Wind Sensing with Cortex

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  • neilhooper
    Automated Home Guru
    • Oct 2008
    • 124

    Wind Sensing with Cortex

    Does anybody have any suggestions or knowledge of any hardware that could be interfaced with Cortex / Idranet to measure wind speed, also any thoughts on the actual implementation and interfacing?

    - Neil
  • chris_j_hunter
    Automated Home Legend
    • Dec 2007
    • 1713

    #2
    we're looking to put a wind-sensor atop an aerial mast, so are looking, too ...

    how about :





    connected to a pulse-counting digital input ?
    Our self-build - going further with HA...

    Comment

    • neilhooper
      Automated Home Guru
      • Oct 2008
      • 124

      #3
      I've also found this



      In addition to reed switch output it also has an option of a 0-10v conversion kit, however, they don't quote any prices so it may not be as economic as the option you've found above.

      They also do this



      which could also introduce rain sensing into the system.

      We might have to talk to Vivian about some extra options for the pulse count meter object.

      Comment

      • chris_j_hunter
        Automated Home Legend
        • Dec 2007
        • 1713

        #4
        when we looked, we found a few more, but prices were always beyond us ...

        rain-sensing, looks tricky to do - a few days ago, we collected about 50mm of rain in our bucket (our manual rain-gauge) in about an hour, and for half that time it was raining just lightly ... ie: most of what we've found couldn't be readily connected to Cortex, and we're not sure any of them could cope with reality !

        OTOH, we've got one of these connected into Cortex via a digital input :

        We’ve searched behind every blade of grass but still can’t find this page. The page you’re digging for may have moved or doesn’t exist. Try browsing from the sections below, or return to the homepage. Try searching again. Maybe the page you’re looking for was out in the field.


        (no connection) ... we were surprised by how small it is, quality is v.good, and it seems to work well - it's just on/ off, but can be set to switch on any one of five amounts of rain ... so an option might be to use several of them, to get more detail ...

        OTOH, for flood detection, we're using some of these, also connected to Cortex via digital inputs :



        mounted into the end of some plastic conduit (water-tight seal readily achieved) we've got them dipped into a sump & a tank & find they work well - so an option we're considering is to make a rain-gauge using some more of them & a container, perhaps with a simple solenoid to allow automatically emptying, under Cortex control ...

        Chris
        Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 30 June 2012, 10:00 AM.
        Our self-build - going further with HA...

        Comment

        • Paul_B
          Automated Home Legend
          • Jul 2006
          • 608

          #5
          Another way maybe to use xAP integration to Cortex and then RFXCOM that can pickup and translate radio signals sent by the Oregon Scientific range of weather station products (as well as many other radio based systems). Quite how this would be done in practice I'm not sure but I'm sure Kevin could advise

          Paul

          Comment

          • Kevin
            Moderator
            • Jan 2004
            • 558

            #6
            Weather data

            Originally posted by Paul_B View Post
            Another way maybe to use xAP integration to Cortex and then RFXCOM that can pickup and translate radio signals sent by the Oregon Scientific range of weather station products (as well as many other radio based systems). Quite how this would be done in practice I'm not sure but I'm sure Kevin could advise

            Paul
            I have one of the Maplin wireless weather stations ~£50 and I use the excellent (and free) Cumulus software which implements the xAP weather schema. So I have all the information from all the sensors available on xAP. I haven't ever brought this into Cortex as it didn't seem to have much use for such information. I have an outdoor IDRANet temperature sensor so never bothered with temperature. This should all be do-able though via the xAP object as it can extract data from any xAP schema.

            RFXCom / xAP is an alternative path.

            K

            Comment

            • Paul_B
              Automated Home Legend
              • Jul 2006
              • 608

              #7
              Just had a look at Cumulus and discovered it supports my weather station, Oregon Scientific WMR88, found something to do this evening! Thanks Kevin

              Paul

              Comment

              • Paul_B
                Automated Home Legend
                • Jul 2006
                • 608

                #8
                Thanks Kevin you just saved me some cash. Cumulus can read my weather station and it worked straight away. Now I need to link this to Node0, how to send USB over long distance, USB to ethernet?

                Paul

                Comment

                • neilhooper
                  Automated Home Guru
                  • Oct 2008
                  • 124

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Paul_B View Post
                  how to send USB over long distance, USB to ethernet?

                  Paul
                  Depending on how you want to go, I've got one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-cat5-booster-221290, works perfectly.

                  - Neil

                  Comment

                  • Paul_B
                    Automated Home Legend
                    • Jul 2006
                    • 608

                    #10
                    Cheers Neil, looks like what I need just need to run the cables and place a power feed into the wall where the weather station is placed

                    Paul

                    Comment

                    • Karam
                      Automated Home Legend
                      • Mar 2005
                      • 863

                      #11
                      I believe Vivian has both an anemometer and wind vane. The former interfaces using the pulse count feature on digital inputs and corresponding meter object in Cortex. The latter I believe provides an analogue output so this is sensed using a QAI module - you'll find that one of the icons that can be attached to an analogue input is a compass.

                      Comment

                      • chris_j_hunter
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Dec 2007
                        • 1713

                        #12
                        for USB over distance, how about :

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                        we used their Active Pro version, daisy-chained as per :

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                        Google for best price ...
                        Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 3 July 2012, 12:46 AM.
                        Our self-build - going further with HA...

                        Comment

                        • Paul_B
                          Automated Home Legend
                          • Jul 2006
                          • 608

                          #13
                          Thanks Chris that gives me some more options. Hope we've given you some ideas on your original questions

                          Comment

                          • neilhooper
                            Automated Home Guru
                            • Oct 2008
                            • 124

                            #14
                            Thanks to everybody for your input on this subject.

                            Just to add something else into the mix .....

                            The reason that we are wanting to add wind sensing to Cortex is to do with our now infamous 10ft blind. It has now been returned to us complete with fabric this time and has been installed, which was a breeze by the way, and is being controlled perfectly using a motor control object in Cortex. We have it set up at the moment to close if it gets too bright outside, 80%, open again when the light level dims down a bit, 70%, close if it gets too hot in the room as the room is south facing and if it's open it closes when it gets dark enough outside as well, 10%.

                            However, with it being a 10ft blind it also makes it quite a good sail. If the doors are open, they don't have to be very far, the blind gets blown about quite a bit.

                            We would like to measure the wind speed, I think between us all we've now got that covered, and I'm thinking of some switches on the doors connected as a digital input on one of my QRI's to sense the doors being open.

                            My simple logic is this; IF Wind Speed > XXX and Doors Open THEN Open Blind.

                            Now the question is this, is this logic capable of being reproduced within Cortex?

                            - Neil

                            Comment

                            • Karam
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Mar 2005
                              • 863

                              #15
                              Depends how you are measuring wnd speed but I'd imagine it will be either analogue input or pulse count meter both of which have user configurable threshold transgression trigger outputs. This combined with a logic object (eg. AND gate) or with a Macro implementing IF THEN logic are just a couple of ways which might be suited.

                              Comment

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