New! Light Sensor, Temperature, Humidity, Pressure Sensor and Zigbee Repeater/Router

Update 4/24 Light sensors is installed.

Building on the work to make my DIY Zigbee Router/Repeater here, I thought that I add BME280 sensor to the module. BME280 is Temperature, Humidity and pressure sensor made by Bosch. This is the Porsche of environment sensor in term of accuracy.

Here is a picture of it in action. The temperature gun show 68.7. Smartthings does not display decimal point temperature value. It round it.

Keep in mind that this is just very early prototype. I am testing the firmware and Smartthings DTH as we speak. I have made a board to incorporate the BME280 to the Zigbee board. It is on its way to me. I will have to build the board once I have it. BME280 is very small component, the yield may not be good unless someone here can help me with tips on soldering it to a board. If I do get really good yield, like in the other thread, I may have some to share with you guys.

There are plenty temperature, humidity and pressure sensor available. I hope the following this video explain why I build my own. In the video, I blow hair dryer to the sensor. You can see that the module and temperature update on Smartthings UI quite responsive. In fact, those, who are familiar with zigbee.ConfigureReporting, may know that the minimum interval can be set to 0. This will update change on sensor instantaneously. I would not recommend it as it can flood your zigbee network and SmartThing clouds. In the above demo, I use 5 seconds as minimum update interval. I have not seen this kind responsiveness with battery powered sensor, for example the Xiaomi. They will need to conserve their power. Meanwhile a Zigbee router have to be powered on all the time. Why not use it as temperature, humidity and pressure sensor at the same time?

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The board with BME280 connections arrived earlier than expected. It is time to assemble it

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Hi Everyone, Here is a bit of an update on this project. I have one unit assembled and tested. The BME280 sensor turned out to be much easier to solder.

The following is a screen shot of the sensor in action. It is also doubling up as well as a Zigbee repeater. There is one device already connected to it.

Based on the first module assembly. It is very likely that I have a few extra. I will be happy to share them with member here who can help with testing and give me some feedback. The software side is very stable and responsive reporting the sensor value (watch the linked video, if you had a chance). There are a few tweak need to be done on the board/hardware to manage the heat on the board. This is a bit unfortunate as building a new board take longer in comparison to fixing software. For those who are interested in testing it, please stay tune and keep in touch. I will be happy to send you modules when they are ready.

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I just assemble a board with PCB antenna. New Light sensor (TEMT6000) is installed as well. This is one of the fastest light sensor available.

Here is a short youtube video with light sensorin action.

What would you say is the cost you have invested in this so far?

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Cost is complicated to calculate since it is a hobby :thinking:.

The part like TEMT6000 is $.70 on small quantity, BME280 is south of $3 as an example. The voltage regulator is about $.10 a piece. All the other passive component should be less than $.50. I have to get boards made. I got it from PCBWay.com 10 board for $5 + shipping. BTW, they are really great. This is not a sponsor. I have paid all my board made by them.

This give you an idea for part cost. They are insignificant.

Overall, the cost for my time (software and HW design), assembling the component, tools such as solder etc, I just say that It is too much :sweat_smile:. I hope I can recover them someday in the future. For now, I do appreciate that I get good and accurate sensors out of it. I do not know any manufacturer out of the box that use Bosch BME280 as an example.

There is also one thing I see. Most solution that I can buy uses battery. They are not able to push information very quickly without draining their battery. I want a solution where I can monitor what is going on in my room all the time without ever change battery once every few weeks. In addition, I am building a dense Zigbee mesh in my house at the same time.

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New designed boards have arrived. The sensors are separated to the side.

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All components have been assembled with a couple different Zigbee radio. They are being tested now.

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Well i know i will certainly contribute for a few of these.

Great progress, I’m sure there will be some that are interested in your work, myself included.

I could use it to replace the xbee radios I have made and setup in my shed and such. Same benefits of the xbee radios with the environment data.

I’ll definitely be interested in a kit or device once you decide to go that route.

@TN_Oldman, @Mavrrick58, I have updated this thread to original thread to consolidate them. It is easier to monitor one thread.

I do have 6 extra board that I can populate and share with any members. I give out extra modules for free on my last repeater module. This time, I asked $15 donation to cover some parts. If you are still interested, please let me know. We can work on the detail through PM. I do not know how much of a demand. If no one want it, I will be happy to accommodate multiple modules for you guys. If there are some demand, I hope to spread them to more hand to play around with.

Since you guys ask first, I am reserving a couple of them for you.

@iharyadi
PM sent

@iharyadi
PM has been sent. Look forward to hearing from you.

Hi. I’d be very interested in purchasing one of these if I could use it to monitor my hot tub temp with an external DS probe. = )

I am sorry. The sensor here is a room temperature sensor. What you are looking for, If I am not mistaken, is probably a thermocouple based temperature measurement. I am not working on those at this moment.

Hi iharyadi
I don’t think I can pm you because I’m new to the community.
Do you have any repeaters for sale please?

Many thanks

Hi, completely lost track of this, sorry, it’s been months!

If I could attach an external probe for temp, that would be awesome. I’d be interested in purchasing some of these if you’re still playing with them.

I cant believe I have not figured out how to do a PM here. I am interested in this very much, and would love to get my hands on some. I have been using Hubitat and this would fit perfectly in my line up. I design components for space for a living, and would both love to build and get involved in your system. If you would pm me so I can order one!

I’m pretty late to the party… whats the staus on this gizmo? Did Minoston buy you out yet? Either way, I want in on some action. :grin: