Expandable Zigbee Repeater Solution (With Temperature, Humidity, Pressure and Light sensors)

iharyadi · June 3, 2020, 7:17pm

Hi Nick,

My sensor is built to run with DC power with battery backup in the case of power outage. The sensor function as repeater also which require the radio to be on all the time. It is not designed to be used exclusively with battery. The sensor reading should be as accurate in DC powered and well as in battery power.

It can use any JST PH2.0 LIPO/LI-on 1S battery. These kind of battery is know as RC (remote control toys) battery. There are other options in Amazon. For example,

https://www.amazon.com/SoloGood-Infinity-Graphene-Powerwhoop-Connector/dp/B07LF575WR/ref=sr_1_2?crid=RVBLCXUEEQ6F&dchild=1&keywords=lipo+1s+battery&qid=1591211008&sprefix=lipo+1s+%2Caps%2C250&sr=8-2

Please make sure you check the polarity. RC LIPO battery may not be standardized the polarity. Some vendor flip the around. But, JST PH2.0 can be reconfigured easily.

There is no programming needed on the board. I have my custom DTH. You do not need to write your own. But, you can if you want to. It exposes standard Zigbee clusters. That is all you need to get Light, Temperature,Humidity and pressure measurement. The sensor can do more. It has plenty of expansion possibility. I will be happy to elaborate more if you are looking to do DIY work on it.

Thanks for the questions.

br
Iman

freefallnick · June 3, 2020, 8:48pm

Thanks for the reply, looks like this won’t work for me as I do not wish to drill a hole in the humidors

iharyadi · June 3, 2020, 11:25pm

Got it. Sure, you may want to consider some of the battery powered Humidity and Temperature sensor. Xiaomi make one. But, they are tricky to use. There are other sensor as well that probably suite your need.

If you need repeater for those sensor since they will be encapsulated in the box, you can go back and consider mine. My sensor work as repeater as well with dedicated power amplifier. This will help penetrate hard to pass enclosure. It will help with those hard to work Xiaomi sensors as well for different reason.

JD_Stolz · June 5, 2020, 1:25am

Must the device remain uncovered to work? I’m thinking about using one near a dehumidifier and washing machine area.

iharyadi · June 5, 2020, 2:55am

Hi JD,

It is not. Some member make 3D case for it. But, if you put it inside a case, you should still have ventilation so the air can circulate.

If you are just using it near humidifier, I think one other option is to coat it with conformal coating coating if available. Or nail polish like below.

There is one area should not be coated. There is one sensor that has a hole in it. This should not be coated to get good reading. We just have to risk it in such use.

There is a picture where you may not want to coat it…

Smartthings & Moisture Sensors Devices & Integrations

I suspect that some of us will use the sensor outdoor. Please consider coating the board with exception the read circle area. Please coat as last process. With coats, you will loose conductivity to the the pads. If you make a mistake, it will be a hassle to scrape the coat to get access to the pads. As note, please do the coating until last steps after all has been tested. [image] Some of us have access to what is called “conformal coating”. This is the proper way to go. But, if you cannot get access to this coating, you can use nail polish as a Youtuber found something interesting property about the nail polish. [How to Waterproof Electronics || Nail Polish, Silicone, Potting Compound]

Thanks
Iman

JD_Stolz · June 5, 2020, 1:18pm

Just to be clear is all the code I need is the Github Device handler github.com/iharyadi/zigbee_repeater?

Alwas · June 5, 2020, 1:46pm

Yes, all you need to get going is this one environment-sensor-ex.groovy

iharyadi · June 5, 2020, 8:22pm

Thanks to @Alwas for answering. I was still in bed at that time.

The specific DTH for the sensor module is. Please import it to the IDE and publish it for you before pairing.

github.com

iharyadi/zigbee_repeater/blob/master/devicetypes/iharyadi/environment-sensor-ex.src/environment-sensor-ex.groovy

import groovy.json.JsonSlurper
import physicalgraph.zigbee.zcl.DataType
import physicalgraph.zigbee.clusters.iaszone.ZoneStatus
metadata {
    definition (name: "Environment Sensor EX", namespace: "iharyadi", author: "iharyadi", ocfDeviceType: "oic.r.temperature", runLocally: false, minHubCoreVersion: "000.019.00012", executeCommandsLocally: true, vid: "generic-motion-6") {
        capability "Configuration"
        capability "Refresh"
        capability "Temperature Measurement"
        capability "RelativeHumidityMeasurement"
        capability "Illuminance Measurement"
        capability "Switch"
        capability "Battery"
        capability "Sensor"
                
        MapDiagAttributes().each{ k, v -> attribute "$v", "number" }
        
        attribute "pressure", "number"
        attribute "binaryinput", "string"
        attribute "binaryoutput", "string"
        attribute "analoginput", "number"

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JD_Stolz · June 11, 2020, 6:23pm

Received the sensor today, Got it up and running immediately! I now can do some routines to turn off our dehumidifier since it typically returns humidity levels at least 10% points too high. I have a analog temp/humidity sensor that I can see the humidity sensor you sent me and the analog are pretty close in measurement, whereas the dehumidifier is way too high. Thanks so much for this product!
Jon

iharyadi · June 11, 2020, 7:17pm

Thank you for letting me know. I am glad that you are happy with the sensor.

Just FYI, the module is also a repeater. I hope that it will help to make your home Zigbee mesh better.

If you have a chance, please do help spread the word around. As a maker who just starting, I can always use help from happy customer.

Thanks
Iman

azgolfer · June 12, 2020, 7:57pm

@iharyadi I was searching for a repeater for my Aqara sensors and came upon this thread. I am using Home Assistant + DeConz/Conbee II Zigbee hub though, will your repeater work with this setup?

iharyadi · June 12, 2020, 9:02pm

I have not try the DeConz/Conbee. I have a feeling that It should work. There was a community member that uses similar setup to pair with my sensor. You may want to reach out to one of the individual in the thread.

Anyway, your timing is so impeccable. I just tested the sensor with home-assistant + zigbee2mqtt. So far it work fine in this setting. But, this is just something that I got running for a day or so.

I do not want to turn this into hubA vs hubB discussion. If you need more info for the home-assistant use, please feel free to PM me.

I am testing the sensor with a few different hubs as a hobby. I also want to make sure that for all member who make investment on my modules can use it beyond just a specific hubs.

Thanks
Iman

douglaspitman · June 19, 2020, 5:06pm

Will this still support an external temperature probe? If so does the device handler support it?

iharyadi · June 19, 2020, 5:53pm

At this point, there is a couple way to support external probe.

The first one is using an analog input with K-type probe thermocouple. You need to have a module that take k-type thermocouple to the analog input. Please do shop around for AD8495. There should be better price for it. I just give you an example.

You need the K-Type probe itself.

I have the DTH for this. I can find it for you.

Today, the sensor support serial expansion. If you are open to do Arduino coding, there are a few more option. You can use probe like below.

This probe can be found at much much more lower cost. You can use a cheap arduino Uno or STM32 to interface this probe and send the data to the hub through the Environment sensor. These MCUs can be had for less than $5. The Environment Sensor would act as serial tunnel. It is kind of a replacement to ThingShields.

I brought these options to answer @douglaspitman questions. However, I am also interested to learn if anyone else would need something like an external probe. If there are enough need, I am considering to find the ideal solution and prepackage them into ready to use solution rather than a DIY.

Thanks
Iman

douglaspitman · June 19, 2020, 8:03pm

I’m not a programmer so your option 1 is what I would consider. I bought one of your devices a few weeks ago for the repeater function. It’s helped my Zigbee network, so I bought another one today to get better coverage on the other side of my house (in the garage). I have been looking at ways of monitoring my freezer and believe just a probe into the freezer would be my best option… so I recalled you had something rigged up a few years ago… I can knock off two use cases for just a little more money. What is your opinion on this probe with the AD8495?

iharyadi · June 19, 2020, 8:34pm

That would work. Any K-Type probe should work with AD.

I personally would find something cheaper K-Type probe. I got some probe that look like just a cable. They work just fine. Please consider the braided cable thickness. It is premium feature. But, if it cause your freezer not closing properly, may be a cheaper cable K-probe is easier to route eventually.

Thanks
Iman

douglaspitman · June 19, 2020, 9:33pm

In the ST community there is a project using this type of sensor to a device with an external probe option. He drilled a hole and used a rubber grommet to eat it. Looked good so I thought I’d go that route. You might want to post you level of interest in that string, it sounds like a popular use case.

douglaspitman · June 20, 2020, 2:02pm

Iman, were you able to locate your device handler for the external temp gauge?

I’m going to do two of them, one for the freezer and another to monitor the lake water temperature.

Thanks

iharyadi · June 20, 2020, 2:52pm

Here is the DTH,

github.com

iharyadi/zigbee_repeater/blob/master/devicetypes/iharyadi/tempprobe.src/tempprobe.groovy

import physicalgraph.zigbee.zcl.DataType
metadata {
    definition (name: "TempProbe", namespace: "iharyadi", author: "iharyadi") {
        capability "Temperature Measurement"
        capability "Sensor"
        attribute "rawTemp", "number"
    }
}

tiles(scale: 2) {
        multiAttributeTile(name: "temperature", type: "generic", width: 6, height: 4, canChangeIcon: true) {
            tileAttribute("device.temperature", key: "PRIMARY_CONTROL") {
                attributeState "temperature", label: '${currentValue}°',
                    backgroundColors: [
                        [value: 31, color: "#153591"],
                        [value: 44, color: "#1e9cbb"],
                        [value: 59, color: "#90d2a7"],
                        [value: 74, color: "#44b621"],
                        [value: 84, color: "#f1d801"],
                        [value: 95, color: "#d04e00"],

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On the preference page of the Environment Sensor, you can enable the analog input. Then, specify TempProbe as handler.

The calculation on the following line may need to be adjusted. You may not need the -250 on the following formula.

float temp = ((((((zigbee.convertHexToInt(adc)*state.lastVdd)/0x1FFF)+0.025)*2) -1.25)/0.005) -250.0

AD8495 can be fitted by configurable reference voltage. I found a hard lesson that some vendor may have different refernce value. Once you got the board, we can try some experiment to find out.

You can power AD8495 from 5V or 3.3v. If you power it from 5V you may need to have voltage divider. The code currently assume that you will be powering from voltage divider. The reason for voltage divider is that using 5V, you can measure higher temperature. But, the MCU is can only measure up to 3.3V. The voltage divider will divide the output voltage to make it lower. The code above use 1/2 voltage divider. If you go this route, the ideal resistor value is 10k.

Please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_divider

If you are fine with 3.3v, you can connect the output of AD8495 straight to the AI. Then, the code to calculate the temperature is

float temp = ((((((zigbee.convertHexToInt(adc)*state.lastVdd)/0x1FFF)+0.025)) -1.25)/0.005) -250.0

You just need not to multiple the voltage calculation by 2. Using 3.3V as power to AD8495 will simplify the wiring. It is just support less temperature range. Based on what you mentioned, you are not trying to measure extreme heat, I do not see that you need higher voltage. AD8495 can be powered up to ~18v for higher temperature support.

Thanks
Iman

iharyadi · June 22, 2020, 1:47am

I have realized that since the Serial port feature has been introduced, I have do not have any example on how to use it.

Thanks to @douglaspitman for bringing up the topic, I write an Arduino sketch that read DS18B20 sensor and send the data through the Environment sensor.

I use a board named blue pill. It is based on STM32. Arduino has support for this board. I go with Arduino route since it is really easy to write the code that pull data from DS18B20 and send it over through the serial port. Arduino has so many library so that we can write simple code quickly.

I will upload the code on Arduino and DTH. I will avoid the detail instruction on this thread to keep it short. But, if you need more information, please do feel free to reach out. I will be happy to document them.

This is the rough image how all the component put together for testing. I am also testing how long I can wire the probe. I am able to get the wiring roughly around 15 feet. I use CAT-5 cable. I have suspicion that I can go much longer than 15 feet. I do not have cable longer than that. I am looking to get 100 feet cable to test if possible.

You can get DS18B20 sensor for less than $3, if you are not afraid of looking to the Chinese supplier. The blue pill boards can be purchased for less than $3. For total of less than $6, you can extend the sensor to include the probe. Here is the kicker, this is not the end of what you can do. If you notice the Arduino board above, we only use small number of pin in the board. There are plenty of other sensor that you can connect to the Arduino and expose it to the ST hub.

If you have something in mind to connect, please feel free to reach out.

Thanks
Iman

Expandable Zigbee Repeater Solution (With Temperature, Humidity, Pressure and Light sensors)

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