Temperature Monitor

Venom

Hello,

Bare with me im new to this forum.

I'm looking to make something that can monitor the temps in my snake enclosures via my pc.

The snake enclosures are in there own room and my pc is in a different room so the temp sensors will have to run wirelessly, there are around 20 enclosures that i need to monitor.

Is this possibly with parallax products? and what sort of knowledge will i need to make this happen?

I have a few wireless 433Mhz temp sensors that send temps every 7seconds i don't know if it's possible to use these?

Cheers,
Venom

Franklin

Can you wire all the enclosures together and send the temperature data to the computer wirelessly or do you need wireless at each enclosure.

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- Stephen

Venom

All together, as all the enclosures are in 1 room.
I would need the ability to name each sensor so i know which sensor monitor which enclosure.

Mike Green

Have a look at 1-Wire temperature sensors from Dallas Semiconductor (like para.maxim-ic.com/en/search.mvp?fam=temp_sens&374=1-Wire&374=1-Wire%20Non-Network&tree=master). The BS2p/pe/px models have built-in 1-Wire statements and there's sample code available for some of the 1-wire temperature sensors. The sensors have a unique 64 bit identifier, so you can scan them in a specific order and, when you send the data on to the PC, you can include the identifier with the data.

If the enclosure room is not too far from the monitoring PC, you could use Bluetooth (Parallax's Easy-Bluetooth) to connect the Stamp to the PC. To the PC, the Stamp would look just like a serial port.

Alternatively, you could use a Parallax PINK internet interface to make the Stamp look just like a webserver with the temperatures readable with any web browser. The Stamp could also send the readings as e-mail messages. If there's no internet connection in the enclosure room, you could use a WiFi bridge attached to the PINK and either hook up the whole setup to the internet or keep it as a closed local area network.

Venom

Hello,

I appreciate your help, WiFI would be the ultimate solution for me as i already have a WiFi network at home.

Is it possible to have 20 or so of these 1wire sensors on 1 system?

As i said i already have some wireless 433mhz sensors that my work use for airconditioning purposes and the send data every 15 seconds, would it be possible to use these? i can also get my hands on the receiver for them also but i have no idea how to get the data from it even though it has a cat5 plug on it.

Ok don't really understand how all of this works yet and im a little confused but i will eventually get my head around it, just to give you a little info on my background, previously i was a web designer and i'm also a licensed refrigeration mechanic.

Tracy Allen

Hi Vernon,

It is an interesting project, but it iwlll be tough to bite it off all at once. Start with one BASIC Stamp and one temperature sensor, and I concur with Mike that something like a BS2pe and a one-wire sensor would be a good starting point. Then, expansion to 20 sensors along one cable that you could string around the vivarium would be a good second step, with the data displayed on either your PC connected by wire, or on an LCD screen. Then tackle the wireless.

In order to use the wireless HVAC sensors you have, you will have to know the protocol and the inner workings, and it may be that the necessary information is not available. On the other hand, it sounds like the sensors and matching receiver are already near to doing nearly what you want as a turnkey system. HVAC for snakes. But it may not have any hooks for you to add special functions using a Stamp.

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Tracy Allen
www.emesystems.com

Venom

Thanks tracey, that simplified things quite a bit form me [noparse]:)[/noparse]

The system i have has a pc interface but it needs some modifications and i cannot get my hands on the source code.

Another forum member messged me about a 1wire system he had previously built (not wireless) using a custom BS2pe board maybe this is a good starting point for me? then i just need to work out how to make it wireless?? i'm guessing the wireless bit is the hard bit right?

Mike Green

You haven't spoken about what sort of wireless range you need. Bluetooth with a Class 1 adapter (like the Easy-Bluetooth) or xBee PRO version 1 are good systems with their own error checking and correcting. A PINK with a WiFi bridge is easy and, with your experience as a web designer, should be easy to implement since it just serves up webpages with embedded variables that can be set from the Stamp.

Venom

Thanks Mike, bluetooth would not be an option, but WiFi would be great.

I'd say i could have a fair crack at the coding if i has some sort of starting point, but the hardware is scaring me a bit.

Venom

Found an intereting device someone has already put alot of hard work and effort into, would it be difficult to introdue a Wifi feature to this??

http://thebloughs.net/hobbies/electronics/multitherm/