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Wow! Built-in Wifi + 4GB storage for $9? This changes the entire scope of my repeatedly-postponed environmental monitoring project. I can wire a $10 temperature

by chime 11y ago

Wow! Built-in Wifi + 4GB storage for $9? This changes the entire scope of my repeatedly-postponed environmental monitoring project. I can wire a $10 temperature/humidity sensor and put 40-50 of these devices around the building for $1k. I would easily pay $50 for a pre-made device that: 1) Is built using CHIP and has a simply case + power adapter 2) Is wired to https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10167 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10167 3) Has an easy Wifi setup process and does DHCP 4) Lets me do a GET http://ip/status http://ip/status and gives me JSON of the current temperature and humidity. Then all I have to worry about is setting up a cron job that wgets all 50 devices and logs the result to DB. FYI equivalent systems, even non-NIST-calibrated ones cost $500/device or more.

tfigment 11y ago
You can get zigbee ones from Omega [1] for around $200. Still kinda pricey but they are battery powered and optionally come with nema enclosures so you can stick them nearly anywhere. But having said that they were are not the most reliable product I've ever used. Getting it under $50 would be nice even if also not reliable. [1] http://www.omega.com/guides/humidity.html http://www.omega.com/guides/humidity.html
paulclinger 11y ago
I've done 3 and 4 for Arduino; here is my DHCP and DNS server (https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite) that also handles GET requests for reading analog or digital pin values (full example: https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite/blob/master/examples/DHCPLite/RedFly/RedFly.pde https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite/blob/master/examples/...).
gh02t 11y ago
Not $50, you can do all of that with a $5 ESP8266. The CHIP is IMO enormously overpowered for what you're describing. The ESPs can do HTTP/MQTT/etc directly themselves, but I think an ideal use for the CHIP is as a hub with the ESP's reporting sensor data and the CHIP logging data. Also, as a warning from experience the DHT22's aren't that great and they have been a headache. They are relatively expensive, not very precise and also I've seen a huge variation in their manufacturing quality. The relative humidity readings in particular are wildly inaccurate. There are better temperature sensors that cost less than a dollar (DS18) and to get reliable humidity readings you really need something nicer like the SHT-31.
- akhilcacharya 11y ago
  Well, on the ESP8266 you have to code directly in C with the library or in MicroPython, which isn't fantastic - on the CHIP you use whatever you (Go, Node, real Python, Java) that compiles to ARM for $4 more with easier I/O.
  - kweks 11y ago
    You can also use node.js, or lua on the ESP. It's not the perfect solution for everything; but it's tiny, and it costs $1.50 on aliexpress / banggood, and there's a ton of code for it. If you need a module that is mono-task, tiny, cheap and reliable, it's hard to go past the ESP. If you're looking for a full computer, then it's an obvious choice towards CHIP / Raspberry PI, etc
  - sklogic 11y ago
    What's wrong with coding in C? You're unlikely to ever need anything too complex on such a device, so C is a totally adequate choice.
    - mixedCase 11y ago
      Totally adequate if the goal is to produce content for the @InternetOfShit guy, unless "coffee at work" for you means sharing a drink and cracking jokes with Ken Thompson and John Carmack. I'd consider the ESP8266 if I could run Go or Rust on it.
      - sklogic 11y ago
        Mind explaining what did you mean by this? For the typical scale of a esp8266 project there is no difference between C and Go and Rust. Actually, C can be much safer of you follow MISRA and use all the appropriate tools.
  - gh02t 11y ago
    My point is though that these are complementary. Read sensor -> send data is a trivial task that takes a few lines of code, most of which is importing libraries and the CHIP is vastly overpowered. I'm saying, put your complex data logging/smart home/whatever logic in <language of choice> on the CHIP and have your sensors be simple (read: reliable) nodes that connect to the CHIP as a hub. It's not so much a matter of price as it is minimizing complexity. Also I don't know many people who use the native C SDK for the ESP8266. Most people use Arduino (simplified C++), but there's also Lua, Javascript and Python.
coffeecheque 11y ago
Have you thought about using devices like the ESP8266? [1] You could probably work out a way to wire in the humidity sensor onto that, and scale it up via a printed PCB. And instead of worrying about GETs, you can program the device to report in via MQTT to a central server. You likely know all this, just curious :) [1] https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13678 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13678
sbierwagen 11y ago
Obnoxious advertisement: my company resells an Arduino-compatible wireless sensor node made by Seeedstudio, http://www.robotmesh.com/seeeduino-stalker-v3 http://www.robotmesh.com/seeeduino-stalker-v3 Costs $39.00 Onboard RTC, LiPo charger, temperature sensor, micro SD card socket. Designed to be plugged into a 5 volt solar panel. (Many complaints that the panel Seeed supplies is undersized and degrades quickly in the field, so we don't carry it, so you'd have to source that yourself, or just use a DC wall adapter) Uses XBee-footprint radio modules, sold separately. (We don't carry those either, since Digi got really obnoxious about trademark enforcement)
wycx 11y ago
Unsolicited advice: Use the CHIP as a gateway for a network of devices like the Moteino[1] or JeeNode[2]. I tend to agree with then sentiments re. wifi from this post [3] [1] http://lowpowerlab.com/moteino/ http://lowpowerlab.com/moteino/ [2] http://jeelabs.net/projects/hardware/wiki/JeeNode http://jeelabs.net/projects/hardware/wiki/JeeNode [3] http://lowpowerlab.com/blog/2015/12/17/esp8266-vs-sub-1-ghz/ http://lowpowerlab.com/blog/2015/12/17/esp8266-vs-sub-1-ghz/

by chime 11y ago

tfigment 11y ago

You can get zigbee ones from Omega [1] for around $200. Still kinda pricey but they are battery powered and optionally come with nema enclosures so you can stick them nearly anywhere. But having said that they were are not the most reliable product I've ever used. Getting it under $50 would be nice even if also not reliable. [1] http://www.omega.com/guides/humidity.html http://www.omega.com/guides/humidity.html

paulclinger 11y ago

I've done 3 and 4 for Arduino; here is my DHCP and DNS server (https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite) that also handles GET requests for reading analog or digital pin values (full example: https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite/blob/master/examples/DHCPLite/RedFly/RedFly.pde https://github.com/pkulchenko/DHCPLite/blob/master/examples/...).

gh02t 11y ago

Not $50, you can do all of that with a $5 ESP8266. The CHIP is IMO enormously overpowered for what you're describing. The ESPs can do HTTP/MQTT/etc directly themselves, but I think an ideal use for the CHIP is as a hub with the ESP's reporting sensor data and the CHIP logging data. Also, as a warning from experience the DHT22's aren't that great and they have been a headache. They are relatively expensive, not very precise and also I've seen a huge variation in their manufacturing quality. The relative humidity readings in particular are wildly inaccurate. There are better temperature sensors that cost less than a dollar (DS18) and to get reliable humidity readings you really need something nicer like the SHT-31.

akhilcacharya 11y ago
Well, on the ESP8266 you have to code directly in C with the library or in MicroPython, which isn't fantastic - on the CHIP you use whatever you (Go, Node, real Python, Java) that compiles to ARM for $4 more with easier I/O.
- kweks 11y ago
  You can also use node.js, or lua on the ESP. It's not the perfect solution for everything; but it's tiny, and it costs $1.50 on aliexpress / banggood, and there's a ton of code for it. If you need a module that is mono-task, tiny, cheap and reliable, it's hard to go past the ESP. If you're looking for a full computer, then it's an obvious choice towards CHIP / Raspberry PI, etc
- sklogic 11y ago
  What's wrong with coding in C? You're unlikely to ever need anything too complex on such a device, so C is a totally adequate choice.
  - mixedCase 11y ago
    Totally adequate if the goal is to produce content for the @InternetOfShit guy, unless "coffee at work" for you means sharing a drink and cracking jokes with Ken Thompson and John Carmack. I'd consider the ESP8266 if I could run Go or Rust on it.
    - sklogic 11y ago
      Mind explaining what did you mean by this? For the typical scale of a esp8266 project there is no difference between C and Go and Rust. Actually, C can be much safer of you follow MISRA and use all the appropriate tools.
- gh02t 11y ago
  My point is though that these are complementary. Read sensor -> send data is a trivial task that takes a few lines of code, most of which is importing libraries and the CHIP is vastly overpowered. I'm saying, put your complex data logging/smart home/whatever logic in <language of choice> on the CHIP and have your sensors be simple (read: reliable) nodes that connect to the CHIP as a hub. It's not so much a matter of price as it is minimizing complexity. Also I don't know many people who use the native C SDK for the ESP8266. Most people use Arduino (simplified C++), but there's also Lua, Javascript and Python.

coffeecheque 11y ago

Have you thought about using devices like the ESP8266? [1] You could probably work out a way to wire in the humidity sensor onto that, and scale it up via a printed PCB. And instead of worrying about GETs, you can program the device to report in via MQTT to a central server. You likely know all this, just curious :) [1] https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13678 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13678

sbierwagen 11y ago

Obnoxious advertisement: my company resells an Arduino-compatible wireless sensor node made by Seeedstudio, http://www.robotmesh.com/seeeduino-stalker-v3 http://www.robotmesh.com/seeeduino-stalker-v3 Costs $39.00 Onboard RTC, LiPo charger, temperature sensor, micro SD card socket. Designed to be plugged into a 5 volt solar panel. (Many complaints that the panel Seeed supplies is undersized and degrades quickly in the field, so we don't carry it, so you'd have to source that yourself, or just use a DC wall adapter) Uses XBee-footprint radio modules, sold separately. (We don't carry those either, since Digi got really obnoxious about trademark enforcement)

wycx 11y ago

Unsolicited advice: Use the CHIP as a gateway for a network of devices like the Moteino[1] or JeeNode[2]. I tend to agree with then sentiments re. wifi from this post [3] [1] http://lowpowerlab.com/moteino/ http://lowpowerlab.com/moteino/ [2] http://jeelabs.net/projects/hardware/wiki/JeeNode http://jeelabs.net/projects/hardware/wiki/JeeNode [3] http://lowpowerlab.com/blog/2015/12/17/esp8266-vs-sub-1-ghz/ http://lowpowerlab.com/blog/2015/12/17/esp8266-vs-sub-1-ghz/