My first RFM69 Battery sensor: an ultrasonic sonar to measure the level of my fuel tank (don't laugh, winters can be cold in Burgundy )

Many thanks to @sundberg84 and @mfalkvidd for advice to the Newbie i am and to @Gerator for the RFM69 gateway

@sundberg84 Thank you
My knowledge being very limited, i understand this might be difficult for my to go on the RFM69 version ?

Hopefully, my nrf24 network based on your designs works well

Here is what i have tried:
I try using GPIO 2 and 15 to pilot the RFM69

here an extract of my GatewayESP8266.ino

// Enable debug prints to serial monitor
#define MY_DEBUG

// Use a bit lower baudrate for serial prints on ESP8266 than default in MyConfig.h
#define MY_BAUD_RATE 9600

// Enables and select radio type (if attached)
//#define MY_RADIO_RF24
#define MY_RADIO_RFM69

#define MY_IS_RFM69HW // Omit if your RFM is not "H"
#define MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN 2
#define MY_RFM69_IRQ_NUM MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN
#define MY_RFM69_CS_PIN 15 // NSS. Use MY_RFM69_SPI_CS for older versions (before 2.2.0)

../..

void setup()
{
   pinMode(MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN, OUTPUT);
   pinMode(MY_RFM69_CS_PIN, OUTPUT);

	// Setup locally attached sensors
}

../..

void loop()
{
	// Send locally attached sensors data here
  digitalWrite(MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN, HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN, LOW);
delay(1000);
}

What's going wrong is i need to unplug the wire to GPIO2 at boot time unless it won't boot
then if i do that and replug the wire after boot, TFM is not initialized properly and
i get this log:

MCO:BGN:INIT GW,CP=RRNGE---,FQ=80,REL=255,VER=2.3.2
114 TSF:LRT:OK
130 TSM:INIT
143 TSF:WUR:MS=0
163 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
184 TSM:INIT:GW MODE
206 TSM:READY:ID=0,PAR=0,DIS=0
238 MCO:REG:NOT NEEDED
scandone
1311 GWT:TIN:CONNECTING...
2339 GWT:TIN:CONNECTING...
scandone
state: 0 -> 2 (b0)
state: 2 -> 3 (0)
state: 3 -> 5 (10)
add 0
aid 2

connected with TPLINK_BUREAU, channel 1
dhcp client start...
cnt 
3168 GWT:TIN:CONNECTING...
ip:192.168.1.50,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.1.1
4329 GWT:TIN:CONNECTING...
4357 GWT:TIN:IP: 192.168.1.50
4389 MCO:BGN:STP
pm open,type:2 0
14407 MCO:BGN:INIT OK,TSP=1
14436 TSM:READY:NWD REQ
15462 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=20,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:

My knowlegde in electronics is level zero unfortunalty
The adafruit Huzzah documentation states that
GPIO #2, is also used to detect boot-mode. It also is connected to the blue LED that is near the WiFi antenna. It has a pullup resistor connected to it, and you can use it as any output (like #0) and blink the blue LED.

So i thought i could wire directly GPIO2 to DIO0 on the RFM69 like explained https://www.mysensors.org/build/connect_radio but obviously i do something wrong

Please Help

@mfalkvidd You're right: For production i'm going to build isolation for the sensor not to be in contact

Anyway: The flash point of domestic fuel oil is 55 ° C, which means that fuel oil cannot ignite below this temperature. In addition, in its liquid form, fuel oil is non-flammable at room temperature.

Thanks to @sundberg84

My Nrf24 gateaway is know quasi professionnal !

Can't wait to test the RFM69 version

I guess this means i finally managed to get it working:

4131 MCO:BGN:STP
4133 MCO:BGN:INIT OK,TSP=1
4135 TSM:READY:NWD REQ
4139 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=20,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
pm open,type:2 0
30149 TSF:MSG:READ,5-5-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
30155 TSF:MSG:BC
30157 TSF:MSG:FPAR REQ,ID=5
30159 TSF:PNG:SEND,TO=0
30161 TSF:CKU:OK
30163 TSF:MSG:GWL OK
30641 TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-5-5,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:0
32650 TSF:MSG:READ,5-5-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
32655 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=5,HP=1

@mfalkvidd

Hello, certainly yes; anyhow, my setup is quite experimental yet:

• my antenna setup is quite bad, i loose radio messages or don't receive Ack from the gateway (my bad, i have 868 MHz RFM69 and ordered antennas for 433 MHz)
• i can confirm it works with NSS on pin GPIO#15 and IRQ_PIN on GPIO#0 orGPIO#2
• i have not resolved yet the problem of GPIO#0 and GPIO#2 being used by ESP8266 to detect boot-mode so you have to connect the pin after booting which is very annoying
  There are articles like this one https://www.instructables.com/id/ESP8266-Using-GPIO0-GPIO2-as-inputs/ but i'm quite newbie in electronics...

I will post more details when my config is better.

@scalz @Sasquatch Thank you for suggestions, i will test next week-end
My gateaway is an esp8266 adafruit huzzah feather and my node arduino mini pro (8mhz 3v) using the psb of @sundberg84 ([here])(https://www.openhardware.io/view/389/EasyNewbie-PCB-RFM69-HWW-edition-for-MySensors)

I did not place any capacitor on the gateway, which is usb powered in my tests.
I will try to connect a decoupling capacitor like explained here like 47uF

Hi all, for the sake of beginners like myself and to get advice on it, here is the code i have done to measure the battery of my sensors

based on @sundberg84 here: EasyNewbie-PCB-for-MySensors and articles i've read here

Please provide advice on how to manage switching analogReference()

Here is the class definition:

class MyBM {
  public:
    MyBM();
    MyBM(const float _VMIN, const float _VMAX);
    void setup(void);
    void MeasureBattery(void); //The battery calculations
  private:
    void burnreadings(void);
    float VBAT_PER_BITS;
    float VMIN;                          //  Vmin (radio Min Volt)=1.9V (564v)
    float VMAX;                          //  Vmax = (2xAA bat)=3.0V (892v)
    int batteryPcnt = 0;                 // Calc value for battery %
    int batLoop = 0;                     // Loop to help calc average
    int batArray[3];                     // Array to store value for average calc.
    unsigned int BATTERY_SENSE_PIN = A0; // select the input pin for the battery sense point
    int sValue;
    float Vbat;
};

You can change the values in the constructor MyBM() ; by default it is the resistors 1M and 470k for EasyPCB.

Following advice found on stackoverflow, i make 8 readings in burnreadings() when switching from analogReference(INTERNAL) to analogReference(DEFAULT) back & forth

MyBM::MyBM() {
  this->VMIN= 2.0 ;                   //  Vmin (radio Min Volt)=1.9V (564v)
  this->VMAX= 3.3;                    //  Vmax = (2xAA bat)=3.0V (892v)
  this->VBAT_PER_BITS= (1470/470)*(1.1/1024);
}

MyBM::MyBM(const float _VMIN, const float _VMAX) {
  MyBM();
  this->VMIN= _VMIN;
  this->VMAX= _VMAX;
}

void MyBM::burnreadings(void)
{
  for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
  {
    analogRead(BATTERY_SENSE_PIN);
  }
}

void MyBM::setup(void) {
  //=========================
  // BATTERY MEASURER
  
  //DEFAULT: the default analog reference of 5 volts (on 5V Arduino boards) or 3.3 volts (on 3.3V Arduino boards)
  //INTERNAL: an built-in reference, equal to 1.1 volts on the ATmega168 or ATmega328 and 2.56 volts on the ATmega8 (not available on the Arduino Mega)
  //EXTERNAL: the voltage applied to the AREF pin (0 to 5V only) is used as the reference.

  analogReference(INTERNAL);    // set the ADC reference to 1.1V
  burnreadings();            // make 8 readings but don't use them
  delay(10);                    // idle some time
 
  //Battery inital calc
  DPR("With Battery VMax (100%) = "); DPR(VMAX); DPR("volts and Vmin (0%) = "); DPR(VMIN); DPRLN(" volts");
  DPR("Battery Percent 25%/50%/75% calculates to: "); DPR(((VMAX - VMIN) / 4) + VMIN); DPR("/"); DPR(((VMAX - VMIN) / 2) + VMIN); DPR("/"); DPRLN(VMAX - ((VMAX - VMIN) / 4));
  sValue = analogRead(BATTERY_SENSE_PIN);
  DPR("Batterysens :"); DPRLN(sValue);
  Vbat  = sValue * VBAT_PER_BITS;
  batteryPcnt = static_cast<int>(((Vbat - VMIN) / (VMAX - VMIN)) * 100.);
  DPR("Current battery are measured to (please confirm!): "); DPR(batteryPcnt); DPR(" % - Or "); DPRLN(Vbat); DPRLN(" Volts");

  analogReference(DEFAULT);     // set the ADC reference back to internal
  burnreadings();            // make 8 readings but don't use them
  delay(10);                    // idle again
  
  //=========================
}

void MyBM::MeasureBattery() {
  analogReference(INTERNAL);    // set the ADC reference to 1.1V
  burnreadings();            // make 8 readings but don't use them
  delay(10);                    // idle some time
 
  // Battery monitoring reading
  sValue = analogRead(BATTERY_SENSE_PIN);
  DPR("Batterysens :"); DPRLN(sValue);
  //delay(500);

  // Calculate the battery in %
  Vbat  = sValue * VBAT_PER_BITS;
  batteryPcnt = static_cast<int>(((Vbat - VMIN) / (VMAX - VMIN)) * 100.);

  DPR("Battery percent: "); DPR(batteryPcnt); DPR(" %"); DPR("Battery Voltage: "); DPR(Vbat); DPRLN(" Volts");
  
  // Add it to array so we get an average of 3 (3x20min)
  batArray[batLoop] = batteryPcnt;

  if (batLoop > 2) {
    batteryPcnt = (batArray[0] + batArray[1] + batArray[2]);
    batteryPcnt = batteryPcnt / 3;

    if (batteryPcnt > 100) {
      batteryPcnt = 100;
    }
    DPR("Battery Average (Send): "); DPR(batteryPcnt); DPRLN(" %");
    sendBatteryLevel(batteryPcnt);
    batLoop = 0;
  }
  else
  {
    batLoop++;
  }

  analogReference(DEFAULT);     // set the ADC reference back to internal
  burnreadings();            // make 8 readings but don't use them
  delay(10);                    // idle again
}

Here is how i use it with a sensor that manages both interrupts and a sensor-specific timeout

// sdj is an object representing the sensor
MyBM bm;

void setup()
{
  sdj.setup();
  bm.setup();
}

void loop()
{
  if (tripped==0) {   
    the_switch= sdj.get();
  } else if (tripped==MY_WAKE_UP_BY_TIMER) {
    if (sdj.wait_next()) {
      // timeout needs to do something for the sensor
      sdj.resetCode();
    } else {
    // timeout , nothing occured for sensor
    bm.MeasureBattery();
    }
  }
  
  // Sleep until something happens with the sensor or timeout
  tripped= sdj.sleep(WAIT_LOOP);
}

@mfalkvidd thank you for your help.

The node is a EasyNewbie-PCB-for-MySensors thanks to @sundberg84 in battery mode

Maybe i have a noise problem: i did not set the "BAT" jumper because my battery might be a bit to powerfull (3.7-4V) a little above what the radio may be able to receive.

@hlehoux BTW, in my case this seems to be related to the battery being very low.

Hi all, discovered today this thread while i was searching for a problem of message received twice.

Even though i've been using mySensors for several years, this is the first time i encounter this.

I was not aware there is no guarantee that a message is sent only once....

Unfortunatly, the message is sent to an actuator to tell to "toggle" the light: so if received twice, the effect is not very efficient.

I will have to implement something...

@mfalkvidd You're right: For production i'm going to build isolation for the sensor not to be in contact

Anyway: The flash point of domestic fuel oil is 55 ° C, which means that fuel oil cannot ignite below this temperature. In addition, in its liquid form, fuel oil is non-flammable at room temperature.

My first RFM69 Battery sensor: an ultrasonic sonar to measure the level of my fuel tank (don't laugh, winters can be cold in Burgundy )

Many thanks to @sundberg84 and @mfalkvidd for advice to the Newbie i am and to @Gerator for the RFM69 gateway

Thank you @sundberg84 !
Well the node's been working for a whole day without loosing any message, and it reports its battery so everything seems fine.

By the way, i have my first RFm69 node based on easyPCB now working (a sonar to measure fuel tank) connected to the gateway of @Gerator : works great

@sundberg84 Thank you for your advice.

Yes, i guess this battery has a too high voltage. But the advantage is that the battery is small.
If i understand correctly, since i did not set the BAT jumper, the radio is not fed directly from the battery ; i measure 3.3V at the radio .
If i would set the BAT jumper , the radio would be directly fed by the battery, so with 3,85V which could kill the radio.

I don't have space for 2xAA , I understand finding a small 3.3V battery would be clever so i'm gonna search for that.
I will test during a full night with one hour sleep to check if i really occurs often or not.

Do you suggest i should remove the booster ? I have very little experience regarding how long my node will workwith this battery.

Ah Ah, electronics is a strange world for us simple software programmers.

Thank you again for EasyPCB

I will run it with extended debug mode for a few hours to get more insights

@mfalkvidd thank you for your help.

The node is a EasyNewbie-PCB-for-MySensors thanks to @sundberg84 in battery mode

Maybe i have a noise problem: i did not set the "BAT" jumper because my battery might be a bit to powerfull (3.7-4V) a little above what the radio may be able to receive.

Hello, this might be a question from beginner only, but i'm wondering if i needed to do something specific after a long sleep of my node before being able to send a message.

I have from time to time send error when my node wakes up to send a message after a long period of sleep.

So my question is wether i have to execute anything special to get my node ready to send() a message after waking up from this long sleep() ?

Many thank for the advice

Here is a log when it works perfectly:

22:06:44.169 -> 6807 MCO:SLP:MS=14400000,SMS=0,I1=0,M1=1,I2=255,M2=255
22:06:44.169 -> 6813 TSF:TDI:TSL
22:06:48.121 -> 6815 MCO:SLP:WUP=0
22:06:48.121 -> 6817 TSF:TRI:TSB
22:06:48.121 -> Loop
22:06:48.121 -> analogRead: 18/933
22:06:48.121 -> digitalRead:1
22:06:48.121 -> Interrupt received for switch:1
22:06:48.121 -> 6828 MCO:SLP:MS=150,SMS=0,I1=0,M1=1,I2=255,M2=255
22:06:48.155 -> 6836 TSF:TDI:TSL
22:06:48.255 -> 6838 MCO:SLP:WUP=0
22:06:48.289 -> 6840 TSF:TRI:TSB
22:06:48.289 -> Loop
22:06:48.289 -> analogRead: 18/219
22:06:48.289 -> digitalRead:0
22:06:48.289 -> Interrupt received for switch:-1
22:06:48.461 -> Code=1
22:06:48.461 -> 6871 TSF:MSG:SEND,9-9-8-0,s=1,c=1,t=47,pt=0,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:1
22:06:48.498 -> 6881 TSF:MSG:SEND,9-9-8-8,s=1,c=1,t=2,pt=0,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:1
22:06:48.498 -> 6889 TSF:RTE:N2N OK

and Here an example of failure (30 minutes later)

22:06:48.498 -> 6891 MCO:SLP:MS=14400000,SMS=0,I1=0,M1=1,I2=255,M2=255
22:06:48.498 -> 6897 TSF:TDI:TSL
22:35:31.596 -> 12425 MCO:SLP:WUP=0
22:35:31.596 -> 12427 TSF:TRI:TSB
22:35:31.596 -> Loop
22:35:31.596 -> analogRead: 18/861
22:35:31.596 -> digitalRead:1
22:35:31.596 -> Interrupt received for switch:3
22:35:31.596 -> 12435 MCO:SLP:MS=150,SMS=0,I1=0,M1=1,I2=255,M2=255
22:35:31.596 -> 12443 TSF:TDI:TSL
22:35:31.797 -> 12447 MCO:SLP:WUP=-1
22:35:31.797 -> 12449 TSF:TRI:TSB
22:35:31.797 -> Loop
22:35:31.797 -> Code=3
22:35:31.797 -> 12457 !TSF:MSG:SEND,9-9-8-0,s=1,c=1,t=47,pt=0,l=1,sg=0,ft=2,st=NACK:3
22:35:31.797 -> 12468 !TSF:MSG:SEND,9-9-8-8,s=1,c=1,t=2,pt=0,l=1,sg=0,ft=3,st=NACK:3
22:35:31.797 -> 12476 !TSF:RTE:N2N FAIL
22:35:31.797 -> 12482 !TSF:MSG:SEND,9-9-8-8,s=1,c=1,t=2,pt=0,l=1,sg=0,ft=3,st=NACK:3

Here is the code i use to wait:

int8_t MySDJ::sleep(const uint32_t _long) {
    return ::sleep(digitalPinToInterrupt(GetdigitalPin()), CHANGE, wait_next() ? 150 : _long , false);
}

and my loop():

  if (tripped==0) {   
    the_switch= sdj.get();
    DPR("Interrupt received for switch:"); DPRLN(the_switch);
  } else if (tripped==MY_WAKE_UP_BY_TIMER) {
    if (sdj.wait_next()) {
      // timeout, We should send this code to someone
      Serial.print("Code="); Serial.println(sdj.getCode());

      send(msg.set( sdj.getCode() )); // send to controller
      send(MsgRelayGlobal.set( sdj.getCode() )); // send message to node relay actuator
      
      sdj.resetCode();
    } else {
    // on ne mesure la batterie que si pas d'action pendant le délai
    bm.MeasureBattery();
    }
  }
  
  // Sleep until something happens with the sensor or timeout
  tripped= sdj.sleep(WAIT_LOOP);

Works perfectly ! So many thanks to @Gerator