Ok, so I stumbled on Moteino while trying to find a way to make arduinos talk wirelessly. I am not sure what I need, so can someone help me with what I need to start this project.
I am needing to put in a temp sensor, an actuator and some relays to controls a gate, lights, and heat. I have this all figured out. I need to have a "base station" in the house where these items can me manually controlled outside of the automated schedule. So I need to have a way for a wireless communication to the back of my yard to another arduino/Moteino that can control these items. The distance would be about 50M.
Basically my chickens will be getting an automated chicken coop. We have been losing too many of them from my daughter not securing the gate properly.
Quote from: mjxplant on March 31, 2016, 08:40:04 PM
Ok, so I stumbled on Moteino while trying to find a way to make arduinos talk wirelessly. I am not sure what I need, so can someone help me with what I need to start this project.
I am needing to put in a temp sensor, an actuator and some relays to controls a gate, lights, and heat. I have this all figured out. I need to have a "base station" in the house where these items can me manually controlled outside of the automated schedule. So I need to have a way for a wireless communication to the back of my yard to another arduino/Moteino that can control these items. The distance would be about 50M.
Basically my chickens will be getting an automated chicken coop. We have been losing too many of them from my daughter not securing the gate properly.
What Arduino experience do you have? That would help scope what kind of help you need.
Tom
Maybe about 3 months with the Arduinos, but over a year using the arduino ide and programming. I was a coach for a FTC robotics team and this year we switched to androids for our main brain of the robot. This is what got me started on the arduinos.
I guess I should have clarified what I was looking for a little better. I see when I add a Moteino I have options for the transceivers. I assume since I have options, I need to have one so its not included by default? If I need to get one separately what is recommended for the distance and going from inside my house to more than likely inside my shed.
--Don
Quote from: mjxplant on March 31, 2016, 09:18:00 PM
Maybe about 3 months with the Arduinos, but over a year using the arduino ide and programming. I was a coach for a FTC robotics team and this year we switched to androids for our main brain of the robot. This is what got me started on the arduinos.
I guess I should have clarified what I was looking for a little better. I see when I add a Moteino I have options for the transceivers. I assume since I have options, I need to have one so its not included by default? If I need to get one separately what is recommended for the distance and going from inside my house to more than likely inside my shed.
--Don
Ok, now I understand a bit more. Since you're in the US, you can choose between 433MHz and 915MHz. I use both at two different locations and think you might find 433MHz a bit more 'forgiving' but it probably is a nit.
With only 50 meter range, you could use RFM69W which will have plenty of transmit power to cover that distance. However, if you anticipate that you might want to extend that distance to other sensors from your home base, I'd, at least, use an RFM69HW at your home base (the difference is greater TX power at a cost of higher current consumption). Again, I use both HW and W versions for battery operated Motes, but prefer W if I don't need the extra power. There is only a very slight difference in programming the two versions so they are practically interchangeable.
Finally, if your Home Base is going to have any sophistication with respect to user interface, I'd highly recommend using the Moteino Mega for your Home Base because of its extra interfaces and 8X RAM memory - you might not need it, but it sure is comforting to have when you're first starting out. This, of course, assumes that your Home Base is powered from a continuous power source (wall wart, etc).
Tom
Thanks for the info Tom. I think I will be having some fun with this project and I am sure it will grow...