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Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 8:01 am
by vlast3k
Hi Guys,

In the discussion around the CO2 Sensor i produce, i got the impression that there is a lack of affordable WiFi-based sensors to plug into home automation systems.

With this I mean sensors for temperature + humidity, pressure, IR/UV Light, Dust, CO2, Motion, etc. But also some Wifi Button, Wifi Light, Relay, TFT display

Reading the forum, and browsing some product offerings - i can see that the majority uses XBee, which is low-power but the price tag for some may be a bit high. Or there are end-user-devices that use their own app/protocol also costing a lot. And finally there is the DIY class, where one can buy the modules, assemble and program them, but even then - they are not always open to integration with any system.

I may be wrong of course in my assumption :)
But based on it i wonder if you would be interested in a new series of devices i would like to produce. The key design drivers would be: cost, integration, ease of operation.
They will come in a (nice) 3D printed box, will not have a state-of-the art mobile app for configuration. But they will be as cheap as it gets, integrate easily with an existing HA system, or some online data services. Send data over HTTP or MQTT. And configuration will be done over Wifi or USB Cable. Since Wifi uses lots of power, maybe they will not work too much on batteries.

The prices which i target will be around 10 eur for the bare device (only a button and RGB Led), and then 5-6 eur for each additional sensor (45 for co2 and 50 for dust)
I will most probably start it on Indiegogo, to get some scale so that i can match those prices.

I am really keen on making those (Also as part of another project), and I will be very thankful if you could share some feedback on feasibility, pricing, scope, etc

Thanks in advance, Vladimir

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 8:22 am
by vincenttor
Have you looked at the esp2866 boards, those actually can do already what you are planning.
Apart from that I'd say it's a great idea indeed,
Or make it compatible so it has the code on board that you can connect sensors like you want and they work.

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 8:28 am
by vlast3k
it is in fact based on an esp8266 and some pre-soldered and configured sensors
Whether or not make it compatible is what i want to understand.
There are some alternatives
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/se ... nav_search
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ri ... re-for-you
and maybe others.
I just wondered how many people prefer to tinker around with the device, compared to the ones that want to have it working. This is why i ask here.
Apart from it i plan to include 1 or 2 Grove-compatible ports so that people can attach any of the vast amount of Grove sensors (e.g. the Wio link above has 6 ports, but also a very nice mobile app :) ).

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 10:56 pm
by vincenttor
Sounds nice.
There is btw a topic open on another HA forum (homeseer) and this s what a users says about the esp8266:

Code: Select all

I have tried a couple of times with an ESP8266 and whether it is my board revision or not but I don't find them terribly reliable, I had a simple page that just had the status of the GPIO lines and quite often requesting the page would just hang so I didn't feel it was all that suitable to get talking to HS. 
Not sure if it will be any good then, if this is board related.

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:44 pm
by r_255
Take a look at esp easy..... esp8266.nu ( arduino ide )
Make sure you have good wifi coverage and use a proper firmware to have a good esp experience.

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:56 pm
by Bwired
i'm in and I have very good experience with the ESP
So good idea, if you can make a generic device which works like the CO2 sensor. running it now for some weeks and still very stable
Adding sensors by choice is also nice. A special app is nice but I always want to connect it to my own HA system, not control it with again a special app.
Mqtt is a must....

btw: im getting the wiolink also :)

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 8:31 am
by vlast3k
vincenttor wrote:Not sure if it will be any good then, if this is board related.
The modules are quite sensitive to power supply and some connections and this is why it is better to use the pre-made boards like Wemos or Nodemcu. Apart from this it really works quite stable

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 3:54 pm
by raymonvdm
I have bought myself a ESP led controller :-)

http://www.domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=11046

No i need someone who can create a HS3 plugin for me :p

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 3:59 pm
by Bwired
We are busy with an ESP8266 Wifi controller who can do MQTT and have status update, keep track of this forum :)

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:54 am
by vlast3k
Bwired wrote:We are busy with an ESP8266 Wifi controller who can do MQTT and have status update, keep track of this forum :)
This is now more or less completed :)
I posted a new topic in the LEDs forum for the firmware to allow this, as well as if you do not want to bother with doing this on your own - i can do it for you

Stay tuned for other interesting stuff

Re: Economic WiFi Home Automation Sensors

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:29 pm
by r_255
never mind... wrong item :oops: