I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

TIA
Bob

Bob Minchin wrote:

I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

An arduino, or a Pi.

Feed the 5v signal through a voltage divider (couple of resistors) into
an A/D input pin, probably wise to have something (zener diode) to clamp
it if there's any possibility of it exceeding the expected 5V)

and drive your relay from a transistor on a GPIO output pin ...

tiny web page that shows present value of input pin and has a toggle for
output pin.

Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Minchin wrote:

I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

An arduino, or a Pi.

Feed the 5v signal through a voltage divider (couple of resistors) into
an A/D input pin, probably wise to have something (zener diode) to clamp
it if there's any possibility of it exceeding the expected 5V)

and drive your relay from a transistor on a GPIO output pin ...

tiny web page that shows present value of input pin and has a toggle for
output pin.
Thanks Andy.

I'm ok with interfacing the I/O to a microcomputer but you have taken me
out of my experience thereafter. I've done a tiny amount of arduino
programming mainly copying hacking other peoples code

So the arduino/Pi needs to connect to ethernet and host some sort of
simple webpage? Is that something that exists already?

At the iphone end do I just use safari to connect to the web page, read
the value and "press" the button?

Bob

Bob Minchin wrote:

I'm ok with interfacing the I/O to a microcomputer but you have taken me
out of my experience thereafter. I've done a tiny amount of arduino
programming mainly copying hacking other peoples code

So the arduino/Pi needs to connect to ethernet and host some sort of
simple webpage? Is that something that exists already?

Yes, the only "arduino compatible" device I've used is the ESP8266,
which has the benefit of built in wifi, obviously a Pi has wired
ethernet, and new ones have wifi too (or use a dongle on older ones) so
that's an easy connection for your phone's web browser to reach.

Plenty of example code with an embedded web server, doing I/O

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=es...erver+gpio+adc

see also youtube


At the iphone end do I just use safari to connect to the web page, read
the value and "press" the button?

Yep, or you could write an App that "wrapped" it, so it didn't look like
a web page

On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

RPi and a PiFace digital includes all the hardware in one lump:

http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_digital/

The web control of it:

http://www.piface.org.uk/guides/simp...iface_digital/


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

TIA
Bob

https://openhomeautomation.net/contr...ywhere-esp8266

On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

TIA
Bob

One of the Arduino ESP8266 modules which have onboard Wifi, ADC etc.

Run a 'webserver' which outputs the values read from the ADC to a
webpage you can access over the wifi. You can also drive a pin to
control a relay.

Chances are you can 'cobble together' the code from examples on the web.

The ESP8266 modules are only a few pounds, small, have more than enough
processing power for the job. The software to develop the code is free.

There are loads of examples on the web, including Youtube.

On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

TIA
Bob

http://www.instructables.com/id/WiFi...-ESP8266-Quic/

John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

RPi and a PiFace digital includes all the hardware in one lump:

http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_digital/

The web control of it:

http://www.piface.org.uk/guides/simp...iface_digital/


Thanks John,

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

On 27/02/18 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

sounds like a web interface to a raspberry PI would do all of that. Or
maybe an arduino.



Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.

Thats yer pi/arduino
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the relay.

simple browser - no need for an 'app'.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

Yerrs. probably the pi side is sufficiently simple, if someone hasnt
done it ALREADY that you could cobble it up OK

several peole here could help and there is always comp.sys.raspberry-pi

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Yup. all possible withan ethernbet connected pi/arduino

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

Unles you find a box premade that dies it all ist still gonna come up to
around £50-60 with pSU case and so on...


https://store.arduino.cc/arduino-eth...v3-without-poe

or worse

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Internet-E...-/172535735709



TIA
Bob


--
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's
too dark to read.

Groucho Marx

On 27/02/18 12:59, Bob Minchin wrote:
Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Minchin wrote:

I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

An arduino, or a Pi.

Feed the 5v signal through a voltage divider (couple of resistors) into
an A/D input pin, probably wise to have something (zener diode) to clamp
it if there's any possibility of it exceeding the expected 5V)

and drive your relay from a transistor on a GPIO output pin ...

tiny web page that shows present value of input pin and has a toggle for
output pin.
Thanks Andy.

I'm ok with interfacing the I/O to a microcomputer but you have taken me
out of my experience thereafter. I've done a tiny amount of arduino
programming mainly copying hacking other peoples code

So the arduino/Pi needs to connect to ethernet and host some sort of
simple webpage? Is that something that existsÂ* already?


Yes, with limitations. Arduinos won't run very sophisticated code so
performance may be 'lumpy'


At the iphone end do I just use safari to connect to the web page, read
the value and "press" the button?

Bob


--
Its easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
Mark Twain

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 13:15:16 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

Bob Minchin wrote:

I'm ok with interfacing the I/O to a microcomputer but you have taken
me out of my experience thereafter. I've done a tiny amount of arduino
programming mainly copying hacking other peoples code

So the arduino/Pi needs to connect to ethernet and host some sort of
simple webpage? Is that something that exists already?

Yes, the only "arduino compatible" device I've used is the ESP8266,
which has the benefit of built in wifi, obviously a Pi has wired
ethernet, and new ones have wifi too (or use a dongle on older ones) so
that's an easy connection for your phone's web browser to reach.

Plenty of example code with an embedded web server, doing I/O

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=es...erver+gpio+adc

see also youtube


At the iphone end do I just use safari to connect to the web page, read
the value and "press" the button?

Yep, or you could write an App that "wrapped" it, so it didn't look like
a web page

Loads of 8266 stuff he

http://randomnerdtutorials.com/

Yes, he sells summaries in ebooks, but it's all there on the site. I'm
playing with the SONOFF hack.

It has web server examples too, using the Arduino IDE with tye ESP8266
plugin.

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

dennis@home wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an
iPhone and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send
a command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

TIA
Bob

https://openhomeautomation.net/contr...ywhere-esp8266

Yes asserting control seems quite straightforward but relaying the
analogue value a bit more involved.

On 27/02/2018 14:42, Bob Minchin wrote:
dennis@home wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an
iPhone and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send
a command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

TIA
Bob

https://openhomeautomation.net/contr...ywhere-esp8266

Yes asserting control seems quite straightforward but relaying the
analogue value a bit more involved.


https://www.teachmemicro.com/display...cu-web-server/

On 27/02/18 14:18, Bob Minchin wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

RPi and a PiFace digital includes all the hardware in one lump:

http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_digital/

The web control of it:

http://www.piface.org.uk/guides/simp...iface_digital/


Thanks John,

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

No, pis dont do nearly as much interfacing as arduinos


--
How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.

Adolf Hitler

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:23:48 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

On 27/02/18 12:59, Bob Minchin wrote:

snip

So the arduino/Pi needs to connect to ethernet and host some sort of
simple webpage? Is that something that exists* already?


Yes, with limitations. Arduinos won't run very sophisticated code so
performance may be 'lumpy'


Have you actually used an Arduino by any chance?

Just how fast does a microprocessor have to run to read a voltage (to
be read by a human) and toggle an output?

This is all given that 'Arduinos' are the heart of many a 3D printer,
running an extruder, extruder motor, hot bed and 3 x 0.9 Degree
movement stepper motors?

Cheers, T i m

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 15:22:12 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

On 27/02/18 14:18, Bob Minchin wrote:
snip

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

No, pis dont do nearly as much interfacing as arduinos

Another sweeping statement (or guess)?

https://www.rs-online.com/designspar...e-raspberry-pi

Arduino's go from tiny to quite big and have a varying scope of i/o
abilities across the range. Some offer less i/o than a Pi and most
offer less range of flexibility of programming than a RPi.

That doesn't mean of course that an Arduino couldn't be as or more
powerful (software wise) in some situations.

I have (and use) nearly all the RPi models (including the one running
my OMV server) and also have (and use) a fair spattering of Arduinos
(including the one running my 3D printer).

Cheers, T i m

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 27/02/18 14:18, Bob Minchin wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

RPi and a PiFace digital includes all the hardware in one lump:

http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_digital/

The web control of it:

http://www.piface.org.uk/guides/simp...iface_digital/


Thanks John,

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

No, pis dont do nearly as much interfacing as arduinos

There's also BeagleBone, the BeagleBone Black is a similar price and
shape to a Pi but has much more extensive I/O on board. In particular
for the OP's requirement it has seven A2D inputs. They are 0 - 1.8
volt but the 5v requirement is easily accomodated by a simple resistor
network.

The BBB runs Debian (and other) Linux OS', it's just about as simple
as a Pi to get up and running with.

--
Chris Green
·

On 27/02/2018 15:38, Chris Green wrote:

There's also BeagleBone, the BeagleBone Black is a similar price and
shape to a Pi but has much more extensive I/O on board. In particular
for the OP's requirement it has seven A2D inputs. They are 0 - 1.8
volt but the 5v requirement is easily accomodated by a simple resistor
network.

This looks nice but a bit OTT for what is wanted..

https://www.banggood.com/M5Stack-Ext...p-1236069.html

Its a 32 bit arduino so its quite powerful.

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 15:17:31 +0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

snip

Yes asserting control seems quite straightforward but relaying the
analogue value a bit more involved.


https://www.teachmemicro.com/display...cu-web-server/

Thanks for that.

Last year daughter wanted some sort of temperature logging system so
that she could (just for the S&G's really) monitor the temperatures in
and around the hutch for her rescue rabbits.

I bought the temperature sensors (already had several Arduinos etc)
and was going to log it to an SD card with a RTC for later review but
a more 'instant' view might be equally useful (and possibly easier to
implement). ;-)

The WiFi module should be in range on the router that overlooks the
garden with the hutch etc.

I also like the idea that the serial interface is already present with
that particular module (handy initially anyway).

Cheers, T i m

On 27/02/2018 14:18, Bob Minchin wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

RPi and a PiFace digital includes all the hardware in one lump:

http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_digital/

The web control of it:

http://www.piface.org.uk/guides/simp...iface_digital/


Thanks John,

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.

True, I was thinking most of the relay and the discrete output. It does
do I2c though, so you can easily interface an external A to D that talks
I2C (or use some of its discrete IO to talk to a standard A2D chip).

I have no experience at all with pi either.

One of the advantages of going with a popular platform is there is more
pre-existing stuff you can borrow and more places to seek help etc.

The fact that you need to talk on ethernet or wifi means you need a
certain level of sophistication in your solution, that has ready written
and working protocol stacks for things like TCP/IP. That in turn usually
implies you need some level of operating system on there as well.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

dennis@home wrote:
On 27/02/2018 15:38, Chris Green wrote:

There's also BeagleBone, the BeagleBone Black is a similar price and
shape to a Pi but has much more extensive I/O on board. In particular
for the OP's requirement it has seven A2D inputs. They are 0 - 1.8
volt but the 5v requirement is easily accomodated by a simple resistor
network.

This looks nice but a bit OTT for what is wanted..

https://www.banggood.com/M5Stack-Ext...p-1236069.html


Its a 32 bit arduino so its quite powerful.
mm! It does rather but a lot of bang(good) for your buck eh?

John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 14:18, Bob Minchin wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

RPi and a PiFace digital includes all the hardware in one lump:

http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_digital/

The web control of it:

http://www.piface.org.uk/guides/simp...iface_digital/


Thanks John,

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.

True, I was thinking most of the relay and the discrete output. It does
do I2c though, so you can easily interface an external A to D that talks
I2C (or use some of its discrete IO to talk to a standard A2D chip).

I have no experience at all with pi either.

One of the advantages of going with a popular platform is there is more
pre-existing stuff you can borrow and more places to seek help etc.

The fact that you need to talk on ethernet or wifi means you need a
certain level of sophistication in your solution, that has ready written
and working protocol stacks for things like TCP/IP. That in turn usually
implies you need some level of operating system on there as well.


When I wanted a microcontroller for something a good few years back, the
first PI was still vapourware and it was exactly your argument about
popular platform and readily available support that pushed me towards
Arduino and I've stayed there since.

On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:18:59 +0000, Bob Minchin
wrote:

snip

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

FWIW I'm running a couple of the Raspberry Pi Zero W's

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products...rry-pi-zero-w/

One is nearly doing what you want in that it's running a webserver and
acting as a data (Weather) acquisition unit (Domoticz).

https://domoticz.com/

I believe it (Domoticz) does have the option for other inputs but I'm
not sure about triggering outputs without using one of the home
management systems (but I'm sure it must be doable without).

My other RPi Zero Z runs as a wireless print server for my Dymo label
maker. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On 27/02/18 17:01, Bob Minchin wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 14:18, Bob Minchin wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 27/02/2018 12:14, Bob Minchin wrote:
I have an analogue voltage 0-5v that I would like to look via an
iPhone
and depending on the displayed voltage, I want to manually send a
command to toggle a relay contact.

Some sort of widget at the remote end that could be wifi or Ethernet
connected to do the measurement and issue the command.
And an app for the iphone to give the display and touch to work the
relay.

Writing software is not a strength but I'm confident in doing the
interfacing of the analogue voltage and the relay driving.

I dont need this to work over 4G links just when I'm home over wifi in
the same sort of way that I can control my Roberts DAB radio.

Any ideas for this sort of product or even what to google for.
Needlessly I'm not looking to spend much money!

RPi and a PiFace digital includes all the hardware in one lump:

http://www.piface.org.uk/products/piface_digital/

The web control of it:

http://www.piface.org.uk/guides/simp...iface_digital/


Thanks John,

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.

True, I was thinking most of the relay and the discrete output. It does
do I2c though, so you can easily interface an external A to D that talks
I2C (or use some of its discrete IO to talk to a standard A2D chip).

I have no experience at all with pi either.

One of the advantages of going with a popular platform is there is more
pre-existing stuff you can borrow and more places to seek help etc.

The fact that you need to talk on ethernet or wifi means you need a
certain level of sophistication in your solution, that has ready written
and working protocol stacks for things like TCP/IP. That in turn usually
implies you need some level of operating system on there as well.


When I wanted a microcontroller for something a good few years back, the
first PI was still vapourware and it was exactly your argument about
popular platform and readily available support that pushed me towards
Arduino and I've stayed there since.


Having looked at whats on offer I think the beaglebone black would be my
choice.


Ethernet, analogue IO and runs debian or ubuntu.

A little bit of glue code whould do all you need




--
Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the
gospel of envy.

Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

Winston Churchill

On 27/02/2018 16:57, Bob Minchin wrote:


Its a 32 bit arduino so its quite powerful.
mm! It does rather but a lot of bang(good) for your buck eh?

banggood is ok. I bought my laser cutter from there and didn't get
charged any duty or vat when it arrived.

T i m Wrote in message:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:18:59 +0000, Bob Minchin
wrote:

snip

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

FWIW I'm running a couple of the Raspberry Pi Zero W's

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products...rry-pi-zero-w/

One is nearly doing what you want in that it's running a webserver and
acting as a data (Weather) acquisition unit (Domoticz).

https://domoticz.com/

I believe it (Domoticz) does have the option for other inputs but I'm
not sure about triggering outputs without using one of the home
management systems (but I'm sure it must be doable without).

My other RPi Zero Z runs as a wireless print server for my Dymo label
maker. ;-)

Er... Zero Z??

--
Jim K


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On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:49:34 +0000 (GMT+00:00), jim k wrote:

T i m Wrote in message:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:18:59 +0000, Bob Minchin
wrote:

snip

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

FWIW I'm running a couple of the Raspberry Pi Zero W's

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products...rry-pi-zero-w/

One is nearly doing what you want in that it's running a webserver and
acting as a data (Weather) acquisition unit (Domoticz).

https://domoticz.com/

I believe it (Domoticz) does have the option for other inputs but I'm
not sure about triggering outputs without using one of the home
management systems (but I'm sure it must be doable without).

My other RPi Zero Z runs as a wireless print server for my Dymo label
maker. ;-)

Er... Zero Z??

Don't worry, you haven't missed out on a new model and it didn't take
much working out I mean to put a 'W', like I did above a few times.
;-)

I think the RPi / Arduino question is a function of how much (easy /
cheap) I/O do you want to do versus running 'A PC'?

eg. With an Arduino you don't have to deal with an OS, running on a SD
card (that can get corrupted) and takes much longer to boot than the
near 'instant on' of an Arduino.

I've never used a RPi for any I/O work, partly because I have plenty
of Arduinos and tend to use the RPis for what they were designed to
be, a tiny 'Computer' (running a desktop grade OS), rather than just a
micro controller that once programmed, just does what it says on the
tin (with no need for much in the way of maintenance, updates or
considerations re powering them off etc).

Whilst I'm no programmer it's pretty obvious how you do so on an
Arduino, especially say reading a voltage on a pin or toggling an
output, I wouldn't know where to start doing the same on a RPi (I
could find out of course, if I wanted to).

The last thing is price ... the average RPi is more expensive than yer
average Arduino (especially the non 'Arduino' ones) and the addons
seem to be more expensive as well. That may not be an issue if you are
just doing stuff for the S&G's or you are using it for a RW job (like
my OMV server with 3TB external drive) but can if you need several of
some project.

Further, with an Arduino you can build one up from scratch to just do
what you want, or embed in some existing kit etc.

Cheers, T i m

T i m Wrote in message:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:49:34 +0000 (GMT+00:00), jim k wrote:

T i m Wrote in message:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:18:59 +0000, Bob Minchin
wrote:

snip

At first sight it does not look as if piface supports analogue input.
I have no experience at all with pi either.

FWIW I'm running a couple of the Raspberry Pi Zero W's

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products...rry-pi-zero-w/

One is nearly doing what you want in that it's running a webserver and
acting as a data (Weather) acquisition unit (Domoticz).

https://domoticz.com/

I believe it (Domoticz) does have the option for other inputs but I'm
not sure about triggering outputs without using one of the home
management systems (but I'm sure it must be doable without).

My other RPi Zero Z runs as a wireless print server for my Dymo label
maker. ;-)

Er... Zero Z??

Don't worry, you haven't missed out on a new model and it didn't take
much working out I mean to put a 'W', like I did above a few times.
;-)

Just checking the obvious ones.

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On Tuesday, 27 February 2018 17:02:24 UTC, Bob Minchin wrote:

When I wanted a microcontroller for something a good few years back, the
first PI was still vapourware and it was exactly your argument about
popular platform and readily available support that pushed me towards
Arduino and I've stayed there since.

PIs and Arduinos are quite differnt the Pi is more of a computer the arduinos are more for interfacing with external logic.
Now there;s lots of cheap versions of both now. The Elgoo UNIO's our students are buyoing at £7.99 seem OK. There's the orangepip versions too.

T i m wrote:

My ESP8266's arrived today

They're quite impressive little devices, aren't they? more the
glorified micro-controller end than the shrunken computer end of the scale.

Obviously the ESP32 has been around for a while (I've got one on order
with a tiny OLED screen on-board) b

On Thu, 1 Mar 2018 12:53:31 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

T i m wrote:

My ESP8266's arrived today

They're quite impressive little devices, aren't they?

Yeah. ;-)

more the
glorified micro-controller end than the shrunken computer end of the scale.

Quite ... and 'better' if you don't need 'a computer' (to maintain)
as such.

Obviously the ESP32 has been around for a while (I've got one on order
with a tiny OLED screen on-board)

Yeah, I saw that when looking myself.

The first sketch I tried was a WiFi scanner but the second (that I
mentioned) worked initially and then nothing. I'll try it again in a
mo but it might have just been a bad one.

I'll also hook up one of my relay boards and actually drive something
(like a table lamp) and maybe a LDR or I2C temperature sensor.

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:17:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

I'll also hook up one of my relay boards and actually drive something
(like a table lamp) and maybe a LDR or I2C temperature sensor.

For that application, the ESP8266 SONOFF boxes are about 4 quid on eBay.
Complete with relay, etc. They are meant to work with a mobile app, but
trivial to stick different firmware in.

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 1 Mar 2018 14:46:58 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:17:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

I'll also hook up one of my relay boards and actually drive something
(like a table lamp) and maybe a LDR or I2C temperature sensor.

For that application, the ESP8266 SONOFF boxes are about 4 quid on eBay.
Complete with relay, etc. They are meant to work with a mobile app, but
trivial to stick different firmware in.

{Confused} Sorry Bob, do you mean they can do both things
(simultaneously) or that they are just an easy way to get a WiFi /
remote light switch ... or summat else?

Cheers, T i m

On 01/03/2018 15:39, T i m wrote:
On 1 Mar 2018 14:46:58 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:17:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

I'll also hook up one of my relay boards and actually drive something
(like a table lamp) and maybe a LDR or I2C temperature sensor.

For that application, the ESP8266 SONOFF boxes are about 4 quid on eBay.
Complete with relay, etc. They are meant to work with a mobile app, but
trivial to stick different firmware in.

{Confused} Sorry Bob, do you mean they can do both things
(simultaneously) or that they are just an easy way to get a WiFi /
remote light switch ... or summat else?

Cheers, T i m



Its just an ESP8266 variant in a box with PSU and relay.
There will be spare I/O pins but you probably need to solder a lead on
to put the sensor on.
Then program it..

http://www.instructables.com/id/SONO...th-Aduino-IDE/

T i m wrote:
Snipped lots of lines

Thanks very much Tim
Yesterday I ordered one of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192059571... 4.m1439.l2649

It will be a few weeks coming from china - I have other less interesting
jobs to do first anyway
I will certainly try your code.

Best Wishes
Bob

On Thu, 1 Mar 2018 16:39:45 +0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

On 01/03/2018 15:39, T i m wrote:
On 1 Mar 2018 14:46:58 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:17:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

I'll also hook up one of my relay boards and actually drive something
(like a table lamp) and maybe a LDR or I2C temperature sensor.

For that application, the ESP8266 SONOFF boxes are about 4 quid on eBay.
Complete with relay, etc. They are meant to work with a mobile app, but
trivial to stick different firmware in.

{Confused} Sorry Bob, do you mean they can do both things
(simultaneously) or that they are just an easy way to get a WiFi /
remote light switch ... or summat else?


Its just an ESP8266 variant in a box with PSU and relay.

Ah, now it makes sense. So a 'hackable appliance' as such.

There will be spare I/O pins but you probably need to solder a lead on
to put the sensor on.

Np.

Then program it..

http://www.instructables.com/id/SONO...th-Aduino-IDE/

Cool, that does seem to be a 'tidier' way of relay switching something
as all that stuff is built in (as Bob suggested) and as long as you
still had the full use of the I/O stuff as well, could be a handy
base.

I think I've already got one of the USB / Serial modules from the
basic Arduino / ATMega chip projects.

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 01 Mar 2018 15:39:22 +0000, T i m wrote:

On 1 Mar 2018 14:46:58 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:17:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

I'll also hook up one of my relay boards and actually drive something
(like a table lamp) and maybe a LDR or I2C temperature sensor.

For that application, the ESP8266 SONOFF boxes are about 4 quid on eBay.
Complete with relay, etc. They are meant to work with a mobile app, but
trivial to stick different firmware in.

{Confused} Sorry Bob, do you mean they can do both things
(simultaneously) or that they are just an easy way to get a WiFi /
remote light switch ... or summat else?

WiFi remote mains switching. All in one box! Start here - links to other
relevant bits:

http://randomnerdtutorials.com/how-t...are-to-sonoff/

--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

Bob Eager wrote:

WiFi remote mains switching. All in one box! Start here - links to other
relevant bits:

http://randomnerdtutorials.com/how-t...are-to-sonoff/

I've not used any Sonoff devices, but tasmota seems to be popular
replacement firmware, possible to replace it over the air, rather than
needing a serial console ...

Maybe node red on a Pi to act as centralised control for a whole fleet
of such devices?

On Thu, 1 Mar 2018 19:39:36 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:

WiFi remote mains switching. All in one box! Start here - links to other
relevant bits:

http://randomnerdtutorials.com/how-t...are-to-sonoff/

I've not used any Sonoff devices, but tasmota seems to be popular
replacement firmware, possible to replace it over the air, rather than
needing a serial console ...

Yes, I saw mention of that and will check it out further.

Maybe node red on a Pi to act as centralised control for a whole fleet
of such devices?

I guess it all depends if you want to go with the whole Home
Automation thing or not. I know my mate has a couple of lamps that can
be controlled from their Amazon Echo but I really only see that as a
bit of a gimmick.

Whereas, we have had Swish electric curtains for many many years
(since we has dogs and had a light coming on in the evening) but now
the LCD has gone on the controller. Now I may be able to fix it (not
looked) or I can get it fixed for £65 or I could replace it with an
Arduino, an RTC, LCD (although not essential as it could just be
reprogrammed twice a year) and a couple of relays and a current sensor
(to manage the end stops / overloads).

Maybe a Sonoff could be the heart of something with it being 'set'
from a web browser or overridden with a phone app etc?

Cheers, T i m