Hardware design for Aiko gateway.
Luke Weston
might suit the Aiko gateway hardware.
I imagine that one way that might work is the following:
We have a PCB that is about the same size as a 20*4 LCD module, but
just a little bit wider, so it sticks out to one side of the LCD
display.
The PCB mounts on the back of the LCD module, via pin headers soldered
straight through between the two boards. The component side of the PCB
is on the back - so the bottom copper side of the PCB, with no
components, is up against the back of the LCD's PCB.
The LDR and DS18B20 are soldered to the back side of the PCB, so they
stick up next to the front of the LCD display. This is why the PCB
needs to stick out from under the footprint of the LCD on one side.
This custom PCB includes a ATmega168/328 microcontroller, so it's
entirely compatible with the Arduino software but does not actually
involve an Arduino board. A header for a FTDI cable is included, just
like an Arduino Pro.
The "top" of the PCB, containing components, faces towards the bottom
when the assembly is installed inside the router. Everything needs to
be kept fairly low profile to make sure it all fits together with
sufficient room.
The PCB includes headers for the XBee module to plug straight into it.
With the PCB assembled, very little wiring is required to connect
everything up. An 8-pin pin header is on the board, and something like
an IDC ribbon cable connector is used to plug into it, making assembly
easy with no soldering.
These 8 pins connect to 5V, ground, TX, RX, and the Nintendo
touchscreen on the remaining four. This is all the wiring needed. The
touchscreen is wired up separately since its interface cable is very
short.
This is just a conceptual layout that I imagine, anyway.
How would you change, redesign or improve the idea?
Luke Weston
installations, you wouldn't need to buy an Arduino Pro, nor would you
buy two XBee explorer boards (you'd still use one for the remote side
of the ZigBee link, though, presumably). Instead, what you'd be
requiring is an ATmega chip, a couple of 2 mm 10 pin female headers
for the ZigBee, and a handful of other electronic components. The
hardware cost would probably come down a little. The PCB assembly
would probably be a little more complex than existing construction,
though.
Jonathan Oxer
> How would you change, redesign or improve the idea?
I wouldn't, it sounds great.
The only thing that springs to mind is to try to keep multiple purposes
in mind while designing it: the exact same board could be used for both
embedding in a gateway as you described and also as a self-contained
Pebble node (either with or without the LCD). Put it in a slimline case
and it would be perfect as a stand-alone wireless sensor node, so having
the spare I/O lines exposed somewhere (maybe on an optional header that
isn't used when embedding in a router) could be useful.
Cheers :-)
--
Jonathan Oxer
Ph +61 4 3851 6600
* Internet Vision Technologies (www.ivt.com.au)
* Practical Arduino (www.practicalarduino.com)
* SuperHouse Automation (www.superhouse.tv)
* Geek My Ride! (www.geekmyride.org)
Sam Sabey
This sounds like a good plan, however my comments would be relating to sensor placement, such that they can be better exposed to the stuff they are sensing, ie. the DS18B20 to the outside air, and an LDR to the outside light area, or other.
Sam.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Aiko distributed platform" group.
> To post to this group, send email to aiko-p...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to aiko-platfor...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/aiko-platform?hl=en.
>
Luke Weston
On Feb 2, 2:52 pm, Sam Sabey <sam.sa...@esskware.com.au> wrote:
> Hey Luke,
>
> This sounds like a good plan, however my comments would be relating to sensor placement, such that they can be better exposed to the stuff they are sensing, ie. the DS18B20 to the outside air, and an LDR to the outside light area, or other.
>
Sure, you'd have those components sticking up out of the top of the
router casing, much like existing builds.
I'd also consider putting something like a 3.5 mm stereo plug on the
box and having a cable going out to an external DS18B20.
Jonathan Oxer
> This sounds like a good plan, however my comments would be relating to
> sensor placement, such that they can be better exposed to the stuff
> they are sensing, ie. the DS18B20 to the outside air, and an LDR to
> the outside light area, or other.
Sounds sensible.
Perhaps the easiest solution is to put the DS18B20 and LDR pads on 0.1"
centres so they can either be fitted directly to the PCB or replaced
with a male header. If the pads are near the RH edge of the PCB the
headers could be 90deg so they don't prevent the board & LCD being
mounted against the faceplate.
Paul Szymkowiak
- I'm using a Mega for the Router (well, almost :). I chose that in
part because I wanted the option to run multiple mesh networks
(sensors, security, drone/ robotic control). So, while the Mega chip
could be accomdated under Luke's design, I'd envisage the possibilty
of multiple Zigbee's within the Router housing.
- I've just picked up some Humidity sensors. I envisage adding this
and possibly others to Aiko.
Paul