The first of the main PCBs has now been soldered up and is ready for testing.  This is happening a lot later than we’d have liked due to supply chain issues.  However, the initial testing of the power supplies seems to be positive.

The first generation of mountain sensing PCB

A custom designed temperature sensor

This project has required the design and development of several custom sensors.  This is the first one to have been built.  It uses 5 one-wire temperature sensors attached to an AVR.  The AVR then runs code to interface with the sensors.  In order to connect to the main sensor node the AVR uses RS-485.  This means that it can be away from the main node, and because of the multi-drop nature of RS-485 multiple such devices could be attached.  The other sensor nodes also interface using RS-485 so each node could have different types of remote sensor attached.

We are currently working on creating a Contiki driver for the CC1120.  The CC1120 is a high sensitivity low power radio which should enable us to get the connectivity between nodes that we need.  Whilst writing this post the first packets have been heard to be transmitted.

The first batch of PCBs to be used in the project have been created.  These boards will take a 12V input and give a 5V 2A output.  These will be useful for powering devices in the first tests that are carried out.  There are a few more boards on the way including 5V 250mA boards, which will also be used for testing and powering external peripherals.