tdutois, Nicolas DAILLY, acastro, fcaron

Published June 22, 2023

The Black Box

Follow your server room's informations from another city with the Black Box

BeginnerShowcase (no instructions)213

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Leonardo

Arduino Ethernet Shield 2

Arduino MKR WAN 1300

DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Sensor (4 pins)

Seeed Studio Grove - PIR Motion Sensor

USB-A to B Cable

Software apps and online services

The Things Industries The Things Stack

Arduino IDE

KiCad

MariaDB

Node-RED

VirtualBox

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Drill / Driver, Cordless

Soldering Iron Kit, Weller XNT/THM Tips

Story

Once upon a time, far far away, in a data center...

What does this project involve?

Our goal is to develop a black box capable of monitoring the performance and environmental conditions of a server or computer. This black box will be equipped with essential sensors such as temperature, humidity, presence, power supply and internet connection.

We came up with the idea for this black box following problems with the file server we use every day. We're never quite sure what's causing the problem. In fact, being able to monitor your server room accurately means determining the cause of the loss of communication as quickly as possible, and being able to act quickly.

The various sensors we have implemented enable us to measure temperature, humidity, human presence and power supply. The added bonus of this project is the use of the LoRa network, which enables us to use a different channel from the common ones, with the advantage of operating in the same way as redundancy.

How does it work?

The temperature sensor enables us to monitor temperature variations inside the server room, which is crucial to prevent overheating. The humidity sensor, meanwhile, detects humidity levels to prevent the risk of corrosion or condensation. We've also integrated a presence sensor to detect if anyone is in the vicinity of the black box, ensuring enhanced security. Finally, the power supply sensor monitors the presence of the power supply to react quickly in the event of a power cut.

To transmit this data efficiently, we chose to use the LoRa network. This long-range wireless network uses a different channel from the common ones, offering greater redundancy and reliability. What's more, it operates autonomously, which means it doesn't require a constant Internet connection.

Once collected, sensor data is sent remotely to a NodeRed server. This tool enables us to set up a dashboard with a customized visual.

A database is also deployed to collect detailed logs to store and analyze sensor feedback. The NodeRed server can then record and report abnormal behavior. This provides access to a detailed history of events that can be analyzed at a later date.

How we worked ?

To realize this project, we developed in Arduino language the different ways to collect the information sent back to us by the sensors.

It's worth mentioning that we didn't have a power supply sensor, so we used a simple USB cable which we cut and then soldered, following the datasheet available on the Internet, to adapt it to the connection on the Leonardo board. After checking that it worked properly via osiloscope, we implemented its use.

Several container tests were carried out to integrate the hardware. The very first prototype was made of cardboard, giving us an idea of what we were going to do.

We then modified a wooden box model to our liking, using laser cutting. Because of a few irregularities, we had to fine-tune it with a wood file and a drill.

Finally, for lack of time and budget, we had planned to add a shield to the Arduino Leonardo to get rid of the bulky sensor connectors.

To conclude, we search points to upgrade the project. We could use XBee or Sigfox wireless connectivity. A possibility to reactivate the equipment connected via the User Interface.

Code

#include <MKRWAN.h>
#include <string.h>

LoRaModem modem;

#define appEui "0000000007051998"
#define appKey "746053A507C5FAF7FCC2FA2F34B872C7"

const byte numChars = 32;
char receivedChars[numChars];   // an array to store the received data

boolean newData = false;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial1.begin(9600);

  if (!modem.begin(EU868))
  {
    Serial.println("Failed to start module");
    while (1) {}
  }

  int connected = modem.joinOTAA(appEui, appKey);

  if (!connected) {
    Serial.println("Something went wrong; are you indoor? Move near a window and retry");
    while (1) {Serial.println("join error");}
  }

  modem.minPollInterval(60);
  //delay(20000);
}

void loop() {
  static byte ndx =0;
    //Serial.println("Nouveau message");
    ndx=recvWithEndMarker();
    //Serial.println("Nouveau message");

  
    if (newData == true) {
        Serial.println(receivedChars);
        newData = false;
    }
    if (ndx == 0) {
      
    }else{
      sendToTTN();
    }
    
    
    //si j'ai des trucs  envoyer
    
    delay(60000);
}

void sendToTTN() {
  int err;


  /*receivedChars[0]=61;  
  receivedChars[1]=62;
  receivedChars[2]=63;
  receivedChars[3]='\0';
  Serial.println(receivedChars);*/
  
  modem.beginPacket();
  modem.print(receivedChars);

  err = modem.endPacket(true);

  if (err > 0) 
  {
    Serial.println("Message sent correctly!");
  } else {
    Serial.println("Error sending message :(");
    Serial.println("(you may send a limited amount of messages per minute, depending on the signal strength");
    Serial.println("it may vary from 1 message every couple of seconds to 1 message every minute)");
  }

}

static byte recvWithEndMarker() {
    static byte ndx = 0;
    char endMarker = '\n';
    char rc;

    ndx = 0;
    while (Serial1.available() > 0 && newData == false) {
        rc = Serial1.read();

        if (rc != endMarker) {
            receivedChars[ndx] = rc;
            ndx++;
            if (ndx >= numChars) {
                ndx = numChars - 1;
            }
        }
        else {
            receivedChars[ndx] = '\0'; // terminate the string
            //ndx = 0;
            newData = true;
        }
    }
    return ndx;
}

#include <Ethernet.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

#include "DHT.h"

#define DHTPIN A3
#define DHTTYPE DHT11

#define PEOPLESENSOR 3

DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);

byte sensorPin = 3;
byte indicator = 13;
byte usbpin = 5;
byte mac [6] = {0xA8,0x61, 0x0A, 0xAE, 0x94, 0x9B};

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial1.begin(9600);
  dht.begin();
  
  pinMode(sensorPin,INPUT);
  pinMode(usbpin,INPUT);
  pinMode(indicator,OUTPUT); 
}

void loop()
{
  String msg;

  byte state = digitalRead(sensorPin);
  byte onoff = analogRead(usbpin);

  byte ethernet;
  
  byte temp = dht.readTemperature();
  byte hum = dht.readHumidity();

   /*if(!Ethernet.begin(mac)) 
   {
    ethernet = 0;
   }else{
    ethernet = 1;
   }*/

  //ltoa(temp, tempmsg, 16);
  
  msg.concat(temp);
  msg.concat(";");
  msg.concat(hum);
  msg.concat(";");
  msg.concat(state);
  msg.concat(";");
  msg.concat(onoff);
  msg.concat(";");
  msg.concat(ethernet);

  Serial.println(msg);
  Serial1.println(msg); 
  delay(61000);
}

The Black Box

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Schematics

Diagram of Black Box operating system

Code

ConnectLoRa.ino

InterpretDonnees.ino

Credits

tdutois

Nicolas DAILLY

acastro

fcaron

Comments

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The Black Box

The Black Box

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Schematics

Diagram of Black Box operating system

Code

ConnectLoRa.ino

InterpretDonnees.ino

Credits

tdutois

Nicolas DAILLY

acastro

fcaron

Comments

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