OK so there is this new(ish) chip the ESP8266EX that promises a full wifi stack and a mcu all for £2-3. But the chip on it’s own isn’t so useful – so most of the excitement has been around the various modules made with the chip, some memory and an antenna or connector for one. […]
Read More…Category: Make it
Open aquaponics API, documented with Swagger and sample app
We’re proud to release the first public iteration of our Aquaponics Open Data API. You can see it live here – and we are very keen to get feedback, suggestions, improvements and collaborators in true open-source fashion. Our goal is to allow others to write applications to use data from our systems for their own purposes, as well as reusing […]
Read More…Wireless pH sensor
JeeNode + MinipH + LiPo + Case = Wireless pH sensor This sensor is probably the one I’m most proud of so far, all the elements came together really well despite having to hack the MinipH circuit in the literal sense! The enclosure maketh the project As soon as I had finished making this sensor, […]
Read More…Reading multiple sensors – rfm12b_linux and node-red
RFM12b module vs. Jeelink This post follows on from this one where Gareth explains how to use an RFM12b module with an RPi. To recap, the RFM12b module is a radio transciever like the Jeelink, but it is much cheaper. It is, however, slightly harder to use. The Jeelink connects via USB and is immediately exposed as […]
Read More…RFM12B linking a JeeNode Micro with a Raspberry Pi
I’m going to try to use my new RFM12B based JeeNode Micro from JeeLabs to talk to a Raspberry Pi equipped with another RFM12B. Although the radio module (and JeeNode) are from JeeLabs, I’m going to connect it to a raspberry pi using an Eve-alpha board I got via the Ciseco kickstarter a while back. […]
Read More…Setting up a Pi from bare Raspbian to work as a Node-Red controller
Here is a set of instructions to go from bare Raspbian to work as a Node-Red controller and also send text (sms) alerts using a 3G usb dongle. For various reasons I’ve needed to retrace my steps a few times, so here I’ll document them all for my and your convenience. Starting point is a […]
Read More…Using the ACS712 Low Current Sensor
Gareth and I are using ACS712 Low Current Sensors in our Aquaponics project. We’re using them to measure AC current. All we really need them to tell us is whether various pumps are on (and drawing 1/6 of an amp) or off. The raw value you get when you do an analogRead on the pin varies […]
Read More…raspberry pi running node-red, wiring-pi to pwm control a light
OK so putting node-RED on the raspberry pi was almost as easy as getting it onto my computer – see previous post here. I started with the occidentalis distro from adafruit – and to install node.js itself I needed to use different package to match the pi wget http://node-arm.herokuapp.com/node_latest_armhf.deb sudo dpkg -i node_latest_armhf.deb but apart […]
Read More…Tweeting with Node-RED via a mqtt broker
Having had a wonderful weekend at Wuthering Bytes, I decided to try and install the fabulous Node:RED tool and try to use it with mqtt to tweet the light level. Firstly Node-RED depends on node.js, so I installed node.js via Chris Lea’s ppa – he seems like the right sort of person to package up […]
Read More…Transistor calculations for a 12V 300mA light via raspberry pi gpio pin
I am following this excellent page as a guide: http://teachmetomake.wordpress.com/how-to-use-a-transistor-as-a-switch/ Using it, I worked through my use case of an raspberry pi connected to a TIP120 to drive a 12V LED light. diagram from http://ctheds.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/tip-120/ What value of resistor should I use? I’ve seen several different values on web examples, so looks like I need to actually […]
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