Hello I am very new to this forum and it is actually my first time EVER making a community post.
I am planning a project to make an arduino weather station to measure humidity and temp and i want to then collect this data to see if there are any trends i can predict in my local area.
I am getting DS18b20 (for temp. measurement), AM2302(for humidity measurement) , ESP8266 (for wifi connection).
From what I know only the DS18b20 can come in a waterproof format whereas the other ones will not be so i will need to overcome that hurdle as well since I do not want to enclsoe the humidity sensor siince that would affect the humidity accuracy.
I want to ask if this project sounds feasible and if there is any other sensors I can add for more fun , perhaps UV or pressure .....
This is my first solo arduino project so I would really want some advice and guidance on my project.
Thank you anyways !
If you want to measure the air temperature you need to protect the sensor from direct sunlight, I use one of these Themal shield
You also need to keep away from buildings as these heat up in sunlight and the heat coming off a building will raise the air temperature around the building.
It is all very doable and indeed has been done a number of times. If you do some online research you will see examples. I suggest you don't focus too much on the overall project but start small and build it up. You want to plan things on paper (cheap) then breadboard stuff (more expensive) then customise and make final model. You will probably make many iterations both of hardware and code.
Try to write out a logical flow of what you want to happen. Remember that the microcontroller does not intuit anything it simply follows instructions to the letter no matter how vague they are.
Work on one bit of code at a time and save it in a sketch with a suitable name such as TemperatureSensor or HumiditySensor. Once you have them working individually then make a new sketch called eg TempHumidSensors and start combining them. Working iteratively like this avoids you losing loads of work if you do something wrong. Use Serial.print to look under the hood and debug your code. If you do this regularly then you can work your way step by step through your plan knowing that any mistakes are only in the last step as all previous steps have been debugged.
Be prepared to rewrite your code when you discover better ways of doing things. Draw schematics for hardware. Read the guide to posting on the forum, use code tags and attach schematics. you can just copy someone else but I find it more fun to understand what it is I am doing.
gill2954:
... since I do not want to enclsoe the humidity sensor siince that would affect the humidity accuracy.
That would come as a surprise to the NWS. Every weather collection location I've ever seen is in a louvered enclosure like this:
Get a BME280 instead as it integrates temperature, humidity and pressure, and it's easier to talk to (I2C compared to DS18B20's one wire)
hzrnbgy:
Get a BME280 instead as it integrates temperature, humidity and pressure, and it's easier to talk to (I2C compared to DS18B20's one wire)
I was looking into that but I thought that since the the DS18B20 wire does have a waterproof version and I live in a tropical area with heavy rainfaill especially around this period, would you still recommend i get bme280 ?
I have one more question guys, I want to wirelessly send the collected data over wifi, which I would imagine should not be a problem, would I run across any issues for this?
Also this is my first post ever and the replies Ive received so quickly is really jawdropping and id like to say thank you , I truly appreciate all yalls help . Hopefully once I finish my project I can also actively contribute to this community !
I want to wirelessly send the collected data over wifi, which I would imagine should not be a problem, would I run across any issues for this?
I have a D1 Mini connected to a temperature sensor so the results are reported by WiFi; works well. I put the temperature sensor inside a small, sealed* metal box with the sensor in contact with the metal, and put the box inside the solar shield I linked to, at the top. I brought a cable out to a plastic box which holds the D1 Mini.
Any issues? How can anyone answer that? Of course you will have issues, what they are depends on your knowledge, experience, what you try and a whole lot of other things no one can make a judgement about.
*Don't completely seal a box, there should be a small opening at the bottom so the air pressure can equalise and any moisture can escape.
PerryBebbington:
Any issues? How can anyone answer that? Of course you will have issues, what they are depends on your knowledge, experience, what you try and a whole lot of other things no one can make a judgement about.
*Don't completely seal a box, there should be a small opening at the bottom so the air pressure can equalise and any moisture can escape.
My bad for the badly worded question, I meant if there were any drawbacks for wifi based data sending perhaps the size or speed of the data.... But thank you for your advice regardless!
Guys I need to make the order today so I am not sure if I should go with the bme280 sensor or stick with buying 2 different ones for temp and humidity, any advice on this? Again the only reason Id buy the different sensors is that I imagine the waterproof ability of the temp sensor would be worth it?
I have both DS18B20 and BME280
the DS18B20 seems more accurate over time.
I really-really like the BME280 for the 3 readings, so if you have the opportunity, get both.
I am saving microwave dishes that I get for 'bowls' these are microwavable dinners and the bowl seems to stand up to heat and sun. separate with spacers to make the layered weather shield.
as for the WiFi but, the only problem there is range. make sure it is close enough for a good signal.
as for the DS18B20, the raw TO92 package is very responsive and the shielded version is much slower. either is fine for weather.
and for the wish list, a tipping bucket rain gauge.
My bad for the badly worded question, I meant if there were any drawbacks for wifi based data sending perhaps the size or speed of the data.... But thank you for your advice regardless!
The amount of data and the speed using wiFi are way beyond what you need to report on temperature, humidity or any other kind of weather related data you can think of.
I put static* IP addresses on the D1 Minis, the central point sends an empty UDP packet to the Di Mini which replies with the current data, again in a UDP packet.
*Don't the IP address in the code, instead configure the D1 Mini (or whatever you use) to get an IP address by DHCP. Configure the router to lock a particular IP address to the MAC address. That way you manage all the IP addresses in one place, the router, and you can put exactly the same code on every device.