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    Best posts made by qqlapraline

    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      Here is the schematics (freshly made for you :))
      0_1496348113224_upload-8af864a8-ed84-400a-ad21-5adc67c72da4

      And here the part list:

      • Arduino pro mini (3.3v with BOD disabled) or Sensebender Micro
      • Ultrasonic sensor: ME007-ULS (available here)
      • NRF24L01+ (I use the PA - LNA version for long range communication)
      • NPN Transistor: BC548 (the B version if prefered)
      • Base resistor: 1k
      • 3.3V Step-up Voltage regulator: NCP1402 (available here)
      • Logic Level Converter (available here😞 it says 3.3/5 but actually it's any to any voltage.
      • Waterproof case (available here)

      And finally here is my code (not cleaned, sorry).
      0_1496348693347_DistanceSensebenderMicro.ino
      And the Eagle SCH
      0_1496348714531_Low power Distance Sensor.sch

      And now, I realize that it may have been wise to upload that to openhardware.io πŸ™‚

      Regards,

      QQ.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • Pellet burner Monitoring

      I'm following-up on this thread Sensor for pellet burner.
      On my side, I have started to monitor my pellet burner about 1-year ago.
      I'm measuring global power consumption of the boiler as well as departure and return temperature of the heating circuit.
      Even though, I do that since one year only, I've been thinking about how to monitor pellet consumption for at least 5 years (yeah, failure is an option πŸ™‚ ).
      What I have tested:

      • IR sensor on the fan of the pellet convoying motor: it failed because it was too far
      • Magnetic sensor on this same fan: same failure for the same reason
      • Vibration sensor: the heater vibrates ...all the time πŸ™‚

      Now, I'm about to test something quite simple: mains presence at the convoying motor. This one is quite easy (I will show you how) to design and relates quite easily to the pellet consumption: 1 second equals x grams of pellet.

      How do I know the time mains are activating the motor ? Well, a zero-crossing detector.
      0_1515932396714_b2440fa1-25f0-40fc-a390-e7f030ba09a7-image.png

      Beware, main resistance values are key: they depend on mains value, optocoupler characteristics and ..their power. Using the displayed value (56k) will keep the power under 1/4W. The optocoupler is a LTV-814 (cheap and efficient !).

      Here is a quick schema of such a detector. I will keep you posted with the results.

      Hope my experience will help others.

      QQ.

      posted in General Discussion
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      Oh, for whom is interested, here is a (very very bad) schema of the setup πŸ™‚

      0_1477256371969_SenseBender - Distance Sensor 2.png

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      The finale update !
      After numerous tests (using used batteries, adapted software and a lot of patience), it appears that the step up booster was not working under a certain voltage (around 2.7v).
      Futhermore, the sleep time before distance measure was very variable.

      I have questionned myself a lot and finally, my doubts went to the capacity of the Arduino to feed the dc-dc converter with enough current.
      To fix this issue, I have used a BC548B transistor with a base resistor of 1K to drive the step-up converter. And, miracle, it works !
      My finale test was with a set of used batteries delivering 2 V !

      Now, I have a sensor that tests distance, temp/hum and battery level every 15 minutes. The average power consumption is 55 Β΅A (25 Β΅A during sleep time and 15 mA for 1 second during measures).

      QQ.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Sensebender Micro - Abnormal power consumption

      I've found it...Yep, several months later, I've found it.
      Actually, there were some ghost connections. I have cleaned the different soldering flows using an Exacto. Furthermore, I have re-done the connection (to the NRF and the batteries) using a pump...
      And...tadah ! now the sleep current consumption is around 25Β΅A.

      πŸ˜‰

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Find Parent (yeah, I know)

      You are right, @NeverDie. Actually, my power supply is coming from a french power meter, that means a lot of noise - as I'm DC from a 50Khz AC :). So, I did two things. Adding a 330 pF capacitor at the entry point of my board and a 47Β΅F right next to the NRF24.
      Finally, I've upgrade my design to add a tantalium capacitor right next to the smd pads.
      Global view:
      IMG_1911.jpg

      Zooming the back with the polarized capacity (old fashion):
      IMG_1912.jpg

      Front view:
      IMG_1913.jpg

      New design:
      b602470d-a44b-4657-a992-0abecbc15cf9-image.png

      Cheers,

      QQ

      posted in Troubleshooting
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Distance / Time measure and clock tuning

      Well, I've adapted the NewPing library in order to handle different clocks (using inline definition of millis(), micros(), ...) and....it works perfectly !
      Now I have a low power, low clock ultrasonic sensor that will last for years on a set of 2 AA batteries.
      If I'm not too busy, I might packed it up and publish it πŸ™‚

      QQ.

      posted in Development
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      A quick update on this topic.
      I have pimped it up using a ME-007 ULS sensor. This one is waterproof, more acurate and can measure longer distances (up to 8 meters).
      After some issues related to delay between measures, it works like a charm.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Pellet burner Monitoring

      With please. Here is a global schema of the pellet burner:
      0_1515945785318_02f852a5-91a8-40f2-a1c7-fdb98d8cb25f-image.png

      I have circled the part displaying the beginning of the pellet conveyor and the motor.

      posted in General Discussion
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Distance / Time measure and clock tuning

      I will publish my voltage curve once I get enough history.

      And yes, I do shut down the sensor (and the booster, and the logic level adapter) between measures πŸ˜‰

      Qq.

      posted in Development
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      Well, @mfalkvidd, I think you got it ! Your piece of hardware sounds pretty good to fix my issue. In the meantime, I've looked after the exact electrical tolerance of the digital inputs and found the information you are referring to. I thought about using the pullup resistors of the digital inputs but it works only for high/low inputs..not outputs..!
      So, basically, I think the logic converter is what I need. I will keep you postee.

      @chrille, thanks for your project. Unfortunately, I'm very drastic on battery lifetime and that's why I'm using Sensebender. My setup allows up to 2 years of battery lifetime (measuring distance and temp/hum). And Sensebender works with low voltage (with no voltage regulator).

      QQ

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Pellet burner Monitoring

      @Nca78, actually, I did not want to touch the existing cables to avoid any claim from the maintenance guy πŸ˜‰ And as I could not access one single wire, I had to find another way. Interesting enough, using the existing connecting screws was easier.

      @zboblamont: the picture is quite not clear but the motor is very well protected to avoid any mechanical injury. And, probably as a consequence, there is not detectable magnetic field coming out of it.

      @bjacobse: I have considered this as well (as well as some kind of a gauge based on pressure or anything else in the tank). But, unfortunatly, as this is a 7 tons / 11 m3 pellet tank, it is filled by a truck blowing pellets into it....making the life of the ultrasonic sensor really not long πŸ™‚
      Furthermore, ultrasonic sensor would be good to measure a level with a very large error margin. With my sensor, I will be close to a 1-gram quantum...measuring the current consumption very accurately.
      For the story of it, I already have a way to measure pellet consumption in a rough approximation: but weighting the ashes πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

      QQ.

      posted in General Discussion
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Find Parent (yeah, I know)

      @mfalkvidd absolutely. I have 6 various nodes (temp, power, ..) with period of update from 20 to 90 seconds..

      posted in Troubleshooting
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      And here the latest battery graph displaying two things:

      • The first phase with not that optimal battery consumption (until Jan, 14th)
      • The second one with everything optimized (after Jan, 14th).

      0_1486072908594_chart.png

      QQ.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Pellet burner Monitoring

      @zboblamont : it's not exposed under the tank and totally shrouded on the boiler side

      @gohan: right, by I really don't want to touch the wires. And neutral and phase are inside a single cable with not enough space to put a clamp..;)

      posted in General Discussion
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Find Parent (yeah, I know)

      @mfalkvidd guess what…the capacity strikes again. I’ve soldered a 47uF right on the nrf24l01+ pins and…it works.
      Would someone explain me the logic there ? The traces between the pins and the capacity were like 10mm long max.
      Oh well.

      Qq.

      posted in Troubleshooting
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      @bjacobse , I do understand your concern ! That was my challenge for the past months. But the combination of digital output to trigger on/off the sensor, low update frequency (15 minutes) and a low power ultrasonic sensor makes it possible (ser posts above).

      Qq.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • Domoticz full integration

      It is a popular request (just make a search on the forum to be sure..): Domoticz full integration !
      Let's go further python/lua scripts with dummy sensors.

      Regards,

      QQ.

      posted in Feature Requests
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Pellet burner Monitoring

      After a 4 years work, here are some samples of my pellet consumption.

      chart (2).png chart (3).png

      Now, guess when I usually stop the boiler ..:)

      Cheers,

      QQ.

      posted in General Discussion
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Distance Sensor with long range (8-10 meters) ?

      I have found a pretty good mix in terms of distance / price / power consumption / hard conditions support. Here it is:
      link text

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Which PCB fab do you currently like the best?

      For the past 2 weeks, I had the opportunity to challenge PCBWAY and JLCPCB at almost the same time for the same boards including turnkey components and PCBA.
      Here is the short version of the story:
      PCBWAY:

      • Ordered on October, 12th
      • PCB finished on October, 14th - 37 hours later
      • Components sourced on October, 18th
      • PCBA finished on October, 21st
      • Parcel shipped on October, 21st
      • Parcel received on October, 25th
      • Price: $208.61 including VAT and shipping ($35.73)

      JLPCB:

      • Ordered on October, 20th
      • PCB finished on October, 21th - 20 hours later
      • Components sourced on October, 20th (yes)
      • PCBA finished on October, 21st - 8 hours after PCB !
      • Parcel shipped on October, 22nd
      • Parcel received on October, 24th !
      • Price: $82.98 including VAT and shipping ($24.19)

      At the arrival, all the boards have been tested successfully from both providers.
      So, basically, JLCPCB is the winner. Oh by the way, the quality of JLCPCB is a little higher than PCBWAY: black PCB.

      QQ.

      posted in General Discussion
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Distance Sensor with long range (8-10 meters) ?

      No, I did not have the opportunity to test such a range. But between 20cm and 5m it was stable and accurate.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Which PCB fab do you currently like the best?

      @NeverDie I have ordered 10 pieces each time.

      Qq

      posted in General Discussion
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Arduino Nano issue

      @mfalkvidd Yep. It's the same for some other European countries (like Netherlands) but not for others..weird

      @mfalkvidd For the other Nano using CH340, it really looks like the non-working ones I bought on Ebay.

      But thanks anyway.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Arduino Nano issue

      @mfalkvidd, nice pickup ! Thanks !

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Gasmeter accuracy

      Helllo guys,

      Here is a small sketch (it may be version 1.5 of MySensors) that I've used for measuring Gas consumption.
      0_1498509273489_EnergyMeterPulseSensor.ino

      The key is between line 125 and 136 (I have removed my debug lines for more clarity and a useless statement):

        int input_state = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);
        gw.wait(30);
        
        if ((input_state == LOW)) {
          pulseCount++;
        }
      

      The gw.wait(30) acts as a debouncer.
      I hope this is clear.
      Regards,

      QQ.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline
    • RE: Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

      From my experience, the transistor (or mosfet) is key to allow enough current to the DC-DC booster. Otherwise, it will not provide the appropriate voltage because max current getting out of a digital pin from Arduino is around 40 mA.

      QQ.

      posted in Hardware
      qqlapraline
      qqlapraline