Introduction
Here we are finally at this last blog. The aim of this work is to create a simple home monitoring system, using the kit offered by Seeed Studio.
In previous blogs I told how I started using the XIAO SAMD21 and the sensors in the kit. Now we'll put everything together to make this simple project.
The sensors we will use are the Moisture sensor to detect possible flooding due to the flooding of an irrigation canal and the Flame sensor to detect if there are flames present near the house.
Unfortunately, the XIAO SAMD21 does not have WiFi or BLE connectivity, so I will limit myself to reporting the presence of a danger (flooding or fire) by activating a buzzer. Obviously I could use the output to control a relay to operate a pump or to activate the transmission of an alarm (SMS or Telegram message) using a board with cellular connectivity.
Conclusions
Using this kit was really very nice and interesting. The Seeed Studio XIAO SAMD21 board is very versatile and simple to use. It has good capabilities from a hardware point of view and the fact that it is possible to program it using the Arduino IDE makes it an optimal choice for example for schools, especially for the first experiences with programming IoT boards. I also want to add that the Seeed Studio family includes different board models with different characteristics and that there are XIAO products with BLE and/or WiFi connectivity, others that are oriented towards Artificial Intelligence, etc. It is also worth remembering that these boards can also be easily programmed in MicroPython.
We must also speak highly of the board's support website which is really well done, simple, nice to look at, full of examples and technical data, in this Seeed Studio is unbeatable!
It would have been nice to also be able to use some other version of the XIAO, perhaps the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3, with WiFi and BLE connectivity, so as to be able to further expand the range of possible applications that can be created.
I would then like to talk about the Seeed Studio sensors, the Grove Sensors, which I have already known for some time. They are really great sensors and all five in the kit were easy to set up and use. Until some time ago I didn't use them because the connector they mount makes them difficult to use on the breadboard.
Since I got a Base Shield, working with these sensors has become very simple and comfortable and lately I've been using Grove sensors almost exclusively. Seeed Studio has also created a beautiful and very functional website for its sensors. For each sensor you can easily find technical characteristics, examples on different platforms, use cases, etc. a real mine of useful information.
In summary, regardless of the simplicity of the project I created, I am very satisfied with the experience I was able to have. As usual, I did most of the work in the last few days but now I'm resigned: it always happens like this!
I hope that whoever reads this work will find it interesting, I am very happy because I still enjoy seeing, touching and using technology that I am not familiar with and I thank Seeed Studio for the kit, Element14 for the opportunity it has given me to test new boards and technologies and the entire Element14 community to be a continuous source of ideas, help and inspiration thanks to blogs, roadtests and even comments.
Carlo
