Playing with Sonoff Zigbee & WiFi automation – Part 1: Hardware overview

Sonoff T2 Switch Zigbee Bridge Motion Sensor

I don’t think I’ve ever used Zigbee, but I’ll soon have the opportunity as ITEAD sent me the Sonoff ZBBridge gateway, a Sonoff T2 2-gang WiFi switch as well as a Zigbee motion sensor. I had reviewed several Sonoff devices in the past, but it had been over three years that I hadn’t. ITEAD recently contacted me basically telling me I could select whatever I wanted from their product list for a review on CNX Software. Since I had reviewed several of the company’s WiFi smart sockets, smart switches, and a light bulb, I had less to play with, and then I thought it might be fun to play with Sonoff Zigbee products. But I did not own any Zigbee hardware, so I had to think about a use case. I have a small annoyance in the house I rent. When we come back at night, we have to leave […]

10-channel floor heating valve controller supports Tasmota, MQTT, Home Assistant

ESP32 floor heating valve controller

Voltlog has designed an open-source hardware floor heating valve controller powered by an ESP32 WiFi module making it compatible with Tasmota open-source firmware, and by extension MQTT protocol and Home Assistant automation framework. The board can control up to 10 valves triac controlled outputs and spring connectors for a floor home heating system, and also offers a one-wire srping connector, an I2C header, and safety features with two fuses, although it’s obviously not UL nor TUV certified. Voltlog decided to design his own board instead of buying off-the-shelf solutions because of the high price of such products and the lack of open-source firmware for integration into a home automation server powered by Home Assistant. You can flash firmware to the ESP32 either through a VoltLink USB to Serial converter or you can use your own USB to serial converter module through the on-board JST-SH 1.0mm pitch 6 pin connector. This […]

$9.90 SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus works with Home Assistant

Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus

ITEAD has launched a new Zigbee dongle with the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus powered by Texas Instruments CC2652P wireless MCU which follows the company’s Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle based on Silicon Labs EFT32MG21 Cortex-M4 microcontroller. The dongle is pre-flashed with Z-Stack 3.x.0 coordinator firmware which enables ZHA in Home Assistant or Zigbee2MQTT compatibility. Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (ZBDongle-P) specifications: Wireless MCU – Texas Instruments CC2652P SimpleLink Arm Cortex-M4F multiprotocol 2.4 GHz wireless MCU with integrated power amplifier for Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy, Thread, Zigbee 3.0 Connectivity – Zigbee 3.0 with SMA antenna connector, +20 dBm output gain Host interface – USB port with CP2102N USB to TTL chip Expansion – 5-pin IO header with programming pins Misc – Boot and reset buttons, LED, DIP switch for hardware flow control Power Supply – 5V/100mA via USB port, LDO Dimensions –  87 x 25.5 x 13.5 mm (Aluminum […]

Sonoff NSPanel – A 3.5-inch HMI display for home automation (Crowdfunding)

Sonoff NSPanel

You’ll soon be able to control all Sonoff smart switches, sockets, light bulbs, IP cameras, as well as Philips lighting solutions with the Sonoff NSPanel, a 3.5-inch HMI display supporting wall installation to US or EU standards. The ESP32 based touchscreen display integrates a dual-channel wall switch, supports Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Yandex Alice voice assistants, and if you are not at home, you can still control your appliances with eWelink app for Android or iOS. Sonoff NSPanel specifications: WiSoC – Espressif ESP32-DOWD V3 dual-core Xtensa processor @ 160 MHz with 512KB RAM, 2.4 GHz 802.11n/g/n WiFi 4, and Bluetooth 4.2/5.x Display – 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 480×320 resolution Power Input – 100-240V @ 50/60Hz up to 4A Power Output – 100-240V @ 50/60Hz up to 2A per gang, or 4A in total LED Load 110V – 150W per gang, 300W total 220V – 300W per gang, 600W […]

Iono RP – An industrial PLC with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU

Iono RP Raspberry Pi RP2040 PLC

Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU has been used in many boards, but I think I had seen the dual-core MCU in a PLC, or even any industrial products just yet. Sfera Labs Iono RP is a compact I/O module (PLC) with a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller that’s programmable in C/C++ and MicroPython, or even the Arduino IDE. The DIN-Rail mountable, RP2040 based industrial PLC offers digital and analog input and output lines, power relays, and an RS-485 interface, supports power input from 12V-24V with all signals accessible through terminal blocks. Sfera Labs can also provide some optional options such as an RTC or an earthquake sensor module. Iono RP PLC specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ @ 133MHz with 264kB on-chip SRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash, optional microSD card slot Communication interface – standard RS-485 interface with electrostatic discharge protection Inputs/Outputs via terminal blocks 4x power relay […]

Sofabaton X1 – IR, WiFi & Bluetooth remote control supports over 500k devices (Crowdfunding)

SofabatonX1 smart remote control

The Sofabaton X1 remote control system aims to replace all your other remote controls in your house thanks to infrared, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity implemented through the X1 Hub, plus an integrated 2-inch on the remote itself for configuration and device selection. The company claims that over 500,000 devices are supported including TVs, DVD & Blu-Ray players, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, etc…, and voice commands are also supported through Google Home and Amazon Alexa voice services. SofabatonX1 specifications: X1 Hub Connectivity 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi 4 Bluetooth 5.0 LE & Bluetooth 3.0 Infrared – 10 kHz to 100 kHz Power Supply – 5V/2A via USB Type-C port Material – PMMA X1 Remote Connectivity – Not mentioned… Display – 2-inch display with clickable scroll wheel User input – D-Pad, Backlit volume, trick modes, 4x customizable buttons, etc… Battery – 1,050 mAh LiPo battery good for about 2 months on a charge […]

Nicla Sense ME – Arduino PRO meets Bosch SensorTech’s motion and environmental sensors

Arduino NICLA SENSE ME

Arduino is going full steam ahead with its Arduino PRO family of boards for industrial applications. After the announcement of the Portenta H7 Lite board earlier this month, the company has now introduced the Arduino Nicla Sense ME designed in collaboration with Bosch Sensortec. The Nicla Sense ME (Motion & Environment) board comes with a range of Bosch Sensortec sensors notably a 9DoF smart motion sensor and a 4DoF environmental sensor with AI capabilities, and targets industrial IoT applications either for research projects, rapid prototyping, or commercial products. Arduino Nicla Sense ME specifications: MCU – Nordic Semi nRF52832 Cortex-M4 microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 512KB Flash, 64KB RAM, Bluetooth 4.2/5.0 LE connectivity (via U-blox ANNA B112 module) Storage – 2MB SPI flash for storage; 2MB QSPI dedicated for BHI260AP Sensors BHI260AP motion sensor system with integrated AI, “Fuser 2” 32-bit Synopsys DesignWare ARC EM4 core with RISC FPU BMM150 magnetometer […]

ZB-GW03 ESP32-based Ethernet Zigbee gateway works with Tasmota firmware

ZB-GW03 ESP32 Ethernet Zigbee Gateway

ZB-GW03 is an Ethernet Zigbee Gateway compatible with eWelink mobile app and with a design similar to SONOFF ZBBridge gateway but replacing ESP8266 SoC by ESP32 SoC, and adding an Ethernet port. The ZB-GW03 gateway is apparently based on the same Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Zigbee Arm Cortex-M33 chip and has been hacked to run Tasmota open-source software for people preferring more flexibility and/or integration with OpenHAB or Home Assistant open-source home automation frameworks via Zigbee2MQTT. ZB-GW03 gateway specifications: Main MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32 dual-core Tensilica TX6 processor @ 240 MHz with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth connectivity Zigbee MCU – Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU @ 80 MHz with Zigbee 3.0 connectivity Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth via ESP32 Zigbee 3.0 via Silabs MG21 MCU with support for 128 nodes, up to 200+ meter range One 2.4 GHz Zigbee antenna One 2.4 GHz PCB antenna for WiFi Misc […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case