ESP8266 - indeed a interesting device. I see the market for it. So what you did now, is to add a temperature sensor on the UART or SPI interface.
One needs to supply this devices with power. USB is indeed one option, but what about to "plug/click" them it on the 220 V power cable and let it inductively take the few mW that are required ? I guess it works with LAN cables in a similar way. Would be a really cool option to monitor the whole house. Yes, data management is the key for a useful scenario ! Cheers, Jiri 2016-02-14 17:52 GMT+01:00 Niclas Hedhman <[email protected]>: > Forgot to answer the ESP8266 aspect... If you don't know the ESP8266, it is > an amazing microcontroller; 32bit, ADC and WiFi built-in, incl the TCP/IP > stack (LWIP v4 anf v6). And it cost about $1. You can get a complete module > with 4MB Flash for $1.90. > > I have worked a lot in building automation, that means the climate control > systems in larger buildings (and not DIY home owners and makers). Indoor > temperature sensors are extremely expensive (think $1000) to install after > the building is up and running. So, I am simply offering a $15 device, > which is powered by USB (Mains-to-USB adapters are plentiful), so it can be > quickly installed (think 10mins, incl config) where ever there is a mains > plug. > > > But that is, as you realize, only the beginning. It will all come down to > the data and what to do with it. And that is where the bulk of the work is, > but also where the differentiation from Chinese shops, which will > eventually sell anything successful at "cost+5%" or less. > > Cheers > Niclas > > On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 12:35 AM, Niclas Hedhman <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > Yes, it is all about IoT. > > > > About Ethereum; Have you gotten a good insight in this? I know what a > > blockchain is, but assuming a million sensor generating 12 values per > hour, > > we are talking GBs per hour of data added... And 1 million is hopefully > on > > the low end. > > > > I would love to hear more about it... > > > > Cheers > > Niclas > > > > > > On Sun, Feb 14, 2016 at 11:55 PM, Jiri Jetmar <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > >> Hi Niclas, > >> > >> so you are hacking now on hardware ? Interesting.. Just curious - what > is > >> that unique on a ESP8266 > >> based temperature sensor ? Does it go to the direction of IoT ? > >> Independently of that - if you need some, I can surely help you. And to > >> "burn" a new firmware should not > >> be a big problem.. :-) > >> > >> An idea on this topic. You mentioned you are building the backoffice for > >> the sensor as well. What about > >> to pipe the sensor data to a blockchain ? Means to build a smart > contract > >> and let the sensor write the data > >> directly to such a contract : > >> > >> contract SimpleStorage { > >> uint storedData; > >> > >> function set(uint x) { > >> storedData = x; > >> } > >> function get() constant returns (uint retVal) { > >> return storedData; > >> } > >> } > >> > >> This is a solidity ethereum.org contract to simply store data. One can > >> extend the concept and charge some little money > >> from those parties who wants to "get()" some data and hence the sensor > can > >> pay for him self. > >> > >> Cheers, > >> Jiri > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> 2016-02-13 4:58 GMT+01:00 Niclas Hedhman <[email protected]>: > >> > >> > Gang, > >> > > >> > I haven't had much time on Zest lately, as I have been busy creating a > >> > low-costWiFi capable, USB-powered temperature sensor. See > >> > http://hedhman.org/~niclas/IndoorioD.jpg > >> > > >> > And for the fun of it, I ported FORTH programming language to the > >> ESP8266 > >> > CPU that is on this, in Assembler of course. Interpreter, Compiler, > base > >> > vocabulary (functions) and REPL in ~1000 assembler instructions, and > the > >> > full vocabulary in another 10kbytes or so. It has been a lot of fun. > >> > > >> > This little puppy will go for one more round of prototypes next week, > >> as I > >> > want to add an external watchdog and tiny prototyping area for maker > >> > community. Then I intend to make a field test with 100 units or so. > >> > > >> > So, why am I telling you all this? > >> > > >> > First of all, these guys will report the temperature back to a central > >> > server every 15 minutes or so. And the management system on the server > >> is > >> > written with Zest. The rest is with Grafana and ElasticSearch. I am > >> > considering trying to build a business around data capture, > aggregation, > >> > analytics and visualization. Anyone interested to join? > >> > > >> > Secondly, I am looking for volunteers for my field test. It will > >> probably > >> > happen in April or so. If you participate, you will receive a USB > >> powered > >> > sensor as seen. Plug it into power somewhere for 6 months, connect to > it > >> > over WiFi, configure it to use your WiFi router over a simple web > >> > interface, and keep it powered for 6 months. > >> > If there are problems, I might ask for reboot. Hopefully not any > >> firmware > >> > upgrades. > >> > > >> > Let me know if you are interested in this. > >> > > >> > > >> > So, as the device design and software is soon coming to a good state, > I > >> > will return my focus on the central server, which means that I will > get > >> > back to Zest development shortly. It has been far too quite recently. > >> > > >> > > >> > Cheers > >> > -- > >> > Niclas Hedhman, Software Developer > >> > http://zest.apache.org - New Energy for Java > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Niclas Hedhman, Software Developer > > http://zest.apache.org - New Energy for Java > > > > > > -- > Niclas Hedhman, Software Developer > http://zest.apache.org - New Energy for Java >
