Off-Grid Remote Generator Starter -- Episode-639

Great episode.

Nice simple solution to a real problem.

As for the hole, a little plaster, some tape and some paint and all is well.

I was recently watching a behind the scenes video of a guy who is using an AV processor core just for the monitoring and diagnostics side of his ≈10acre residential light show (≈400trees and 8 houses lit up amongst other things, sort of thing). The actual show control is distributed across many Beaglebone SBCs acting as standalone light sequencers but sync'd over a wireless broadband type network infrastructure but he has also tied in stuff like using DTMF tones over radio which the core decodes, actions, then uses text-to-speech to respond back with a confirmation over the radio. The system monitors the status of all the show control nodes, the wireless network nodes and presents it locally and over Wi-Fi as well as pushing it out to a cloud-based monitoring system.

I was thinking that that could be you at Bonesnapper Ridge in a few years time once you get everything online (Xmas lightshow optional, but you do have the trees !)

Zircon e30 I believe. But, a big part of the problem which you can see in the video, is that the walls in this goofy cabin are not drywall, but 3/4" masonite... I edited out the parts where I had to cut super deep into the wall, not good content. hah

Dave, we are on the same page here. This is something I have been thinking about since I started planning everything out. I have been thinking of it as a "low power non LCD dashboard". I am using Grafana and Influx to capture and display a lot of the data, but I don't want to have a monitor running all the time to display that data. That would be a simple solution, but I want to save power, and I like to build stuff. hah. So far I have been thinking of using 7 segment displays, bar graph segment LEDs, regular LEDs, and maybe an E-Ink display for more complex information. And a PIR motion sensor so it only lights up when I am near and looking at it. 

Along with that, I will eventually build out an HTML dashboard that is published locally and remotely so I can have some read access to data when I am out on the property or away from home. 

I've kept this on the back burner because I need some of my tools back to build it the way I would like. Laser for acrylic, or CNC router for a wood option. 

I need to do a blog update, the shop is up and I am currently working on building my office inside. Tools can arrive once I have time and a couple of clear days!

Another nice addition to the project.

At what point (if any) do you think you will end up with HMI panels that give a combined UI for Bonesnapper Ridge ? Or will you tend to rely on a mobile device for that with only the essential monitoring and control on discrete readouts ?

Well you will need space for the engine RPM and the fuel gage readout at some point... 

I've been watching contractors here turning a wall into 'Swiss cheese' trying to pull 70+ cables in through an older building. Hollow sounding walls have turned out to have a 5mm air gap and then concrete pillars or additional timber framing left by previous work behind them.

Great until you forget which one of the two it is that works well

What make/model is it ?

Thanks! Ill try that out.

Hi Doug, I *thought* I had a stud finder that I thought worked well, until it didn't! Oh well, I am going to fix that mess with a larger wooden plate I will make once I get the CNC router up. 

Nice article. Although some part of the code makes my eyes twitch.

1.

if(gen_start) {
Serial.println("Starting Generator");
digitalWrite(gen_start_pin, HIGH);
digitalWrite(led_start, HIGH);
} else if (!gen_start) {
digitalWrite(led_start, LOW);
digitalWrite(gen_start_pin, LOW);
}

if (soc_state == LOW) {
soc_state = HIGH;
clearSSD(2);
float soc = calculateSoC(soc_voltage_value);
ssdPrintFloat(2, soc);
} else {
soc_state = LOW;
clearSSD(2);
ssdPrintFloat(2, soc_voltage_value);
}

these statements can be easily reduced into few lines..

1.

digitalWrite(gen_start_pin, gen_start);
digitalWrite(led_start, gen_start);

2.

soc_state=!soc_state;
clearSSD(2);
float soc = soc_state?calculateSoC(soc_voltage_value):soc_voltage_value;
ssdPrintFloat(2, soc);