Graeme and Phil set up “router 2” which provides a “hopping” internet link across a 1km stretch to let us cover the peatland on the plateau
Long distance 6LowPAN test completed!
Today we managed to carry out a long distance 6LowPAN network link: from the valley, 3km up to the mountain and then on to another node 1km further away (router2). This is confirmation that Graeme’s CC1120 Contiki driver works very well and we can start to deploy the sensor nodes around the mountain.
Range tests on Mountain
Some of the team discussing the results of a range test at the site of relay 1.
Some of the team discussing a range test
PCBs undergoing testing
It’s all hands on deck getting things ready to head up to Scotland to deploy. Here are the main PCBs that will be used to form the network in the lined up ready for further testing.
3D printed parts
For this project we are creating custom 3D printed parts for the sensors. The two parts we are creating are housings for pressure sensors. One is to be submerged in a river, the other is to measure atmospheric pressure.
This is how the parts appear when first removed from the printer. There support material to make sure the parts don’t fall over or droop during printing
The products with the support material removed.
Main node PCB ready for testing
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
First custom designed sensor
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.
Testing the radio links in the Cairngorms
The antennas were tested in Glen Feshie – between thevestate buildings and the ridge 3.8km away and performed as well as we expected with the TI CC1120 transceivers. We now have a way to link the mountain’s sensors to the web!
This shows the distance covered by our first radio “hop” up to the mountains
CC1120 Contiki port
First PCBs
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.