Life

movement sensorI was just getting settled into my new office when BANG – a flood –not the global warming type but the crappy plumber type. So – right now the place is a bombsite and we’re sleeping elsewhere at least for tonight – indeed could be longer if they can’t get the water partly running.

Meanwhile a couple of items turned up in the post this morning which might interest you. Firstly I’ve been looking for small movement sensors – most of them are WAY too bulky – and I picked up a couple of these IR movement sensors from Banggood! 3 for a fiver. You can see how small the thing is comparing it to my normal size hand!

I already have a larger and slightly more obnoxious sensor inside. I need to put a light sensor in as well because I have lights coming on in my office during the day when it’s just not necessary.

nscopeSo tonight I decided to give it a go (I have half the mains on – including my office which fortunately has electric heat). I hooked one of the units up to 5v and ground – (the outputs are ground, output and 5v in that order. Ground is obvious – lots of tracking and a minus sign). I hooked a LED to the output, switched on and… zilch.

Fortunately a little while ago I was fortunate enough to become the owner of a little NSCOPE – a USB low-bandwidth scope with breadboard – a wonderfully useful gadget. Well, that WORKED and on close inspection they have a 20k resistor in series with the output – clearly not zmotemeant for a LED but just fine for an ESP8266 or Arduino. The units pick up movement several metres away and at a range of angles… I’m thinking…. hole in the door frame – unit inserted in there somewhat recessed to reduce it’s angle of operation… picks up people near the door….

zmoteMeanwhile, one of the other competitors on the esp826.com annual ESP8266 competition (which I do not expect to win – mine is item 75 – vote if you like it) send me one of his units – it’s called a ZMOTE – a neat little infra-red learning remote. 

I’ve not gone into it yet due to the flooding but you can find out about it on the ESP8266.COM website – I’ll do a write-up when I’m not running around with buckets.

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15 thoughts on “Life

  1. Sorry to hear about your flood – hope you get everything back in order and damage is limited.
    The small PIRs say 2.7-12V DC. Did you by chance run a test with 3.3V?

  2. You can use something like
    http://g04.s.alicdn.com/kf/UT8IIcMXnXbXXagOFbXl/706049923/UT8IIcMXnXbXXagOFbXl.jpg
    http://neptun-ukraina.com/images/scheme-1.png
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwEuHgVyVok
    But i didn’t find where you can by it right now.

    Most important is valve.
    Actually it depends on water pressure in your pipes. But it should be
    – motorized, not solenoid
    – brass, not plastic
    – manual mode is optional
    something like http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-2-Electric-motor-valve-Brass-DC12V-Motorized-valve-with-5-wires-CR05-DN15-Electric-valve/1938495319.html

    Sensors may be wired or wireless, you can find a lot of possible devices.
    But when you will planning the installation for it, ask me, i will tell a few details about it.
    Hope it helps.

    1. few words about sensors
      Copper electrodes like http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hight-Quality-Wireless-Water-Leak-Sensor-for-Home-Security-GSM-PSTN-Alarm-System-433MHz-Alarm-Alert/32516792114.html can have oxidation problems.

      stainless steel electrode like http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs-Free-Shipping-Wireless-Water-Leak-Detector-for-Home-Security-Alarm-System-Flood-Sensor/32558846977.html are better.

      rag or tissue on electrodes for water absorbing are preferred.
      you can do something like http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wireless-water-leak-detector/1664722976.html by yourself.

      And emsp + humidity sensors – we build a world of Iot, isn’t it? 🙂

      Don’t forget to open/close electic valves at least one time per month.

  3. I have seen some and pondered doing this on a kitchen refit (when I added a water meter with a pulse output). I didnt do it because of cost and also when I have had burst pipes before the water has drained out of the large tank in the loft……….. damage done!.

      1. I do now. I was sitting pondering that earlier – how do you tell the difference between pouring a bath and a leak.

        1. Sorry, don’t understand exactly what do you mean. May be i can help you a little? i have had some exercises some time ago.

          1. Well, how would you detect that your pipework had sprung a leak… measuring water flow, it would be no different to filling a bath.

          1. That is a GOOD idea – indeed as a leak always means wet ceilings – one in the ceiling where I’m controlling lights anyway… is a great idea. and that would tell a valve to close off the water.

            Any ideas for a 12v valve capable of handling full flow water incoming into the house and shutting it off in the absense of power??

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