07-10-2010 09:42 AM - edited 07-10-2010 09:48 AM
I'm looking for a cheap solution to build a temperature monitoring network at home (6 sensors) . Of course this project was not planned when the house was built 25 years ago and, for obvious reasons, a wireless system is now highly recommended 😉
I'm sure that some of you have already developped similar projects. Could you advise me ?
07-12-2010 03:52 AM - edited 07-12-2010 03:53 AM
Hi Chilly Charly,
I guess 'cheap' means that the WSN do not apply for your home use, right?
I've worked with some 1-Wire temperature sensor - wireless? Okay. If you want build your own sensor network, this kind of sensor uses digital signal and can easely be interfaced with a µC (no need of ADC).
About Wireless communication, I can tell you that WSN rely on ZigBee layer. Perhaps you can find components and/or examples of circuits that use this technology.
Best regards,
07-12-2010 04:43 AM
Hi Charly,
have a look at this!
Those sensors are not really wireless, but they only need to be plugged in once in a while... And they start from $49!
07-12-2010 10:26 AM - edited 07-12-2010 10:28 AM
I would say the cheapest would be to start with one of these WMR-100N weather stations
Then add more temperature sensors (it can handle 10) for your rooms
http://www2.oregonscientific.com/cat-Weather-sub-Weather-Sensors.html
It has USB connectivity so I am guessing you could get the data out of it.
07-12-2010 01:48 PM
RTSLVU pointed me on a very interesting solution, with the WMRS200 (119 € !) being able to home 10 temperature/humidity sensors. I'll ask the maker for a few additionnal infos. I guess interfacing with LabVIEW will not be that easy. I have read that USB protocols can be mindblowing...
The other possibility would be to develop from scratch a solution based on µC, as suggested by Mathieu. I found a few cheap RS232-radio adaptators, and I even have some positive experience with one of them. I guess I'll need additional help since electronics is not really my field of expertise ;).
Thanks everybody. I'll keep you informed. Don't hesitate to come back with additionnal ideas. 😉
07-12-2010 03:15 PM
@chilly charly wrote:
I guess interfacing with LabVIEW will not be that easy. I have read that USB protocols can be mindblowing...
Yeah, I don't know... maybe they use a DLL that LabView can access?
You could try to find an older version of the base station that has an RS-232 serial port.
That would probably use general ASCII strings for communications you could eaisly sniff and figure out.