My first project, guidance needed

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1

Hi all,

I am planing to create this type of project:

HighLevel_V1.jpg864×444 79.8 KB
http://simonfiliatrault.com/temp/HighLevel_V1.jpg

Which would consist of

  1. Meshed network, for connecting sensors and relays outside of the WiFi coverage
  • I have 2 to start with

A) First Xbee - Reading Temp/Humidity & Controlling a relay for a heater (thermostat function)

B) Reading an analog input for concrete floor humidity & digital I/O’s for water level (flood control)

  1. An Arduino + Wifi

  • Where I would connect the second Xbee to bridge between the Zigbee network and WiFi (internet)

  • Second Xbee - would read my 1B, receive from the meshed network

  • Talk to the internet (push data)

I was thinking of starting with:

2x XBee 2mW Wire Antenna - Series 2 (ZigBee Mesh)

1x Humidity and Temperature Sensor - RHT03 (or use analog input and some sensors I have already)

1x Arduino Uno - R3 & WiFi Module - ESP8266

Does that sound right?

Any suggestions?

I also started to take some notes here: http://simonfiliatrault.blogspot.ca/201 … hings.html

Thanks for any input and general direction… there’s so many modules, it’s hard to make a final choice.

Simon

2

What you have listed seems ok. You may need some supporting hardware, but you could get those when the need arises. Some advice, get one thing working, then start adding other functions. Get the Xbees talking, then get them to send temp and humidity readings and so on. Then you can start adding WiFi functionality.

3

Since the ESP8266 can be programmed as if it is an Arduino in the IDE, and can communicate to an Xbee over serial UART and to wifi/the internet, I don’t see the need for an UNO R3. Ofcourse, the Arduinos are a bit more developed and community supported than the recent ESP8266. As a beginner that can matter more in getting started and solving issues you may encounter.

4

Xbee series 1, non zigbee, is soooo much simplrt than series 2

5

Valen:
Since the ESP8266 can be programmed as if it is an Arduino in the IDE, and can communicate to an Xbee over serial UART and to wifi/the internet, I don’t see the need for an UNO R3. Ofcourse, the Arduinos are a bit more developed and community supported than the recent ESP8266. As a beginner that can matter more in getting started and solving issues you may encounter.

Thanks Valen for that tip. Looking more into the ESP8266 based product, I found the NodeMCU project based on LUA scripting language that looks super interesting and cost nothing!

I will be ordering some to start playing around. https://github.com/nodemcu/nodemcu-firmware even have a MQTT broker example, which is one thing I want to play with to connect to LwM2M device managers platforms.

Unfortunately, Sparkfun don’t carry those module.

6

stevech:
Xbee series 1, non zigbee, is soooo much simplrt than series 2

Thanks Stevech, according to https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/xbee_guide if I want to build a ZigBee mesh network, I need V2 board?

My goal is to have sensors nodes outside of my WiFi range, connected through a mesh based on ZigBee, where one node would be connected to WiFi or 3G/4G to push/pull MQTT to LwM2M-DM server nodes.

Thoughts and recommendation on which module would be best for that?

Another question is, can I mix in the mesh network, some low power modules and high power modules for longer range sensor nodes?

Thanks,