Output control via RF?

Applications
1

Hi all,
I am thinking of deploying 10 openenergymonitor systems made up of the various sensors transmitting via RF to an emonPi, each plugged into a broadband router.

I would also like to capture the data from another hardware device, and also send it a signal to remotely turn it on or off.

A few options come to mind, in order of preference:

  1. Add an RF module to the device. This should be straightforward to send the data in to the emonPi, but what about the outbound control signal, how hard would that be to implement?

  2. Add a raspberry Pi to the device. I would still like the data to be sent in to the local emonPi (for local logging as well as sending to emoncms). Is that possible and how easy is it to set up?

  3. Wired connection to the Pi - serial channel for data and gpio for output control. But I am trying to avoid wires given that there are numerous installations.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be much appreciated!

edit: I went looking for the emonhub documentation and… emonhub.org doesn’t resolve. Is the project still active?

2

I think you’ll find an option to do this amongst Robin Emley’s sketches for his Mk2 PV Diverter. You should find a link to all the sketches in Learn > PV Diversion (or his website mk2pvrouter.co.uk). In this case, it is remotely switching an immersion heater using the RFM12B radio modules. How easy it would be to modify the emonPi software, I don’t know - but the emonPi does send the time to an emonGLCD, so without knowing exactly what your control signal is, that’s the same thing in principle.

emonHub is incorporated into the emonCMS distribution. @pb66 is its creator.

3

Thanks Robert. Yes it’s the detail of how to do it within the emonPi that I’m not sure about. It would be an on-off signal coming from a node-red flow or something like that.

I’ll have a look for the GLCD code then, that sounds promising. edit: bookmarking this! Using emonpi as an RF repeater (via emonhub)? - #2 by pb66