Hi all,

My youngest son and I converted his toy pirate chest to include the secret knock sensor. Pictures are below. The chest we used is perfect as it already contained a false bottom which now hides the electronics. It would be relatively easy to add a false bottom into other chests. The only thing we still want to do is change the blue and red "crystal" eyes in the skull to LEDs that would flash with the secret knock sensor. The sample sketch was modified to only unlock for 5 seconds, otherwise the solenoid gets pretty hot, and also modified to not unlock at power up.

Components Used:

• Melissa & Doug Pirate Chest
• Arduino Nano
• Nano Breakout Board
• Sound Detection Sensor Module
• 12V Solenoid
• Voltage Regulator
• Relay Module
• NRF24L01+ Radio Module
• Piezo Buzzer from the parts bin
• Momentary Switch from the parts pin
• 470uF 35V Electrolytic Capacitor from the parts bin
• Power Supply Barrel Jack connector
• 12V Wall Wart from the parts bin

Build Notes:

• We used the Nano with the breakout board so that it would be easier to mount to the wood bottom. Any other Arduino should work as well.
• We used the voltage regulator module to protect the Nano (as much as possible) in case the kids plugged the wrong wall wart into it.
• We had to add the 470uF capacitor as about 50% of the time when the solenoid activated, the power fluctuations would cause the Nano to reset. With the capacitor added, there has been no issue with resets.
• You need a fairly beefy wall wart. Although the specs indicate the solenoid is .35A, it seems to draw more than that. I haven't measured the actual usage yet.
• We were planning to use a TIP120 Darlington Transistor to switch the solenoid on and off, but I was worried that it would get fairly hot so went with a relay instead.
• Given the current draw of the solenoid we went with a wall-wart rather than with batteries.
• Some parts (Nano and Voltage Regulator) were screwed down to the bottom, but most have a small dollop of hot glue to hold them down.
• Total build cost, not including the pirate chest (which was a gift), was about US $20.

Cheers
Al

Hi all,

Inspired by @BulldogLowell's Irrigation Controller, I set out to build a controller to work in conjunction with my RainBird Controller. The primary reason for doing it this way is that the RainBird controller is very reliable, albeit not very smart. I wanted additional smarts, but did not want to forego the reliability of the RainBird, so I set out to build a controller that has the best of both worlds. The controller is still a work in progress, but the base functionality is now in place and I will hook it up this weekend. All of the smarts are in my HomeSeer 3 HA system (HS3), so right now the Mega just listens and processes commands from the HS3 MySensors Plugin. The HS3 MySensors plugin does not support the retrieval of variables used in BulldogLowell's controller, so I had to do things slightly different. I'll post my sketch in a few days.

As you can see from the picture below, there are 3 sets of relays:

8x 5VDC Relays controlled by the Arduino
8x 24VAC Relays controlled by the 5VDC Relays and the outputs of the RainBird Controller (wiring to the RainBird not shown)
2x 5VDC Relay which is used to activate the rain sensor input on the RainBird controller and is used for the controlling the main valve (needs to be installed). Activating the rain sensor input effectively bypasses the RainBird controller.

The 24VAC relays are DPDT and I'm using one pole of each relay as an input to the Arduino. That way I can detect if the RainBird is controlling a zone and also whether the command to activate a relay by the Arduino was successful. The second pole of each 24VAC relay is used to control the actual zone valve. The outputs of the 24VAC relays are connected through a surge protector that I had bought a few years ago to use with a different controller (the ground wire is not connected yet and the wires from the surge protector to the valves are not shown).

Here are the components used in the controller:

• Arduino Mega
• Arduino Mega Prototype Shield
• NRF24L01+ with PA/LNA mounted to a spare relay socket
• SMA Female Bulkhead
• SMA Extension Cable
• 2 Channel Relay Module
• 8 Channel Relay Module
• 16x2 LCD Module
• Idec SY2S-05C Relay Sockets
• Idec RY2S-U-AC24V Relays
• Aluminum Slotted DIN Rail
• TManufacturing Sprinkler Surge Protector
• DSC Alarm Panel Enclosure (door not shown)
• Terminal Strips
• 24VAC to 5VDC Power Supply
• Cables: CAT5e to interconnect relays to the Mega, 7 wire sprinkler cable, Dupont cables, etc.

Still to do:

• Connect and update the sketch for my DLJ Water Meter that will be installed on the water line for the sprinkler system. This way I can detect if a sprinkler valve is stuck open (i.e. if all of the valves should be closed, but there is still flow, then there's a problem).
• Update the sketch with a watchdog timer. The Arduino will try and connect to my HS3 system on a regular basis and if it fails for a period of time, the relay for the RainBird bypass will open, allowing the RainBird controller to take over.
• Add a 24VAC to 5VDC power supply so that I don't need to use two separate power supplies. The 24VAC supply is shared between this controller and the RainBird.

Cheers
Al

@NeverDie I use an assortment of cases and still looking for others for some sensors I have built. To be honest, I think that finding the right case is the hardest part of the MySensors system :D

For my gateway, I used this box: http://imall.itead.cc/project-case-white-and-black-110-80-25mm.html. It's a tight squeeze with the Uno and NRF24L01+ PA/LNA along with a small proto board to mount the LEDs. A smaller Arduino would fit better, but I used an Uno clone to ensure enough power for the PA/LNA module. I had to remove the Uno headers in order for it to fit as the headers were interfering with the circuit board for the LEDs. I'll open it up and take some pics.

I've been looking at these cases for indoor battery powered sensors. They are a good price, but are only in inventory in the UK, so shipping is $25 for any quantity, so I'll have to do a large enough order to minimize the shipping cost per unit.

Cheers
Al

A lot of the clones use a ch340g usb interface chip. Have you downloaded drivers for it: http://sparks.gogo.co.nz/ch340.html.

Cheers
Al

@mrc-core I believe this type of meter outputs 4.5 pulses per liter, but there are a number of different specs for similar meters. Do you have a link to the one that you actually purchased? The example sketch is for meters that output 1 pulse per liter (or 1000 pulses for 1 cubic meter). Therefore change PULSE_FACTOR to 4500 in the sketch. You may need to adjust that number. I would get a large bucket for which you know how many liters it is and then count the number of pulses required to fill it. Take that number, divide it by the size of the bucket (in liters) and then multiply by 1000. That number becomes your PULSE_FACTOR.

Cheers
Al

@NeverDie Not exactly mass produced, but here are some other options:

https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/uXIff7XO

https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/pRJiKWxV

https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/nJ8HNuZj

Cheers
Al

Hi Mark,

The only example I can think of is @BulldogLowell's sprinkler controller. It queries for run-times from the controller. I think that is supported on the Vera, and not sure if Domoticz supports the same feature.

Cheers
Al

@Sebastien-Vayrette-Gavard Sorry, I thought there was a converter online that would convert from pronto to the code needed by this sketch. The one I thought would work is coming up with an error when I run it. I haven't looked into the details of the IR library included with MySensors. There's likely a way to manually convert between the two (there are good descriptions on what the pronto codes mean here: http://www.hifi-remote.com/infrared/IR-PWM.shtml and here: http://www.remotecentral.com/features/irdisp2.htm). You could likely use a different IR library/sketch as well that's meant for sending pronto codes. Here's are a few: https://github.com/probonopd/arduino-infrared-pronto and http://irdb.tk/send/. The other option you have is to build an IR receiver and then use the remote you have to learn the code.

Cheers
Al

@n3ro That should work fine. You may want to add a resistor to limit current. Once you have one, I would measure actual current draw and see if a resistor is needed. Based on the specs provided, you should not need one, but you never know how accurate the specs are.

Cheers
Al

I've updated the original post with a parts list and some build notes.

Cheers
Al

@mscott Have you tried the 5200 without the NRF24 hooked up and some test libraries for it to ensure it is working? I believe you can just use "Ethernet.begin(mac);" and it will try to get an ip address using DHCP. I have a couple of Ethernet modules for my Arduinos, but I haven't used them much, so I'm definitely no expert on them.

Cheers
Al

For me it's primarily a cost driven decision. I can get a Pro Mini and an NRF24L01+ for a total price, including shipping to Canada, for less than $3US in total. The cheapest RFM69 module is $3.90 + $6.55 shipping and then the cost of a Pro Mini. A Moteino equipped with a RFM69 is almost $20, not including shipping. At some point I may experiment with different RF modules, but so far the NRF clones/fakes have been working fine for me with coverage throughout the 3 levels in my house and in our yard.

Cheers
Al

@BulldogLowell Thanks for posting this. A sprinkler controller to replace my Rainbird controller is next on my list of projects.

For those looking for a good and relatively cheap soil moisture sensor, these ones are pretty good and use a capacitive sensor: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261675851824. They transmit on 433 MHz. I currently use them with RFXCom and HomeSeer, but for those that don't have RFXCom, the protocol should be relatively easy to reverse engineer and then use directly with MySensors and a 433MHz receiver. I've also bought a few from here: https://www.plantcaretools.com/en/webshop/wireless-moisture-sensor-en-detail. Both sellers were good to deal with. The only drawback to them is that the antenna (and therefore range) is not very good, but there is an easy mod to improve that: http://www.domoticz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2712

Cheers
Al

@mfalkvidd Looks like it was working much better with the old gateway as it found the parent and a node ID got assigned. There are still some communication issues though will all of the fails at the end. If the sensor is sending a bunch of info right after each other, it may be cause by power brownouts. Try putting a small delay between each send to see if that improves it. On your Rpi2, there must be some type of communication issue between the hardware and Domoticz. I believe the gateway is completely stateless. There may not be an easy way to make the gateway more verbose. You could add some println statements in the code manually.

Cheers
Al

@NeverDie Here's the link to the OSH Park Teensy adapter board: https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/RIumMBtN

These guys have an an adapter board as well, but a bit pricey: http://modtronicsaustralia.com/shop/rfm69hw-breakout-board-bare-pcb-rf-wireless-module/

Cheers
Al

@epierre said:

Do you think I I could use that kind of design in parallel of a static watering controller, so I could have the basic program with the controller, and manage extras with the arduino/mysensors ?

Inspired by @BulldogLowell's controller, I've been working on a MySensors irrigation controller that works in parallel with my RainBird Controller. I'm using a double set of relays (one 5VDC set that's controlled by the Arduino and a 24VAC set that's controlled by the 5VDC relays and the RainBird). This way I can also sense in my HA system when the valves have been opened by the RainBird controller. I have the base functionality finished and working on some additional bells and whistles. Will post some details in a separate thread later today.

Cheers
Al

@msebbe said:

Also, could I wire so both resistors meet at A0?

Yes, that is fine.

Cheers
Al

Here's another option: https://github.com/uChip/RFM69W_BOB

@sundberg84 I'm not sure if any of the current LG TV's have an RS232 port anymore. Most new ones (at least the "smart" ones) are now running WebOS and can in theory be controlled through it over IP. I have two LG TV's, one is a 2010 and it has a serial port, but my 2012 Smart TV does not.

Cheers
Al

@jacek In your icomingMessage routine, it looks you have no code to turn the light off, although I might be misinterpreting it.

Cheers
Al