Posts made by qqlapraline

@NeverDie I have ordered 10 pieces each time.

Qq

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.

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

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

Cheers,

QQ.

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 47µF right next to the NRF24.
Finally, I've upgrade my design to add a tantalium capacitor right next to the smd pads.
Global view:

Zooming the back with the polarized capacity (old fashion):

Front view:

New design:

Cheers,

QQ

@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.

@qqlapraline here are the pictures of my PCB. Front and Back.

QQ.

@mfalkvidd I think I did.

• Photos of the nodes will arrive this evening
• I have tried various distances as well as various power settings on the node
• the node was tested using serial adapter power (3.3V)

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

Hello guys,

It's been a while since my last posting.
I have setup a new sensor using my own PCB that is pretty much the same as this one.

I have tried many setups and now I'm using a basic node code

// mysensors

#define DEBUG_ENABLED
#define DEBUG_TI

// Enable debug prints to serial monitor
#define MY_DEBUG 

#define MY_RADIO_RF24

#define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_LOW

#define RELEASE "0.0.1"

#include <MySensors.h>

//#define MY_NODE_ID 36

#define OPEN 1
#define CLOSE 0
#define CHILD_ID 1

MyMessage msg(CHILD_ID, V_TRIPPED);

uint8_t value = OPEN;

void presentation()
{
  Serial.println("Presentation");
  present(CHILD_ID, S_DOOR);
}

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println("End setup");
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  value = value == OPEN ? CLOSE : OPEN;
  Serial.println("Sending message");
  send(msg.set(value));
  Serial.println("Sleeping");
  sleep(10000);
}

But, guess what: my node is not getting any parent response.

Here is the output I get from the serial port on my node:

18096 TSM:FAIL:RE-INIT
18098 TSM:INIT
18104 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
18106 TSM:FPAR
18110 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,255-255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
20119 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
20121 TSM:FPAR
20123 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,255-255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
22132 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
22134 TSM:FPAR
22136 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,255-255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
24147 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
24150 TSM:FPAR
24152 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,255-255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
26161 !TSM:FPAR:FAIL
26163 TSM:FAIL:CNT=2
26165 TSM:FAIL:DIS
26167 TSF:TDI:TSL

and the one on the gateway:

Oct 03 23:06:37 DEBUG TSF:MSG:READ,255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
Oct 03 23:06:37 DEBUG TSF:MSG:BC
Oct 03 23:06:37 DEBUG TSF:MSG:FPAR REQ,ID=255
Oct 03 23:06:37 DEBUG TSF:PNG:SEND,TO=0
Oct 03 23:06:37 DEBUG TSF:CKU:OK
Oct 03 23:06:37 DEBUG TSF:MSG:GWL OK
Oct 03 23:06:37 DEBUG ?TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:0
Oct 03 23:06:38 DEBUG GWT:RFC:C=0,MSG=0;0;3;0;18;PING
Oct 03 23:06:39 DEBUG TSF:MSG:READ,255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
Oct 03 23:06:39 DEBUG TSF:MSG:BC
Oct 03 23:06:39 DEBUG TSF:MSG:FPAR REQ,ID=255
Oct 03 23:06:39 DEBUG TSF:CKU:OK,FCTRL
Oct 03 23:06:39 DEBUG TSF:MSG:GWL OK
Oct 03 23:06:39 DEBUG ?TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:0
Oct 03 23:06:41 DEBUG TSF:MSG:READ,255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
Oct 03 23:06:41 DEBUG TSF:MSG:BC
Oct 03 23:06:41 DEBUG TSF:MSG:FPAR REQ,ID=255
Oct 03 23:06:41 DEBUG TSF:CKU:OK,FCTRL
Oct 03 23:06:41 DEBUG TSF:MSG:GWL OK
Oct 03 23:06:42 DEBUG ?TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:0
Oct 03 23:06:43 DEBUG TSF:MSG:READ,255-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
Oct 03 23:06:43 DEBUG TSF:MSG:BC
Oct 03 23:06:43 DEBUG TSF:MSG:FPAR REQ,ID=255
Oct 03 23:06:43 DEBUG TSF:CKU:OK,FCTRL
Oct 03 23:06:43 DEBUG TSF:MSG:GWL OK
Oct 03 23:06:44 DEBUG ?TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:0

Any help would be rewarded by a coffee, beer and may be by a bottle of Chablis if you have the answer

QQ.

ps: yes, I have a great 33µF capacity right next to my radio
pps: yes, I have tried a different NRF24L01+ module
ppps: isn't it tiring to have multiple "PS" ?

I was wondering the kind of modification needed to support ATMEGA4808/4809.
I have read again the MyConfig.h and MySensors.h, they look quite good.
Though, there might be some updates to be done in the hal/architecture/AVR folder ..

Great, @peerv !
That's a very good idea.
Do you have reasonable power consumption ?

@chbla, I'm quite puzzled.
As it works on the breadboard, of course, I would chase for bad soldering. For instance, the mosfet gate controled by pin 7.

Any picture of the arduino pro mini ?

@chbla, you are right. As mentionned on the schema, it should be connected to GNDT (the triggered GND). And now I do understand your point.

@chbla well, yes. As the level adapter AND the booster are triggered only when needed (during the measure time), I don't see where it closes the loop.
By maybe I misunderstand something. Where do you loose some current ? The trigger pin from the HC-SR04 ?

QQ.

Yep ! And that's why it's fun !
But my zc detector will work too. My first tests are OK

QQ.

@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..;)

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.

@Nca78, actually, I did not want to touch the existing cables to avoid any claim from the maintenance guy 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
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

QQ.

With please. Here is a global schema of the pellet burner:

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

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 ).
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

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.

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.

I did a quick update of the PCB.
It's not perfect but it does fullfill my (selfish) needs
0_1509659115842_MySensorsPiGw.kicad_pcb

QQ.

Very nice design ! I will buy a bunch of these.
I'm using a BMP180 on my raspberry now, that would be great to add an I2C port somewhere in a potential v5

@Yveaux, thanks for your support

If « bad soldering » means some imperfections left unfortunately considering my close-to-perfection soldering skills..I would have to say yes..:)

That, or oxydation or any other issue.

Qq.

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 25µA.

Does it work fine ?
In case, you need it, here it goes again
0_1504557254355_DistanceSensebenderMicro.ino
Beware, it uses a former version of the MySensors library.

QQ.

Hello,

Very nice job (as usual).
I think the first version was produced with Eagle. Can you post the Eagle version of the schematics and pcb ?
Thank you.

Qq.

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.

@mfalkvidd, nice pickup ! Thanks !

@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.

@gohan May be I was wrong.
But I have checked the Nano proposed by the "Build" section of Mysensors (this one), and..well, 13,40 € of shipping to France
But you may have some other reference ?

@Nca78 Ok, I get it.
But, considering the price, I will check twice. For the moment, what I see is huge shipping prices

I have "clearly" seen the instructions.
My question though is: why should it be different from one Nano to the other one ?

But I suppose I should stop asking questions and stick to the manual

More seriously, I am very keen to understand the underlying phenomenons. What is the added current surge needed by the NRF receiving and decoding data the voltage reg (AMS1117) could not cope with ..?

Hello all,

I've been through all Internet forums, blogs and, of course through this one with no obvious answer. So I'm taking a chance.
Here is the problem:
I'm trying to use a new version of Arduino Nano as a gateway.
In the past, I have succesfully use this kind.
But I have recently tried some others ones (like [this](http://www.ebay.fr/itm/272544770577?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT or that.
But unfortunately, when I try the last two ones (basically, in my case, those with the CH340 chip), I'm expiriencing bad things.
Depending on the value of MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL, here is what I get:

0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:READ,223-108-125,s=160,c=6,t=104,pt=5,l=21,sg=0:140268562
0;255;3;0;9;!TSF:MSG:LEN,16!=28
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:READ,4-4-0,s=2,c=1,t=1,pt=2,l=2,sg=0:53
4;2;1;0;1;53
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:READ,4-4-0,s=255,c=3,t=0,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:78
4;255;3;0;0;78
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:READ,6-6-0,s=1,c=1,t=0,pt=7,l=5,sg=0:25.9
6;1;1;0;0;25.9
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:READ,6-6-0,s=255,c=3,t=0,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:71
6;255;3;0;0;71
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:READ,6-12-0,s=255,c=3,t=0,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:71
0;255;3;0;9;!TSF:MSG:LEN,1!=8
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:READ,0-0-255,s=255,c=3,t=20,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:MSG:BC

You can easily see the message length error. It may indicate a low voltage or so by I have really tested the FT232 version of the Nano is the exact same conditions: same NRF, same, USB cable, same software.
I do not use any capacitors (except the one on the nano) in any case.

And, of course, with the FT232 version, it works with absolutely no message length error.
Any suggestions ?

Regards,

QQ.

@fhenryco, you have probably noticed in my post that the ultrasonic detector I use (ME007-ULS) is using 3.3v
For your second question (does the HC-SR04 works under 3.3V), I would say try it
But from my experience, it is quite unlikely that it works.

QQ.

May be this post will help you finding a solution

Regards,

QQ.

Here is the schematics (freshly made for you :))

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

Regards,

QQ.

@qqlapraline said in MySensors Stable Node:

I have a question, though. Would it make sense to mutualize the Crystal between the NRF and the Atmel ?

(I love to quote myself )

Very nice design ! I wish it was available for sale !

I have a question, though. Would it make sense to mutualize the Crystal between the NRF and the Atmel ?

I think so !
Have a look here.

QQ.

@meddie, do you use the default sketch for sensebender ?
If this is the case, please notice that after 5 measures, the clock speed is lowered to 1 Mhz. It means that the serial output won't work anymore using the default baud speed.
And, when you restart the serial monitor, it starts all over again from measure number 1.
Hope this helps.

QQ.

Yep, got that lately
Thanks.

QQ.

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

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

I'm very interested by your setup. It has been a shame to have some low voltage power in order to measure power consumption
I hope you can display something soon.
Regards,

Qq.

@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.

Thank you @stevebus. It's now live at its outdoor spot measuring the water in my well. It works perfectly

I'll post the photos and schemas once I get back from skiing

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).

QQ.

Hello All,

I have tried this code and it works fine.
I was questionning myself though. If the index request fails at some point, what would be the behaviour of the code ? From my understanding of it, it will try to get the index again and again until it succeeds. May be a another way would be not to reset the index to 0 and send the additionnal index the next time.
What do you think ?

QQ.

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 µA (25 µA during sleep time and 15 mA for 1 second during measures).

QQ.

Here are some photos (frontside and backside). I use a regular multimeter to monitor the current (serial through the battery power).

QQ.

No, not at all. Actually, it sits on one of my bookshelves. It has been there for a while.
I thought for a long period that the battery drain was due to some software issue until I conducted some deep analysis.

Qq

Nice try but removing the radio was part of my tests (especially with Sketch J).

Qq.

Hello all,

I have been facing some power saving issues lately with one of my (numerous) Sensebender micro boards.
Whilst they all use a mere 27µA during sleep, one of them is using between 400 and 700 µA.
Of course, I have tried the famous Sketch J to see if this was not related to some software issue, but the result was the same.
I have cleaned the contact and everything using some alcohol but it does not change anything either.
Any idea there ?

QQ.

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

Qq.

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

QQ.

I have that kind of experience, and, according to my searches, rechargeable batteries are a much less favorable self-discharge curve than regulat batteries. It means that, even at very low current, rechargeable batteries will discharge way faster than alkaline ones.

Here is a source:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/elevating_self_discharge

The best overall are lithium based (not rechargeable) batteries. Like these ones:

http://www.energizer.com/batteries/energizer-ultimate-lithium-batteries

Qq.

Hello All,

I have built a nice little distance sensor using a Sensebender micro. The power footprint is very low: batteries would last several months.
I'm trying to push it further. To do so, I'm wondering if I could play with the clock of the Atmega.
I have understood that delay(), millis(), .. primitives don't behave appropriately after using clock_prescale_set() usage.
Here is my question: is there a standard library (like NewPing) that handles these changes appropriately ?

Regards,

QQ.

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.

Oh, forgot it..
Here is the INO file (beware, it is a 1.5 version of MySensors libraries)
0_1477341898945_DistanceSensebenderMicro.ino

QQ.

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

Hello all,

It tooks some long time to update my setup but finally, I did it (this weekend)
And....it works ! Like a charm
Now the battery voltage is under 3v (2900 mv) and the logic converter does its job very very well.
I only have accuracy issues but, hey, this is a well, so this is a very very aggressive environment for mainstream electronics
Thanks again for your help

QQ.

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

Yes, absolutely.

Sorry, I only have a smartphone (am on vacation).
But basically, here is the situation:

• arduino powered by batteries (voltage varying from 3.2v to 1.9v)
• DC-DC booster power by a digital output, hence the VCC of batteries
• US-100 powered by the DC-DC booster, hence 3.3v
• logic back from US-100 to arduino is then 3.3v

Is that clear enough or should I find a powerfull sketcher application ? :):)

QQ

Hello all,

I'm trying to build up a low power/battery supplied distance sensor. The purpose of that sensor is to measure the water level in a well.
In order to do so, I'm using an US-100 ultrasonic sensor. This one is supposed to go below 3V as for power supply. The main unit is a SenseBender board (very fan of this one). The logic, to keep current consumption low, is to use a digital output of the arduino to power the US-100 and trigger measurement.
It works perfectly with a pair of AA batteries...until it reaches 3V ...after that, no more distance measure.

I have tried to use a DC-DC booster to power the US-100. Unfortunately, the logic levels are not recognized by the arduino (I should have guessed this ...). Is there a way to fix this ? With a pull-up resistor or something like that ?

Sorry for the long post but it's probably necessary to explain everything.

Many thanks for your help.

QQ

Thanks so much for the information.

Hello All,

I have been through the forum and documentation without finding the answer.
So, basically, can I upgrade my gateway to version 2.0 whilst keeping my 1.5 sensors ?
Thank you guys.

@epierre Yeah..right..:| thank you for the life lesson.

Actually, how surprising it might look, I don't have the need: I have Arduino, communicating together in a simple protocol and integrating very well with my domoticz installation (by the way, it supports lots of devices...). But, I have good will....And integration between mysensors and Domoticz seems quite logical to me. If this is a fight between number of code lines (which is probably not to the advantage of mysensors), then, fine by me: I'm out the game.

Regards.

QQ.

OK, so basically, nobody wants to do anything...Good way for the integration process !

To move forward, I may have misunderstood things but can't we use one arduino as the gateway that reads/writes from serial ?
Isn't it the principle of the raspberry pi gateway ?

QQ.

I have exchanged with Gizmocuz who's in charge of Domoticz code. He is very eager to integrate mysensors into Domoticz.
He needs some help so and asks for volunteers.

But we haven't talked about integration policy. I would understand that he would not consider refactoring to integrate mysensors, a simple integration with a gateway engine (some kind of RFXCOM integration + gateway) is the key.

Fair enough: then we have to build up a gateway as part of Domoticz.
Nonetheless, an intermediary solution would be to use the Domoticz lua script towards dummy sensors.

QQ.

I think this is not that hard.
Actually, there is a simple enumeration of devices usable by any api.
Furthermore, as an example you can review the recent integration of meteostick (a simple usb device for Davis meteo stations).
Have a look at revision 1779

QQ.

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.