Monthly Archives: March 2016
Street light control using WiSense WSN1101L
We recently built a prototype to control a mains powered street light in our community. This node has a WSN1101L node interfaced to a relay. The relay is controlled (through a driver IC) by a GPIO pin on the WSN1101L’s micro-controller. Power supply is through an 230 V AC to 12 V DC module. All the electronics is housed in a weather proof enclosure.
The node has been working properly for a week now. The node has been configured to operate as a full featured device (FFD) which simply means that it is involved in mesh routing.
The WSN1101L operates in the license free 865-867 MHz license free band in India.
Connected street lights can save power and ease fault detection and maintenance. We are going to build another prototype which will monitor current consumption and light output.
I have included some pics below.
For more information, please visit http://www.wisense.in
WiSense nodes in a greenhouse
We recently had the opportunity to demonstrate a small network of WiSense nodes in a greenhouse which is being used to grow roses. The network was used to measure the ambient temperature, humidity and soil moisture content in 3 different spots inside the greenhouse. Greenhouses are typically 0.5 acres or more. The one we visited was pretty basic with zero automation. We are interested in helping the owners increase the yield and quality by providing them relevant data 24/7. Usually, the owners are out on business trips and currently they have no way to monitor greenhouse conditions remotely.
We installed three battery powered sensor nodes and 1 coordinator node attached to a laptop. It took just couple of minutes for the nodes to start sending data to the office located near the greenhouse.
While we were monitoring the data in the office, suddenly the moisture levels from the soil moisture sensor node started dropping. When I entered the greenhouse to investigate, I found the sensor missing !! Seemed as if the sensor node had grown legs and walked away. By the time I got back to the office to inform the others, the sensor node had stopped reporting data. Luckily, one of the workers saw a kid running away with something in his hand. Our host got a couple of guys on a bike to follow the kid and we got the sensor back. I reinstalled the sensor after the kid assured me that he won’t do it again.
Here are some pics of the greenhouse.
