controller for sensors/USB

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › controller for sensors/USB

sudo

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#289420 4-Sep-2021 17:15

Looking at adding some monitoring and automation for my smoker box.

At the moment it runs a single USB fan, that I manually connect/disconnect using a USB battery pack

What I want is to put in temp/humidity/smoke sensors, and use that to supply power to the fan (as required)

Say if the temp rises above a threshold, it will power on the fan. If the smoke level drops to zero, then alert me.

I have a couple old Arduino clones (and a newer 4MB esp/D1 mini).

But unsure if I need something else to both connect multiple sensors (up to 4 sensors in total) and able to power/control a USB fan.

Do I need to get an Arduino and add shields ... or is there a ESP8266 type module (or newer) with all this integrated?

mattenz

190 posts

Master Geek

#2772214 4-Sep-2021 20:07

Any ESP would be able to do it (I suppose Arduino too), it's easy with I2C. Not sure if you could power the fan directly from a pin on the board, probably best to add a DC relay hooked up to the power supply. Check out ESPHome, maybe Tasmota, it will be easy if the sensors are supported (you could also add a display, etc).

tchart

2379 posts

Uber Geek

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#2772216 4-Sep-2021 20:15

There's a thread on here that discussed WiFi usb switches. You do need to flash them with tasmota to gain local control.

tchart

2379 posts

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#2772218 4-Sep-2021 20:17

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=280335

sudo

391 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2772226 4-Sep-2021 20:55

Thanks, but that seems to be geared more for mains control.

I just got a small 5V USB fan (plus I need to plug in a bunch of sensors)

tchart

2379 posts

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#2772227 4-Sep-2021 20:57

Nope they have usb ports. You can control a USB device.

elpenguino

3419 posts

Uber Geek

#2772228 4-Sep-2021 21:03

You won't be able to drive a fan directly from the Arduino or ESP etc.

You can use the controller to switch the fan via a relay or a transistor.
Transistor is better because they're smaller, cheaper and silent.
If you use a transistor , you can start with simple switching then migrate to PWM.
PWM let's you drive the fan fast or slow depending how much cooling you need at any instant.

There's lots of example projects showing temperature sensor on Arduino.

Cool project.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21