Announcing the "ST_Anything" Arduino/ThingShield Project

[Harlan_Lau]

@kewashi

Hey Dan @ogiewon and Luke @SkyJedi - Thought I would update you and your followers on my project. I couldn’t find an easy way to draw up the circuit nicely so I just took a picture. One day I will have to learn how to use Eagle I suppose or find some nice circuit brushes for Photoshop. Anyway, here it is. This is a typical voltage splitter that cuts the input by 10 thus reducing my closed voltage to under the transistor 0.7 threshold. The simple equations are shown in the image.

The 6V and 12V shown just depict the two possible states for the tap into each alarm zone. The 5V is where you plug in the leads to the Arduino that are pulled high.Just about any NPN transistor will work. I built 5 of these circuits in parallel. The only questionable part was sharing a ground among all the zones since my alarm treats them all separate for some reason. This seemed to work. Here is the prototype all wired up.

After installing the virtual drivers and virtual devices and the multiplexer I have five door sensors working like a charm with my alarm system still fully operational. The transistors are needed to avoid mucking up the operational alarm voltages. The only goofy part is it turned out that the low voltage condition for NPN off is for closed doors and the logic of your anything code is the opposite. I just hacked the device driver groovy code to swap open/close in the parse routine, and it worked fine. This was easier than reversing the voltage logic or diving into your core code.

Here’s the code snippet to stick in the parse routine of the device driver to swap open and close. I know it isn’t groovy compliant but hey it works.Would love to see how a groovy code slinger would do this more efficiently.

if ( name in ["frontDoor","kitchenDoor","garageDoor","bedroomDoor","froomDoor"] ) {
    if (value=="closed") {
        value = "open"
    } else if (value== "open") {
        value = "closed"
    }
}

Thanks a billion Dan. I could never have done this without your excellent library and sample code.

I am reading this thread two years after the post. Is this kewashi’s transistor circuit still the simplest and recommended way to connect an existing wired alarm system’s sensors to SmartThings while letting the existing alarm system continue to work normally?

This thread is really long and I’m wondering whether anyone has posted a simpler solution which allows the existing alarm system to work while still being able to connect the wired sensors to SmartThings.

[ogiewon]

At this point, I would probably recommend using optocouplers to keep the two circuits optically isolated from each other. A simple voltage divider to feed the led side of the optocoupler to step the voltage down to something within spec, and then the output to the micro controller.

[Harlan_Lau]

@Rick_D

Here is the link to the Atmel app note…

http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc2508.pdf

The old link is no good. Here’s a new link: http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/Atmel-2508-Zero-Cross-Detector_ApplicationNote_AVR182.pdf

[kewashi (HousePanel Author)]

@ogiewon

At this point, I would probably recommend using optocouplers to keep the two circuits optically isolated from each other. A simple voltage divider to feed the led side of the optocoupler to step the voltage down to something within spec, and then the output to the micro controller.

I agree - the method I used referenced above wasn’t robust so I abandoned it. It turns out the alarm circuit was slightly altered and it messed things up. ST worked but my alarm had some signals shifted. Fortunately it wasn’t permanent damage so disconnecting returned my alarm to normal. I will try the optocoupler next. That should keep things truly separate.

[Harlan_Lau]

Thanks for advice! Optocouplers it is!

[Harlan_Lau]

My current wired alarm system has 14 wired sensors which I want to connect using optocouplers to Arduino and SmartThings.

Is the HiLetgo New Version ESP8266 NodeMCU LUA CP2102 ESP-12E Internet WIFI Development Board still recommended or is there something better?

Amazon.com: HiLetgo New Version ESP8266 NodeMCU LUA CP2102 ESP-12E Internet WIFI Development Board Open source Serial Wireless Module Works Great with Arduino IDE/Micropython: Computers & Accessories

[ogiewon]

14 sensors is far more than a single NodeMCU ESP8266 can handle. If you choose the NodeMCU ESP8266, you will probably need three of them.

If you have the ability to run Cat5 Ethernet to your Alarm Panel, you might want to use an Arduino MEGA 2560 + W5100 Ethernet shield. This will allow you to connect everything to s single board.

The third option is that you could use a NodeMCU ESP32 based board. The ESP32 has a lot more I/O pins than the ESP8266. I believe you could almost get everything connected to one ESP32, but maybe not quite. Also, the ESP32 is newer and less mature than the options above, so proceed with caution.

At least these are all very inexpensive options, so it’s not like you’d be out a ton of money if you had to change.

It is probably best to post new questions regarding ST_Anything in the more active and current thread at

[DEPRECATED] ST_Anything - Arduino/ESP8266/ESP32

UPDATE 2022-08-17 - Per this recent SmartThings announcement, the Groovy IDE will disabled on September 30, 2022. My best guess is that any existing ST_Anything devices will probably cease to operate at this time, or shortly thereafter. It has been a good 7+ year run for ST_Anything users. I want to thank you all for making ST_Anything a successful project! My son and I really had a lot of fun creating it together, and have enjoyed hearing how you have all used it in so many creative ways. As many of you probably already know, I have moved on from ST and have ported ST_Anything over to Hubitat as “HubDuino”. If you have devices running ST_Anything that you ‘can’t live without,’ at least you know you have options. Another option for ESP8266/ESP32 users would be to use ESPHome along …

Finally, have you looked at Konnected? Konnected is a purpose-built alarm panel integration for SmartThings. Not sure if they have their version ready to allow you to leave the current panel in operation though. I know they were working on a solution. If you haven’t taken a look at Konnected yet, it may be worth your while.

[Harlan_Lau]

@ogiewon

NodeMCU ESP32

Dan,

Thanks for your suggestions! I could run cat5 to my alarm if needed. I’d like to avoid using three ESP8266s to save space in the alarm panel box. I’m hoping to mount everything to the inside of the door.

Is this the NodeMCU ESP32 you are referring to?
https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo®-ESP-WROOM-32-Development-Microcontroller-Integrated/dp/B0718T232Z

After this thread, I will move future questions to current thread.

I was happy to see Konnected thread until I realized it did not support leaving current panel operational. I’ll look at Konncted thread and see what they are up to.

I am awed by the level of support you provide to your ST_Anything releases!

[Jason_Brown (JBrown)]

I use this Logic Level Converter on my DCS panel to read the key pad bus, it’s been working fine for a couple of years. it has no problem converting 12V logic to 3.3V logic. You can find these even cheaper on Ebay.

SparkFun Logic Level Converter - Bi-Directional - BOB-12009 - SparkFun...

[ogiewon]

Yes, that’s the same ESP32 module that i have done my testing with.

One way to reduce your 14 zones down to a smaller number is to combine some of them in series. You won’t know exactly which device caused the circuit to be open, but often that’s not important.

[Jason_Brown (JBrown)]

Never used one of these, but it might help with your problem.

SparkFun 16 Output I/O Expander Breakout - SX1509 - BOB-13601 - SparkFun...

[Elfege_Leylavergne (ELllv)]

Hi,
I’m kind of lost because it simply tells me that there’s no wifi shield.

Using :ST_Anything_Multiples_MEGAWiFiEsp.ino
with ESP01 tx to arduino’s rx1 and rx to arduino’s tx1

There’s nothing to write into the ESP01 for it to accept communication with mega2560?

Thank you in advance?

[ogiewon]

You’re going down a fairly challenging hardware path. One which I have never heard of anyone getting to work reliably.

ESP-01’s usually come flashed with what is known as “AT Firmware”. If your ESP-01 has been flashed with any other firmware, it will not work as a WiFi shield for an Arduino.

As for wiring it up, I don’t recall off the top of my head how it’s wired. But I do know that my code does NOT use pins 0 and 1 on the Arduino MEGA as those are used for the USB serial communications with the PC you program the board with. I am fairly certain I used the Arduino MEGA’s HW Serial1 pins.

From my ReadMe
* Note: If using an ESP-01 for WiFi-connecticity (i.e. as a WiFi dongle/shield) with an Arduino, the example assumes you're using an Arduino MEGA 2560. Attach the ESP-01 to Hardware Serial "Serial1" and make sure your ESP01 has current 'AT Firmware' installed.

[Elfege_Leylavergne (ELllv)]

Thank you for your answer. I had eventually found this answer in the readme file, don’t know how I missed it in the first place…

[fmeroney (Frank Meroney)]

*** SOLVED****
I’m a knuckle head, I had a Zero in place of an “O” in my SSID…

---

Can someone help with connecting . in the Monitor it continues to say “Attempting to Connect …” I assume my IP info is wacked and I have tried everything.

IPAddress ip (192, 168, 0, xxx); //Device IP Address // <—You must edit this line!
IPAddress gateway (76, 24, xxx, xx); //Router gateway // <—You must edit this line!
IPAddress subnet (255, 255, 255, 0); //LAN subnet mask // <—You must edit this line!
IPAddress dnsserver (75, 75, 75, xx); //DNS server // <—You must edit this line!

here is a photo: https://imgur.com/gallery/xguhKQA

[ogiewon]

Your gateway and dns server addresses should both be the LAN address of your router, usually 192.168.0.1.

[fmeroney (Frank Meroney)]

Thank Dan!

[alpharesearch (Markus Schulz)]

I’m using ST_Anything with a few ESP8266 since a long time, so first thanks for creating this wonderful project.

I’m running Smartthings and Home Assistant in parallel, but the end goal is to have everything locally and ditch the cloud.

So my question is if anybody is aware of a project that lets me add my ST_Anything devices to Home Assistant?

[ogiewon]

Have you looked at Konnected? It will run on an ESP8266 board and has Home Assistant integration.

ST_Anything only works on SmartThings and Hubitat, at this time.

[Ryan780]

There’s ESP Home that will integrate with Home Assistant.