Your system seems to be complete

[John JR]

Hey Bob,

I've included the Sensorica group in this email just so everyone can see what I've been up to and where I'm at.

Your demo system is complete as far as I can tell. I'll do some more manual testing before I send it but it seems to be working.

I'm just going to wait another day for the waterproofing spray on the soil moisture sensor to fully cure then I can submerge it in water to test that it is indeed waterproof.

I've set up the RPi Zero W so it can run as a standalone WiFi hotspot. Unfortunately it can't be both connected to your normal WiFi and run as a standalone WiFi hotspot at the same time, which would be ideal. But it's not a big problem.

You can log in via SSH to the Pi and run "sudo hotspot start" to make it disconnect from WiFi and launch its own WiFi hotspot. Then you can run "sudo hotspot stop" to have it stop the standalone hotspot and it will automatically revert back to the normal WiFi connection.

At some point I think I'll add functionality to the web based UI to manage WiFi connections and enabling/disabling the WiFi hotspot but it's not implemented yet.

So while you have it running at your home I suggest disabling the WiFi hotspot and leaving it connected to your home WiFi (so automatic upgrades are possible). Then when you want to take it it somewhere, enable the standalone hotspot before you leave so you can interact with it directly without needing any external WiFi network. Then when you get home again you can disable hotspot and have it connect back to your WiFi network.

If you would like me to configure it to immediately connect to your home WiFi by default could you send me the name and pass key for it (in a private email obviously)?

That way if I've released updates between posting it to you and you receiving it (which is likely) it can auto upgrade itself once you boot it up.

Alternatively I can just explain to you how to set the WiFi name and pass key for it when you receive it.

Also if you could send me your desired password for your system user and for the web based UI I'll configure it.

Alternatively I can generate a random password, set it, and email it to you.

It should be shipped out and on its way this week.

I'll take some photos and get some videos of it in action, with me interacting with it, before I post it.

Hopefully soon we can get some custom cases designed that I can 3D print so the next time I build a system for someone it's a lot quicker and easier to do.

Cheers,

John

[Bob Haugen]

I replied to John privately to answer some of his questions for me,
but for the groups, this is great news!
I will be doing local demos as soon as I can, and will report back on
what happens.