Connect unknown number of sensors

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1

Hi all

Im in the early, early stage of developing a arduino gadget.

Its not a weather station, but lets use that as an example.

I would like to make it so that customers can buy sensor and attach. That could maybe be a soil temperature sensor. They buy the sensor and attach to their weather station.

I then have some questions about this approach.

  1. What is a good connector to use? I think maybe USB. Is it possible to connect a USB-connector to a sensor?

  2. Lets say the weather station has 4 slots for sensors. How can i make it so that its does´nt matter what slot they connect a sensor to?

Hope someone can help

Regards

Jakob

2

I like the RJ-11 style sensors used on the SparkFun weather shield. You could use these connectors as serial ports for various smart sensors. Each sensor would need to convert whatever specialized interface it has into a common serial protocol. Then your central Arduino reads that protocol to know which sensor is plugged into which port. Alternatively, use wireless instead of serial and you won’t need any connectors at all.

Have fun with your project.

  • Chip

I don’t work for SparkFun.

3

I think i go for the wireless :wink: