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    ncollins

    @ncollins

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    Best posts made by ncollins

    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      My super simple NRF51 touch buttons. I mostly use these to toggle overhead lights that I've converted to Tasmota.

      Screen Shot 2020-07-27 at 9.21.20 AM.png

      Screen Shot 2020-07-27 at 9.22.01 AM.png

      Screen Shot 2020-07-26 at 3.16.10 PM.png

      posted in General Discussion
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: nRF5 action!

      @NeverDie I spent the last week really deep diving into NRF BLE & NRF networking capabilities.

      Some things I learned:

      • BLE is a great way for low power communication with a dedicated, physically close parent node
      • BLE alone does not establish a network, just a link to a central/gateway node. Giving the limited range, that means having multiple gateways, and dedicated links (painful, inflexible)
      • That led to the creation of BLE Mesh. I found this article from Integra Sources to be really helpful as they talk through the real world limitations they experienced trying to go to production with it. In summary, BLE Mesh is a "managed flood" which quickly leads to network storms if not optimized
      • Then I found OpenThread
        Screen Shot 2020-12-18 at 9.53.32 PM.png
      • After messing around for few days, I found this guide https://github.com/kyberpunk/openthread which really simplifies getting started. Two docker containers: OpenThread Border Router (sensor network gateway) and MQTT-SN (UDP6 MQTT bridge to MQTT Broker). I was able to setup a network with two NRF52840 dongles + NRF52840 DK, and post messages to my MQTT instance within a couple of hours.

      OpenThread is supported on the the NRF52840, NRF52811, NRF52833, as well as 10-15 chips from other vendors.

      I really like the ability to route via IP and the fact that all of the nodes communicate with common, well known protocols. I like the secure-by-default approach, and the built in tools for administering networks (commissioning new nodes).

      I'm going to keep exploring this route, seems promising....

      posted in My Project
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      A bed occupancy sensor. 4 50kg load cells, an HX711, and a Wemos D1 to make a wifi scale that rests on a bed slat under the boxspring.

      Given the placement and weight distribution it doesn't turn the bed into a huge bath scale, but definitely accurate enough to use the deltas to estimate if there is someone in the bed. I can also tell when our 12lb (5.5kg) dog is on the bed.

      I have rules in openhab to turn the overhead fan on and off. Also disables some TTS notifications if somebody is in bed.

      IMG_1154.jpg IMG_1155.jpg IMG_1156.jpg IMG_1157.jpg IMG_1158.jpg Screen Shot 2020-09-15 at 8.26.22 PM.png

      posted in General Discussion
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: nRF5 action!

      Just started testing my new NRF52805 breakout board. I added a new generic variant to sandeepmistry/arduino-nRF5, added a new board to mysensors nRF5, now I'm testing compatibility.

      This new NRF52805 chip is interesting. Way stripped down compared to the rest of the NRF5 line. No PWM, no LPCOMP, only 10 GPIO (maybe 8 usable).

      But, it's cheap, ~$2.50 for the EBYTE BT104-BT5005 module, compact, and appropriate for most low-power use cases.

      Interestingly, the chip does not support the current MySensors default, but deprecated, data rate of 250Kbps. Today I also learned that modules can only communicate on the same data rate. So I created a ESP8266 + NRF24L01+ gateway at MY_RF24_DATARATE RF24_1MBPS, and it worked!

      Still need to test a few things:

      • I2C
      • SPI
      • Power consumption

      If all goes well, I'll submit the merge requests and publish this board schematic on openhardware sometime in the next week.
      IMG_1291.jpg

      posted in My Project
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      Compact, simple NRF52 motion sensor
      Ebyte E104-BT5032A NRF52832 module
      MH-SR602 Motion Sensor
      LiFePO4 AA Battery

      IMG_1164.jpg IMG_1167.jpg IMG_1166.jpg IMG_1165.jpg

      posted in General Discussion
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      First attempt at a modular NRF52805 based board. The smaller board has a Si7021 temp + humidity sensor and a BH1750 light level sensor, both I2C. Ideally, I should be-able to make other sensor boards with the same footprint as long as the sensors are I2C.

      Also included:

      • CR2032 Battery (~1.5 years between battery changes)
      • 10P 0.5 FPC connector for programming and serial debugging
      • 2 LEDs with solderable jumpers
      • On/Off switch (I find this really useful, especially when fighting with coin batteries)
      • RST button
      • Secondary button that I use to force immediate readings
      • Footprint for centered button for alternative use as a remote button (my most common MySensors node)

      IMG_1323.jpg

      I'll post pictures of the enclosure when it's ready.

      I'm also waiting on delivery of a slightly larger version of this board that holds a 2477 battery and a SMD PIR motion sensor.

      posted in General Discussion
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      The latest addition to my coin cell nodes, a PIR motion sensor based on the Ebyte NRF52805 module.

      The PIR sensor is a Senba S16-L221D-2. I'm measuring around 24uA, which is higher than advertised, but with the 6-7uA from the NRF52805, should still get me 3-4 years on a single 2477.

      IMG_1343.JPG IMG_1344.JPG
      Screen Shot 2021-01-21 at 7.53.33 PM.png
      Screen Shot 2021-01-21 at 7.52.43 PM.png

      posted in General Discussion
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: 💬 Effective Solar Supercap Boost Charger for Small Solar Panel

      @neverdie Yep, I had the same experience with this LTC3108 breakout.
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/LTC3108-1-Ultra-Low-Voltage-Boost-Converter-Power-Manager-Breakout-Development-Board-Module-Diy-Kit/32867270266.html

      I also intended to try the following modules which have a ton of functionality baked in. Unfortunately, they multiply the cost of a basic node by 2-5x.

      BQ25570
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32903287631.html

      BQ25504
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32976994195.html

      From an energy harvesting perspective, I think rechargeable watch battery + 0.2F super cap + 4 100uf is my favorite setup. Cheap, fault tolerant, very small profile if you use 1206 ceramic capacitors (not shown in this prototype). Based on this design: https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/overview-of-the-ble-solar-beacon-from-cypress-semiconductor/

      front harvester
      back harvester

      0.2F 3.3v Capacitors
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32577753501.html

      3v Rechargeable Battery
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32813917590.html

      1206 100uf Capacitors
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32376068793.html

      Cheapest amorphous, indoor solar panels I have found: 2.7-3v
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1854641441.html

      Tiny S4 1N5817 Diodes
      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32813213875.html

      posted in OpenHardware.io
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      USB + ESP8266 adapter for W2812B LED strip.

      Well, this is actually a Tasmota + Openhab build, but could easily be MySensors.

      Also worth noting, this 5m 150 led strip draws too much current to reliably use with a USB wall adapter.

      62154743620__8CA02E53-F789-4B83-8D1D-C2E1D4F18423.jpeg

      62154729146__FDB896AA-6E42-4B25-93B1-6214813216EA.jpeg

      Messages Image(2477667489).png

      Messages Image(1253441685).png

      posted in General Discussion
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: 💬 Effective Solar Supercap Boost Charger for Small Solar Panel

      @neverdie according to a few datasheets 2v at 200lux. The solar cells delivered were HENGYANG SC-3514.

      http://www.vimun.cn/en/ProductInfo.asp?pid=18
      http://www.solars-china.com/solars/indoor-solar-cells.pdf

      On my windowsill, 2.5v typical in-direct sunlight, 2.7v is the highest I've recorded in direct sunlight.

      So far, most of my Aliexpress buys have been fine for my needs. Haven't really gotten close to making a "production ready" module, so for prototyping it's been fine.

      One exception: I thought I had a genius idea to repurpose these $1 solar powered keychain flashlights. They had an amorphous solar panel, rechargeable battery, button, leds and a housing...for $1. I bought 20 of them. First one I opened up, I realized it's a lie!

      The solar panel is just glued to the circuit. The battery is just a normal non-rechargeable CR2016.

      solar keychain

      posted in OpenHardware.io
      ncollins
      ncollins

    Latest posts made by ncollins

    • RE: nRF5 action!

      @Jon-Raymond Well, not seeing a lot of activity in the repo.

      I took a very long shot at adding support https://github.com/nikolac/arduino-nRF5/tree/nrf52805-s112-support.

      I was able to flash the softdevice, but I haven't tested or even uploaded a working sketch (sloppy). Feel free to mess around and test. If it works for you, I do the same for S113.

      Biggest question I have is around figuring out the proper values for the "linker scripts" https://github.com/nikolac/arduino-nRF5/blob/nrf52805-s112-support/cores/nRF5/SDK/components/softdevice/s112/toolchain/armgcc/armgcc_s112_nrf52805_xxaa.ld

      posted in My Project
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: nRF5 action!

      @Jon-Raymond the nRF52805 should support the S112 and S113 soft device, but I removed it from the menu because I never tested it and didn't intend to immediately use it.

      Digging through sandeepmistry/arduino-nrf5, it looks like S112 and S113 aren't included in the SDK. It might be easy enough to just drop in two new folders, then update boards.txt.

      e0a17f79-2edd-4750-a4c5-21ff33c8a1a0-image.png

      6fba7886-f4c1-4b5b-aaa9-9e699ab7ff4e-image.png

      (Just an example of how I would add a soft device option to the dropdown, these would have to match up with whatever is in the sdk)

      I would recommend opening an issue/question on https://github.com/sandeepmistry/arduino-nRF5, specifically asking the best way to add a new softdevice to the library. If it's straightforward, I can work with you to get those changes incorporated and, hopefully, included in the merge request.

      posted in My Project
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: nRF5 action!

      @Jon-Raymond I pushed my latest changes, posted a question to the merge about next steps.

      posted in My Project
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: nRF5 action!

      @Jon-Raymond I kinda got hung up on the last conversation in the merge request and haven't looked at it since. Let me push the changes I have to address the other comments, then try to figure out how to best handle that last bit.

      posted in My Project
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: openhab binding mysensors

      @MDS I looked into this a bit after seeing the same double message in the log. You have ACK setup for these nodes? In the mysensors binding code, it looks like the bridge sends a message then waits for an ACK, and resends if it doesn't get the ACK within a specific amount of time. Unfortunately, it looks like it waits 0ms for the first ACK (doesn't wait) and automatically retransmits = guaranteed duplicate sent. It hasn't really caused any problems for me.

      As for the dropped messages, do you have a delay set up on your bridge config [sendDelay=200]? 1416af8a-28bf-42e8-8c20-9718545523c3-image.png

      Can you post your arduino code?

      posted in OpenHAB
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: [Answered] Any recommended load-and-go VM or Docker images for mysensors?

      No docker expert here, but I think docker-compose is intended to provide the functionality of logically grouping containers/dependencies, as apposed to combining products in a single container.

      It could definitely be helpful to maintain a few home automation compose "templates." For example, my template would be: OpenHAB, InfluxDB, Grafana, mosquitto.

      posted in Controllers
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: OH3 - MySensors Binding

      @haloway13 I really don't have an understanding of how it works. I'm not sure how OpenHAB knows when to convert a value from a sensor reading?

      • When you set the platform level metric/imperial setting, is that establishing the assumption that all sensor values are metric/imperial?
      • If the metadata override for a Number:Temperature doesn't match the platform setting, is openhab smart enough to do the conversion?
      • When updating the metadata, does that convert the current value or only updates after setting the metadata?

      In my limited experiments, changing the metadata just seems to change the label suffix to ËšC or ËšF

      posted in OpenHAB
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: OH3 - MySensors Binding

      @haloway13 oooof, I found that to be confusing too.

      If your platform settings Settings -> Regional Settings [advanced] -> Metric / Imperial are set,

      and you define your items as Number:Temperature, they should "magically" display in the correct format and auto converted, but I've had a lot of trouble with that.

      There are also settings to have the gateway confirm "isMetric" and have you node respond in the appropriate unit.

      Lastly, in your item definition, you can "Add Metadata" -> State Description, and set a display format that supposedly converts value, but I'm not sure I understand exactly when it's suppose to override platform settings.

      Screen Shot 2021-03-12 at 5.51.47 PM.png Screen Shot 2021-03-12 at 5.52.00 PM.png

      More info here: https://community.openhab.org/t/solved-the-right-place-to-do-temperature-conversion/91233

      posted in OpenHAB
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: OH3 - MySensors Binding

      @haloway13 Yes!! Impressive perseverance.

      Somehow I've become emotionally invested in your outcome, so this is extremely satisfying. Great work.

      posted in OpenHAB
      ncollins
      ncollins
    • RE: OH3 - MySensors Binding

      @haloway13 I mean, last suggestion is restarting your openhab instance. If that doesn't work, please post your openhab log.

      posted in OpenHAB
      ncollins
      ncollins