I've just recently learned about Arduino. I've been using HomeSeer for quite a while and love it. Most of my devices are Insteon. No z-wave. I wasn't pleased with the variety and cost of Insteon sensor devices so I decided to build an Arduino nodeMCU based device using wifi. Ultimately I plan on having PIR motion, temp, door/window, and a CO sensor. I've been able to get the sensors working on a UNO and breadboard. Then I needed wireless connectivity to HS3 and decided on Greigs Arduino plugin. That is working out pretty well except for some additional support in the nodeMCU implementation. Those will come in time.
Anyway, in the last couple of days I have been moving the project from breadboard to a prototype that I will be using for real life testing. I really have no electrical engineering experience. I'm an old IT guy. I'm more comfortable twiddling bits rather than messing with electricity. I now have the prototype v1 finished and beginning to test. Only two sensors now since the other two require functions not yet ported to the nodeMCU implementation.
While it is not impressive in terms of wiring skills, I thought you might be interested in seeing some pics. The clear box is one that some Harbor Freight stuff came in. It was handy. It measures 3.5" x 5.5" x 1.5". In the pics you will see lots of space at the bottom. That is where I will add the temp sensor and the CO sensor. Also, as soon as I can get to a store, I'll add a mono headphone jack so that the door/window sensors can plug in. The door and window sensors will be run serially so that any one of them tripping will notify HS3. I didn't really care which one trips. The device is powered by a 6+ volt wall wart. I have plenty of them I've saved over the years. I take that 6 volts in and run it thru 3.3v and 5v regulators which gives me 3.3v for the nodeMCU and 5v for the sensors. I can support up to 12 volts but that might generate more heat if I understand the power regulators right. Right now they are running only mildly warm. You will also notice in one of the pics that the chip is removed. I did that to show you that there are 3 headers for the chip. Turns out some nodeMCUs are wider than others so I needed another header so that I can support either chip width.
Comments and ideas for improvement are welcomed!
Anyway, in the last couple of days I have been moving the project from breadboard to a prototype that I will be using for real life testing. I really have no electrical engineering experience. I'm an old IT guy. I'm more comfortable twiddling bits rather than messing with electricity. I now have the prototype v1 finished and beginning to test. Only two sensors now since the other two require functions not yet ported to the nodeMCU implementation.
While it is not impressive in terms of wiring skills, I thought you might be interested in seeing some pics. The clear box is one that some Harbor Freight stuff came in. It was handy. It measures 3.5" x 5.5" x 1.5". In the pics you will see lots of space at the bottom. That is where I will add the temp sensor and the CO sensor. Also, as soon as I can get to a store, I'll add a mono headphone jack so that the door/window sensors can plug in. The door and window sensors will be run serially so that any one of them tripping will notify HS3. I didn't really care which one trips. The device is powered by a 6+ volt wall wart. I have plenty of them I've saved over the years. I take that 6 volts in and run it thru 3.3v and 5v regulators which gives me 3.3v for the nodeMCU and 5v for the sensors. I can support up to 12 volts but that might generate more heat if I understand the power regulators right. Right now they are running only mildly warm. You will also notice in one of the pics that the chip is removed. I did that to show you that there are 3 headers for the chip. Turns out some nodeMCUs are wider than others so I needed another header so that I can support either chip width.
Comments and ideas for improvement are welcomed!
Comment