ESP8266 Thing board based environmental monitor

The goal of this project was to create an automatic temperature and light level monitor for a bioshelter (greenhouse +) run by The Bible Center Oasis Project (Pittsburgh, PA).  Because it would be used to grow flora and fauna, it needed ongoing monitoring of temperature and light levels to confirm that it would support the growth of food, and to monitor the effectiveness of measures being explored to control environmental conditions.

Bible Center Oasis Project bioshelter in Homewood (Pittsburgh), PA

As an off-grid, solar powered greenhouse, the bioshelter is not connected to any utilities. So any environmental monitoring solution needed to be low powered and use wi-fi for communication (i.e. no phone line). We also preferred solutions that did not force a subscription to a specific data logging service.

Sparkfun ESP8266 Thing Dev board based monitor

I developed a solution based on the Sparkfun ESP8266 Thing development board. This board provided the Arduino microcontroller to control the project and on-board wifi with antenna.  The other major components of the board were:

• Sparkfun ESP8266 Thing Dev board
• SparkFun Atmospheric Sensor Breakout - BME280 for temperature, humidity, and barametric pressure sensors
• SparkFun Luminosity Sensor Breakout - TSL2561 for the luminosity sensor

I first soldered headers onto the ESP8266 Thing dev board and the BME280 and TSL2561 breakout boards. These allowed for use of two mini-breadboards to develop the monitor, which also served as a base for the project when deployed.

The Thing dev board and both breakout boards were set up with Inter-integrated Circuit (I2C), protocol, so both sensor boards were connected to the I2C inputs on the Thing dev board.

The Thing dev board was then programmed to transmit the response to a phant server. Specifically, the data.sparkfun.com server that is  made freely available by Sparkfun.  In addition to being a data display, the phant server allows for accessing the data as csv or json files for further analysis, or using analog.io (link opens up the live graph of data. analog.io an IoT platform made available by Luke Beno).   Because phant also exposes the data in JSON format, my usual way of working with the data is to use the jsonlite package within R.

Breadboard diagram of ESP8266 with BME280 and TSL2561

Arduino *.ino code

 

1:  // Include the ESP8266 WiFi library. (Works a lot like the  
2:  // Arduino WiFi library.)  
3:  // Uses BME280 and TSL2561 to record temperature, pressure, humidity, and lux data to phant  
4:  // Code  
5:  //   
6:  #include ;  
7:  #include ;  
8:  #include ;  
9:  #include "Wire.h"  
10:  #include "SPI.h"  
11:  // Include the SparkFun Phant library.  
12:  #include ;  
13:  // Include SparkFun BME280 library  
14:  #include "SparkFunBME280.h"  
15:  //Global sensor object  
16:  BME280 mySensor;  
17:  // SFE_TSL2561 object  
18:  SFE_TSL2561 light;  
19:  //////////////////////  
20:  // WiFi Definitions //  
21:  //////////////////////  
22:  const char WiFiSSID[] = "ssid";  
23:  const char WiFiPSK[] = "psk";  
24:  /////////////////////  
25:  // Pin Definitions //  
26:  /////////////////////  
27:  const int LED_PIN = 5; // Thing's onboard, green LED  
28:  const int ANALOG_PIN = A0; // The only analog pin on the Thing  
29:  const int DIGITAL_PIN = 12; // Digital pin to be read  
30:  ////////////////  
31:  // Phant Keys //  
32:  ////////////////  
33:  const char PhantHost[] = "data.sparkfun.com";  
34:  const char PublicKey[] = "publickey";  
35:  const char PrivateKey[] = "privatekey";  
36:  /////////////////  
37:  // Post Timing //  
38:  /////////////////  
39:  const unsigned long postRate = 1000*60 * 30;  
40:  unsigned long lastPost = 0;  
41:  // Global variables for TSL2561:  
42:  boolean gain;   // Gain setting, 0 = X1, 1 = X16;  
43:  unsigned int ms; // Integration ("shutter") time in milliseconds  
44:  void setup()  
45:  {  
46:   // initHardware(); // Setup input/output I/O pins  
47:   connectWiFi(); // Connect to WiFi  
48:   digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW); // LED on to indicate connect success  
49:   //For I2C, enable the following and disable the SPI section  
50:   mySensor.settings.commInterface = I2C_MODE;  
51:   mySensor.settings.I2CAddress = 0x77;  
52:   //***Operation settings*****************************//  
53:   mySensor.settings.runMode = 3; // 3, Normal mode  
54:   mySensor.settings.tStandby = 0; // 0, 0.5ms  
55:   mySensor.settings.filter = 0; // 0, filter off  
56:   //tempOverSample can be:  
57:   // 0, skipped  
58:   // 1 through 5, oversampling *1, *2, *4, *8, *16 respectively  
59:   mySensor.settings.tempOverSample = 1;  
60:   //pressOverSample can be:  
61:   // 0, skipped  
62:   // 1 through 5, oversampling *1, *2, *4, *8, *16 respectively  
63:    mySensor.settings.pressOverSample = 1;  
64:   //humidOverSample can be:  
65:   // 0, skipped  
66:   // 1 through 5, oversampling *1, *2, *4, *8, *16 respectively  
67:   mySensor.settings.humidOverSample = 1;  
68:   // Initialize the SFE_TSL2561 library  
69:   // You can pass nothing to light.begin() for the default I2C address (0x39),  
70:   // or use one of the following presets if you have changed  
71:   // the ADDR jumper on the board:  
72:   // TSL2561_ADDR_0 address with '0' shorted on board (0x29)  
73:   // TSL2561_ADDR  default address (0x39)  
74:   // TSL2561_ADDR_1 address with '1' shorted on board (0x49)  
75:   // For more information see the hookup guide at: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/getting-started-with-the-tsl2561-luminosity-sensor  
76:   light.begin();  
77:   Serial.begin(57600);  
78:   Serial.print("Program Started\n");  
79:  // The light sensor has a default integration time of 402ms,  
80:   // and a default gain of low (1X).  
81:   // If you would like to change either of these, you can  
82:   // do so using the setTiming() command.  
83:   // If gain = false (0), device is set to low gain (1X)  
84:   // If gain = high (1), device is set to high gain (16X)  
85:   gain = 0;  
86:   // If time = 0, integration will be 13.7ms  
87:   // If time = 1, integration will be 101ms  
88:   // If time = 2, integration will be 402ms  
89:   // If time = 3, use manual start / stop to perform your own integration  
90:   // Use time = 1 so that the midday sun does not lead to an error  
91:   unsigned char time = 1;  
92:   // setTiming() will set the third parameter (ms) to the  
93:   // requested integration time in ms (this will be useful later):  
94:   Serial.println("Set timing for TSL2561...");  
95:   light.setTiming(gain,time,ms);  
96:   // To start taking measurements, power up the sensor:  
97:   Serial.println("Powerup light sensor...");  
98:   light.setPowerUp();  
99:   // The sensor will now gather light during the integration time.  
100:   // After the specified time, you can retrieve the result from the sensor.  
101:   // Once a measurement occurs, another integration period will start.  
102:   Serial.print("Starting BME280... result of .begin(): 0x");  
103:   delay(10); //Make sure sensor had enough time to turn on. BME280 requires 2ms to start up.  
104:   //Calling .begin() causes the settings to be loaded  
105:   Serial.println(mySensor.begin(), HEX);  
106:  }  
107:  void loop()  
108:  {  
109:   unsigned int delaytime;  
110:   Serial.println("Posting to Phant!");  
111:   if (postToPhant())  
112:   {  
113:    lastPost = millis();  
114:    Serial.println("Post Suceeded!");  
115:   }  
116:   else // If the Phant post failed  
117:   {  
118:    Serial.println("Post failed, will try again.");  
119:   }  
120:   delaytime = postRate;  
121:   delay(delaytime); // Short delay, then next post  
122:  }  
123:  void connectWiFi()  
124:  {  
125:   byte ledStatus = LOW;  
126:   Serial.println();  
127:   Serial.println("Connecting to: " + String(WiFiSSID));  
128:   // Set WiFi mode to station (as opposed to AP or AP_STA)  
129:   WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);  
130:   // WiFI.begin([ssid], [passkey]) initiates a WiFI connection  
131:   // to the stated [ssid], using the [passkey] as a WPA, WPA2,  
132:   // or WEP passphrase.  
133:   WiFi.begin(WiFiSSID, WiFiPSK);  
134:   // Use the WiFi.status() function to check if the ESP8266  
135:   // is connected to a WiFi network.  
136:   while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED)  
137:   {  
138:    // Blink the LED  
139:    digitalWrite(LED_PIN, ledStatus); // Write LED high/low  
140:    ledStatus = (ledStatus == HIGH) ? LOW : HIGH;  
141:    // Delays allow the ESP8266 to perform critical tasks  
142:    // defined outside of the sketch. These tasks include  
143:    // setting up, and maintaining, a WiFi connection.  
144:    delay(100);  
145:    // Potentially infinite loops are generally dangerous.  
146:    // Add delays -- allowing the processor to perform other  
147:    // tasks -- wherever possible.  
148:   }  
149:   Serial.println("WiFi connected");  
150:   Serial.println("IP address: ");  
151:   Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());  
152:  }  
153:  void initHardware()  
154:  {  
155:   Serial.begin(57600);  
156:   pinMode(DIGITAL_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP); // Setup an input to read  
157:   pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT); // Set LED as output  
158:   digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH); // LED off  
159:   // Don't need to set ANALOG_PIN as input,  
160:   // that's all it can be.  
161:  }  
162:  int postToPhant()  
163:  {  
164:   // LED turns on when we enter, it'll go off when we  
165:   // successfully post.  
166:   digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW);  
167:  // Retrieve the data from the device:  
168:   unsigned int data0, data1;  
169:   double lux;  // Resulting lux value  
170:   boolean good; // True if neither sensor is saturated  
171:   if (light.getData(data0,data1))  
172:   {  
173:    // getData() returned true, communication was successful  
174:    Serial.print("data0: ");  
175:    Serial.print(data0);  
176:    Serial.print(" data1: ");  
177:    Serial.print(data1);  
178:    // To calculate lux, pass all your settings and readings  
179:    // to the getLux() function.  
180:    // The getLux() function will return 1 if the calculation  
181:    // was successful, or 0 if one or both of the sensors was  
182:    // saturated (too much light). If this happens, you can  
183:    // reduce the integration time and/or gain.  
184:    // Perform lux calculation:  
185:    good = light.getLux(gain,ms,data0,data1,lux);  
186:    // Print out the results:  
187:    Serial.print(" lux: ");  
188:    Serial.print(lux);  
189:    if (good) Serial.println(" (good)"); else Serial.println(" (BAD)");  
190:   }  
191:   else  
192:   {  
193:    // getData() returned false because of an I2C error, inform the user.  
194:    byte error = light.getError();  
195:    printError(error);  
196:   }  
197:   // Declare an object from the Phant library - phant  
198:   Phant phant(PhantHost, PublicKey, PrivateKey);  
199:   // Add the three field/value pairs defined by our stream:  
200:   phant.add("temp_f", mySensor.readTempF());  
201:   phant.add("humidity", mySensor.readFloatHumidity());  
202:   phant.add("pressure_kpa", mySensor.readFloatPressure()/1000);  
203:   phant.add("lux", lux);  
204:   // Now connect to data.sparkfun.com, and post our data:  
205:   WiFiClient client;  
206:   const int httpPort = 80;  
207:   if (!client.connect(PhantHost, httpPort))  
208:   {  
209:    // If we fail to connect, return 0.  
210:    return 0;  
211:   }  
212:   // If we successfully connected, print our Phant post:  
213:   client.print(phant.post());  
214:   // Read all the lines of the reply from server and print them to Serial  
215:   while(client.available()){  
216:    String line = client.readStringUntil('\r');  
217:    //Serial.print(line); // Trying to avoid using serial  
218:   }  
219:   //Print each row in the loop  
220:   //Start with temperature, as that data is needed for accurate compensation.  
221:   //Reading the temperature updates the compensators of the other functions  
222:   //in the background.  
223:   Serial.print(mySensor.readTempC(), 2);  
224:   Serial.print(",");  
225:   Serial.print(mySensor.readTempF(), 3);  
226:   Serial.print(",");  
227:   Serial.print(mySensor.readFloatPressure(), 0);  
228:   Serial.print(",");  
229:   Serial.print(mySensor.readFloatAltitudeMeters(), 3);  
230:   Serial.print(",");  
231:   Serial.print(mySensor.readFloatAltitudeFeet(), 3);  
232:   Serial.print(",");  
233:   Serial.print(mySensor.readFloatHumidity(), 0);  
234:   Serial.print(",");  
235:   Serial.print(lux);  
236:   Serial.println();  
237:   // Before we exit, turn the LED off.  
238:   digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH);  
239:   return 1; // Return success  
240:  }  
241:  void printError(byte error)  
242:   // If there's an I2C error, this function will  
243:   // print out an explanation.  
244:  {  
245:   Serial.print("I2C error: ");  
246:   Serial.print(error,DEC);  
247:   Serial.print(", ");  
248:   switch(error)  
249:   {  
250:    case 0:  
251:     Serial.println("success");  
252:     break;  
253:    case 1:  
254:     Serial.println("data too long for transmit buffer");  
255:     break;  
256:    case 2:  
257:     Serial.println("received NACK on address (disconnected?)");  
258:     break;  
259:    case 3:  
260:     Serial.println("received NACK on data");  
261:     break;  
262:    case 4:  
263:     Serial.println("other error");  
264:     break;  
265:    default:  
266:     Serial.println("unknown error");  
267:   }  
268:  }  

Going to MakerFaire Pittsburgh 2016

Standing next to Makey at Makerfaire Pittsburgh

This year we went to our first MakerFaire. I was there partly because I was helping with a University of Pittsburgh booth, but really so I could bring T.While most kids can build with LEGO, he also has some wood projects behind him, and has a reasonable exposure to electronics for a 5 year old. But more importantly, he has spent his whole life watching the things that are in our house built from parts or scratch.  And starting last year he has been exposed to robotics, programming, and electronics. So MakerFaire was something that has been on our radar.

Battlebot being repaired

One of the advantages to getting there early in the morning is that the crowds have not yet arrived. So he got access to things that would have been hard to do. And being associated with a booth marks him as a fellow maker, who does not just look at things for entertainment but can appreciate hard work and effort to make something work.

Taking apart a battlebot

Driving a battlebot

He got to help repair a robot, drive robots, both those that are much like toys and some that definitely were not toys.  He did the whole set of crafts set up by schoolchild oriented maker spaces, both low tech and high tech.

Programming the Lego robot to make it across the line.

Inspecting a Scout Trooper rifle

Weaving with a loom

The point of this gathering is not so much to show off or teach, but to inspire. For everything he sees, he can recognize the precursors, so everything that he touches, is within aspiration, if many years from now.

Demonstrating the fruit piano

This was our first MakerFaire, but it will not be the last.  The Adafruit Circuit Playground fruit piano was something we threw together, next year we will actually think about making this work. And T will have something more polished to show off. And his interactions with the other makers more meaningful.

Parenting month 71: soccer

This month we tried our hand at being soccer parents. T signed up for first-second grade soccer, after we got many rounds of recruitment messages.  And not taking part in either spring or summer soccer camps held at the school.

Circle drill

Well, he has taken part. And when he is in games he runs around happily, but we also noticed that he does not get the ball. Reality is, he has no concept of taking possession of anything, much less in a competitive game.

Someone asked me if he enjoys playing. He enjoys being out there with friends running around, but the actual games are rather lost. What he wants to do is interact with everyone on the field (and which team they are on is not really a consideration). And he is too nice to get the ball when he is fast enough to get to it, pulling up and letting someone else get it.  And he has his 'tells' of discomfort, in particular, he will occasionally get into a taekwondo stance while out in the field. Taekwondo forms and curtesy is one of his go-to actions when he is frustrated (much preferred over a tantrum).

So, we don't see this as being a long term thing, especially as he already has a sport (taekwondo) that he enjoys and he is good at (relatively speaking). Were there benefits?  Well, he really does not learn teamwork out there, as he never actually has the ball or the opportunity to work with his teammates as teammates. We have had many conversations about keeping commitments (i.e. finishing out the season), and that there are times that you are doing things that you are not interested in, and that we are glad that he keeps up a good attitude when at practice and at games.  But all in all, he is looking forward to the end of the season so we can go back to taekwondo and the various activities we used to have on Saturdays.

At PNC Park for his first Pirates game

In other news, T went to his first major league baseball Pittsburgh Pirates game. After last month's minor league game, he knew the drill, although there were a lot more people this time, and he did not get to go on the field or interact with the team and mascot.

A has started day care.  She cried at drop off and pick up for the first few weeks (but nothing like her big brother, who would cry from drop off to pick up with only breaks for eating). At week 4 she seems to be enjoying it, even having some regular play mates while there.

Next month, first grade ramps up as the assessments that went on the first month are completed and what they cover becomes more tailored.

The Honor Was Mine: A Look Inside the Struggles of Military Veterans by Elizabeth Heaney: Book Review

The Honor Was Mine: A Look Inside the Struggles of Military Veterans by Elizabeth Heaney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of a civilian counselor who joined a program to provide off-the-record counseling services at domestic military bases. She spent short term assignments at each base, with the intention that it was part of a portfolio of provided services, attracting members of the military community who would not be willing to engage the more traditional mental health resources that were already available. It is a view of the military that I very much relate to, as I was attached to a deployed unit as a civilian for a similar period of time.

The first chapter starts slow, she talks about the trauma in her life prior to her taking this assignment as a way of resetting her life (and this gets dropped in the rest of the book). But once you get past the first chapter you get into the story. Two themes that permeate are her being a civilian learning her way around the military environment, which sets up the theme of veterans returning from deployment and those around them responding in their different ways.

The first theme is that of a civilian entering the military community and the differences. She tells the story of her first assignment, of encountering military discipline and curtsy first as a shock, but then respect for the stability that it provides. She goes on to what she realizes the purpose of many of attitudes and rhythms of the military. First, the realization that those in the military must be prepared for anything at any time, and military discipline and curtsy is intended to build the attitudes needed to enable that. Second, that there are a range of overall attitudes held by those in the military, with a considerable more diversity than she expected when she was in a civilian life. But one set of values that holds people together is a focus on duty (towards country and each other, not necessarily in that order) and integrity. And the dissonances between those values and what they see in the civilian world (and in what I called Big Army for that matter) causes many of the problems they have in adapting to home.

But what this long discussion of the difficulties she had in getting used to the military culture does is leads to her discussion about the issues that veterans and their families and the problems that veterans who have returned from a combat zone and their families. And she has gone through the same type of struggle in the first chapter with what she dealt with in her life and the reactions of those around her, and dealing with the same culture shift in the other direction. This part is the deepest, she alternates between telling the stories of the people she meets during the course of her assignments and the story of her processing these. Stories of working with the returning soldiers, the transition between combat and their families, soldiers and spouses trying to deal with the uncertainty of life in general and of soldiers returning after a year of combat, spouses worried about infidelity when the returning soldier is still working through the transition between combat and peacetime, of the care that soldiers have of the wounded and fallen brothers (and sisters) in arms.

Through it all, what shows through is her thankfulness that she has seen this part of life, the pride, dedication, and duty to others that permeates the military. And the recognition that this is not the norm in U.S. society at large. In my own experience, I've been told to view the lives of companions as not precious, had offers to refer me to counselors who would tell me that I should have ignored the calls for help from someone in the backcountry. And this contrasting incredibly with being deployed to a combat zone where I was with people who did their duty and tried to do right by those that they were along side. And when I returned, my then girlfriend and I spent a month trying to figure out if I had changed. (and when we were all settled, I figured that I had a good thing going and proposed to her!)

It is a wonderful book. It has a great treatment of PTSD, because it takes the first step of having to experience some of the causes (the need to be constantly aware, the sense that your world and your attitude may have to shift in a heartbeat, and you have to be ready for it, and having to deal with a civilian world that does not generally value duty or integrity) It does not preach, but it gives a set of eyes that had to go through similar experiences and uses that as an analogy into that world.

Note: I received a free electronic copy of this through the Goodreads Giveaways program. The opinions are my own and were not subject to any review.

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