Wemos D1 Mini + DHT22 - enclosure for including power

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Wemos D1 Mini + DHT22 - enclosure for including power

davidcole

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#223084 12-Sep-2017 09:20

I have a bunch of zwave devices, and the odd bluetooh and some DHT sensors attached to a raspberry pi.

The main issue I have with the zwave sensors (https://aeotec.com/z-wave-sensor) apart from price is that you need a USB wall plug + cable to power it (CBA with batter powered - the bluetooth ones are, and it's a PITA to change batteries).

My pi one is great, just does it's job...but also suffers the same problem on needing a wall plug.

So I've started looking at then D1 Minis, cheap as chips. But I'm trying to figure out a way of getting an enclosure that will inlcude a power plug, so I'm envisaging, a small USB power supply (sort of this formfactor: http://www.harveynorman.co.nz/apple-computers/apple-accessories/apple-5w-usb-power-adapter.html - though annoyingly the usb is on the face, the side would be more compact).

Thoughts? Better suggestions?

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SumnerBoy

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#1862646 12-Sep-2017 09:25

Look into the Xiaomi sensors + gateway. Cheap, long battery life, great form factor.

davidcole

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#1862649 12-Sep-2017 09:31

I've seen the sensors, I haven't seen the gateway though. What do they transmit on, wifi to the gateway, or something else (rf/???? ie )how close does the gateway have to be to the sesnors? (also batteries.....booo)

SumnerBoy

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#1862659 12-Sep-2017 09:55

ZigBee. Pretty good range i have found. Gateway speaks wifi to your network.

frankv

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#1862661 12-Sep-2017 10:01

I also like the D1 minis :)

What I think you want is to build a 230VAC/5VDC converter plus a D1 mini plus a sensor (temperature, PIR, whatever) into a single box that plugs into the a wall outlet. Right?

My approach would be to buy a cheap 230VAC/5VDC converters (e.g. USB power supply), cut the wires short and solder (or otherwise connect) to the D1. I'd then design and 3D print an enclosure to hold the D1 and the sensor(s). I'd design it to clip/screw/glue to the converter.

davidcole

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#1862699 12-Sep-2017 10:35

frankv:

I also like the D1 minis :)

What I think you want is to build a 230VAC/5VDC converter plus a D1 mini plus a sensor (temperature, PIR, whatever) into a single box that plugs into the a wall outlet. Right?

My approach would be to buy a cheap 230VAC/5VDC converters (e.g. USB power supply), cut the wires short and solder (or otherwise connect) to the D1. I'd then design and 3D print an enclosure to hold the D1 and the sensor(s). I'd design it to clip/screw/glue to the converter.

Yeah pretty much. The power supply, what sort of thing are you thinking of? One with a usb A socket? or is there another you can think of?

frankv

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#1862757 12-Sep-2017 12:28

The easiest answer would be to get a USB supply with a wired in micro-USB connector. You just plug that into the USB connector on the D1. But then you have probably a meter of wire to hide and the micro-USB connector sticking out.

So I'd get a USB supply with a wired-in cable (e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/15W-AC-Converter-Adapter-5V-3A-Power-Supply-Charger-AU-plug-3000mA-MICRO-USB/32832175323.html) and cut the cord short (100mm or less?). Then wire up the red wire (IIRC the colours) to one pin of a 2-pin 0.1" female header, and the black wire to the other. Push this connector onto the +5V/GND pins on the D1 (the right way round!) and you're done. Or you could use an 8-way header and use some of the other pins to connect your sensor(s) to the D1.

If you really want the smallest enclosure possible, don't solder the header pins to the D1. Instead, solder the red and black wires directly to the +5V/GND pads on the D1.

You could hot-glue or tape the D1 and sensors to the USB supply. If you didn't want them to be visible, cut the the bottom off a plastic coke bottle, or get a project box from Jaycar, or a click-clack box from the Warehouse, or cut up a kid's toy, or whatever, and hot-glue it in place. Or any amount of fancier options, including a custom-designed 3D-printed enclosure.

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dacraka

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#1862766 12-Sep-2017 12:54

SumnerBoy: ZigBee. Pretty good range i have found. Gateway speaks wifi to your network.

Integration to OpenHAB as well, or? Any links to where to buy exactly?

kryptonjohn

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#1862767 12-Sep-2017 12:57

Look for AC to DC buck converters on aliexpress.

But... batteries in z-wave devices in powersave mode last for months or years - a big advantage over WiFi devices.

SumnerBoy

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#1862768 12-Sep-2017 12:57

Yep there is an OH2 binding although I am still on OH1.8 so wrote a little python proxy to convert the gateway messages to MQTT and OH subscribes to these. I bought my gateway from these guys;

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-New-Xiaomi-Smart-Controller-Center-Xiaomi-Smart-Home-Kit-Upgrade-version-Control-Radio-Yi-Camers/32645949131.html

It is on special, think I paid about $US34.

davidcole

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#1862770 12-Sep-2017 12:59

kryptonjohn:

Look for AC to DC buck converters on aliexpress.

But... batteries in z-wave devices in powersave mode last for months or years - a big advantage over WiFi devices.

I've got some bluetooth ones (https://www.geekzone.co.nz/davidcole/8931) that just push out advertising data every few minutes. I get about 4 - 6 months from a CR2032 battery. It is something I'm used to, but I prefer not to.

richms

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#1864845 13-Sep-2017 23:22

just buy a sonoff DHT instead of trying to stick your own wemos mini and power supply together into a suitable case etc.

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