sensors attached. This is the child-sensor-id that uniquely identifies one attached sensor message.sensor

1: message-type Type of message sent - See table below message.command_ack_payload (I think)

0: ack The ack parameter has the following meaning:
Outgoing: 0 = unacknowledged message, 1 = request ack from destination node
Incoming: 0 = normal message, 1 = this is an ack message message.isAck()

0: sub-type Depending on messageType this field has different meaning. See tables below message.type

36.5: payload The payload holds the message coming in from sensors or instruction going out to actuators.
Various functions exist to get the payload

char* getStream(char buffer) const;
char getString(char buffer) const;
const char getString() const;
void* getCustom() const;
uint8_t getByte() const;
bool getBool() const;
float getFloat() const;
long getLong() const;
unsigned long getULong() const;
int getInt() const;
unsigned int getUInt() const;

So you might have a childID of 0/1 if you are only sending 1-2 items from the sensor but each sensor will have its own nodeID

So using the example Hek provided and assuming temp is sensor 0 humidity is 1

#define BEDROOM_NODE_ID 42
#define KITCHEN_NODE_ID 44
#define TEMP 0
#define HUM 1
float bdtemp = 0, bdhum =0, kntemp = 0, knhum =0;
void incomingMessage(const MyMessage &message) {
   switch (message.sender) {
         case BEDROOM_NODE_ID:
              switch (message.sensor){
                   case TEMP
                          bdtemp = message.getFloat();
                   break; 
                   case HUM
                          bdhum = message.getFloat();
                   break;
           } 
           break; 
     case KITCHEN_NODE_ID:
              switch (message.sensor){
                   case TEMP
                          kntemp = message.getFloat();
                   break; 
                   case HUM
                          knhum = message.getFloat();
                   break; 
          } 
          break; 
   }
  updateDisplay();  
 }

That will give you 4 variables bdtemp, bdhum, kntemp, knhum so you know the temp/humidity coming from 2 different sensors

@cleight You sensor nodes should handle sending the data.

The message coming to your LCD Node should have the node id that it started from which you can check against to do what you want for each message. The code @hek provided should allow you to tell what node the message is coming from.

I'm going to suggest since you seem to be doing non-standard things that you go and read the API which explains the different parts of the message.
http://www.mysensors.org/download/serial_api_14

@cleight I believe you would need to change your gw.begin
http://www.mysensors.org/download/sensor_api_14

To initialize radio and start the library, you must call begin(). Begin initializes the sensor node but you >can also configure the sensor node operating parameters manually. Call this before anything else in >the library

void begin(void (*_msgCallback)(const MyMessage &), uint8_t nodeId, boolean repeaterMode,
uint8_t parentNodeId, rf24_pa_dbm_e paLevel, uint8_t channel, rf24_datarate_e dataRate);
incomingMessageCallback - Callback function for incoming messages from other nodes or >controller and request responses. Default is NULL.
nodeId - The unique id (1-254) for this sensor. Default is AUTO(255) which means sensor tries to >fetch an id from controller.
repeaterMode - Activate repeater mode. This node will forward messages to other nodes in the >radio network. Make sure to call process() regularly. Default in false
parentNodeId - Use this to force node to always communicate with a certain parent node. Default is >AUTO which means node automatically tries to find a parent.
paLevel - Radio PA Level for this sensor. Default RF24_PA_MAX
channel - Radio channel. Default is channel 76
dataRate - Radio transmission speed. Default RF24_250KBPS

So instead of gw.begin(NULL,Auto,true) try gw.begin(ProcessMessage,Auto,true)

And then just define ProcessMessage as a function.

I'd look at the relay sketch which sets up incomingmessage as the function to handle incoming messages.
https://codebender.cc/sketch:47528

@Mickey oh thats easy start the line with 4 spaces and a blank line before it

like this

I had assumed you knew about that since you did it in your post before this.

If you click on the ? when replying it should bring you to a page on markup which tells you how to do that and other things.

@Mickey
If your talking about codebender code just paste the link
Example modified cleareeprom sketch that reports when done.
https://codebender.cc/sketch:89547

Hi everyone,

Finally got this working but had a couple of quetions

Does the MQTT Broker gateway not handle requests for time? I currently have a node that I'm using as an alarm clock which has a RTC module. I had hoped to be able to update the time via the gateway and polling the time from one of my computers which are connected to NTP servers but the message never seems to get put on a MQTT message so I can't have a computer respond to it.

I got this working after switching to the code on github and using the Define there.

So if anyone else gets stuck when trying to use the codebender versions of the library they aren't the most up to date.

@celonunes
Just wanted to say I was able to get this working.

Also found a nice little MQTT utility that makes it easy to see the messages being sent from the broker/openhab.

I'm sure I'll have more questions but most of my hardware is still on a boat from china so will be a little while till I discover them.

It looks like the code on CodeBender is different from the code on Github. I had been using the CodeBender code (I assumed it was up to date) but going to get the github code now and try that.

That appeared to work. I am now getting

Started!

in the Serial Monitor.

I recently got my ethernet shield and was going to wire it up but I'm unsure on the correct way?

Reading this page http://www.mysensors.org/build/ethernet_gateway seems to indicate to wire it like this
WizNET (W5100) Ethernet module
Arduino NRF24L01 Radio
GND GND
3.3V VCC
A2 MISO
A1 MOSI
A0 SCK
6 CSN
5 CE

But the code seems to reference pins 5-9 both for the ethernet and MQTT gateway sketchs.

It also says I need to uncomment a softSPI Define but I'm not seeing that line?

I'm attempting to connect the radio to an Uno with an ethernet shield.

I really don't want to end up frying the radio so want to make sure I'm connecting it correctly.

Edit: I attempted to wire it up how it was described in the table and I'm getting

0;0;3;0;9;check wires

But from reading other posts it sounds like that could be cause the arduino isn't able to source enough power from the 3.3V pin which is attempting to power both the radio and the ethernet.

@HarryDutch The comic is actually from XKCD if you click the image it should take you to the actual site.

@HarryDutch

I wasn't saying don't look at the problem. I think Node to Node communication should work.

It just this comic

comes to mind

At a certain point you have to realize you are solving the problem out of principle (which is a valid reason) rather than to solve the problem.

To Elaborate on what AWI said

@jeylites said:

digitalWrite(relayPin[i], RELAY_OFF); //Start State of Relays
...
digitalWrite(relayPin[i], relayState[i]? RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);

You have both of those lines in your Setup() The first one is setting the relay to off the second one is checking the EEPROM value

Remove the first one and the problems should be fixed (assuming the EEPROM data is correct.

I'm interested in the concept of node to node messages but for your use case couldn't you just have the gateway send the message to toggle the LEDs once the message gets there?

So
Node inside fridge -> Relay -> Gateway -> LED Node

rather than

Node inside fridge -> LED Node
Node inside fridge -> Relay -> Gateway

which is what it seems like you are attempting to do.

Also I had not thought of putting a node in a fridge before but I'll be looking into that now.

Just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly since I feel the MQTT terminology is new to me.

The MQTT Broker is the MQTT server so if I wanted to use this with openhab on a pi I would just need the MQTT plugin and then point it to the IP of the gateway?

I have the ethernet module ordered so I can't test myself yet.

Most likely you will want the Serial Gateway
https://codebender.cc/sketch:47514

on the Control end and then the the Relay Sketch on the node end
https://codebender.cc/sketch:47528

This page should have the info on connecting the Serial Gateway to the Vera you already have.

I haven't gotten a controller working yet and don't have a Vera so I can't help with that.

Sorry to Necro this thread but had a question,

I believe I read somewhere that you can use a serial gateway connected to a pi and have openhab/mqtt run on the pi?

How would one go about setting this up? Currently I have 2 Unos one running as the serial gateway. I plan to replace the serial gateway with a nano I'm still waiting on that.

I just got the pi last night so I'm still working on getting everything up and running on that but I'd rather just connect the gateway directly to the pi rather than have to get a wifi/ethernet module for one of the arduinos.

Also probably outside the scope of this thread (and thats fine) but anyone have a good guide for setting up the pi for openhab/MQTT?

@BulldogLowell Thanks that sounds much easier than what I had been planning on doing.

I'll give this a try tonight.

So I'm building a sleep light for my son using Arduinos and Neopixels for the lgihting. I'm also attaching a radio to it so I can adjust the start/end time remotely and figured while I'm at it I'd like to be able to change the color of the lights both for the sleep mode and just to control the light remotely (If I can do it why shouldn't I ;-)).

So I've figured out how to use V_VAR1-3 to send the light color and then V_LIGHT to turn it on/off manually.

Now the problem is I want to be able to set the color for when manually controlling separate from when doing sleep mode. However I've run out of preset up custom vars. So I'm wondering if you can have multiple of the same "sensor" per node. Right now I had been using S_ARDUINO_NODE as my "Sensor" to receive messages from the gateway. This is my updated (untested since I'm at work) code. It looks like there are V_VAR4 and V_VAR5 and I'll most likely leverage those to handle the time variables coming from the gateway.

https://codebender.cc/sketch:90239

I still need to add in the functions to check the time (and get updated time from the gateway/controller but my controller is in the mail (I'm sure I'll have more questions once I get that))

So on to my questions.

Is there a better way to send RGB values? What is the best way to send time values (ie 6:00, 19:30)?

I was able to get it working by creating the I_ID_RESPONSE message manually and entering that via the serial gateway. Is this expected? I had assumed that the gateway code would respond with the next free Node Id? 1-254 (assuming the gateway is 0 which it appears to be for me.

More questions now that I have my radios hooked up.

First what is inclusion mode? I am only seeing a reference to it in the serial gateway and the description in the API seems to indicate that the button and extra leds are optional.

The answer to that might answer my second question.

On my Serial Gateway sketch = https://codebender.cc/sketch:89540

I keep getting this message

0;0;3;0;9;read: 255-255-0 s=255,c=3,t=3,pt=0,l=0:
255;255;3;0;3;

And on my Node Sketch = https://codebender.cc/sketch:89536

Sending Temp
req node id
send: 255-255-0-0 s=255,c=3,t=3,pt=0,l=0,st=ok:
T: 73.40

So it looks like my node is never getting a node ID but I don't know how to go about fixing it.

Both the gateway and Node are currently running on Unos. Both devices are being powered by USB currently since I'm still prototyping. The Node is going to be hooked up with 9V and the Gateway is going to continue being USB powered for now.
I'm using code bender to program them so I'm assuming it is using the latest libraries.

slight bump to this topic rather than starting a new one since I have some more questions

Are there any example sketches for setting variables on a node? Thinking I'd want at least 2 variables.

Is there a proper way for a node to report time to the controller or other nodes? This one will be powered 100% of the time so responding to messages shouldn't be a problem.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this one but best way to set up a sketch to report the temp every X when it isn't the main function of the node.

Thanks in advance.

@pete1450 said:

You can certainly have a node set up but it would just sit there asking for a node ID all day. If you want to be able to control it until you get a controller set up, slap a NRF24Lo1 on another arduino and use it plugged into a computer as a serial gateway. You'll need to send the node id manually(no controller to do it for you) through the serial consol and then it will start sending the mysensors encoded messages. You can also send commands in the same format so you'll need to read up on the API.

Once you get a controller remember for flash the eeprom clear sketch so it can request a new node ID.

That is an option I hadn't thought of. I already have 2 radios (bought a 2 pack of amazon to test/learn)

I'll probably end up doing this since I a (very) quick read didn't show a way to set a variable with the current library which is one of the things I'd want to do with it. It is going to have a RTC on it and I plan on having it start/stop at a time controlled by a variable. Might change the colors via a variable too if I can figure that out (using neopixels so I think it should be possible)

Any examples you could give of setting up something like that would be great

Looking at the API again it looks like there tell it your setting a custom variable I'll have to play around some more. Will give me something to do while I wait for the rest of my hardware to get here.

So I'm just starting out and in an effort to get wife approval I plan on making a night light for our son. I have all the parts on order and want to add in a radio so that I can hook into it later on.

The problem is I don't have a gateway yet (still reading up on the Rasberry Pi 2/OpenHab/MQTT which is my current intended gateway system.)

So the question is it possible to set up a node prior to the gateway or would I have to recode the light once I get the gateway set up?

Also is it possible to power the NRF24Lo1 radio from the 3.3V output of an Arduino Uno? or is it better to get a voltage regulator?

I plan on making my nodes with Pros or Nanos but this light is going to be using an Uno and I have a second one for prototyping and want to play with the radios and don't want to fry them.