Overview
Introduction
Step 1 : Button Hardware and autonomy
Step 2 : Nova 3G gateway
Step 3 : Open Z-wave alias OZW
Step 4 : Link Nova and Z-wave
Step 5 : Program your Z-UNO board
Step 6 : 3D design
Step 7 : Let's make it
Step 8 : conclusion

Published December 31, 2017 © GPL3+

Emergency Button with Z-wave - 3G Nova Gateway

One of the main problems for age people is keeping their balance. How can we make a cheap, reliable device with a minimum monthly payment ?

IntermediateFull instructions provided20 hours2,666

Emergency Button with Z-wave - 3G Nova Gateway

Things used in this project

Hardware components

SparkFun Ws2812 RGB LED

Z-uno board

Raspberry Pi Zero

Hologram Nova

Hologram Global IoT SIM Card

SparkFun 9DoF Sensor Stick

Z-wave dongle Z-stick GEN 2

lipo battery 200mA

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

OZW open z-wave

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D printer Ultimaker 2

Story

Overview

One of the main problems for elderly people is keeping their balance while walking. It is getting more and more difficult to move, and if they fall down it's very complicated to get back up. My family is calling my 98 years old grandmother every evening to check for this kind of problem. There are some emergency buttons that can help, but you often have an expensive monthly payment for the call center. In addition, most old age people don't like to wear some gray plastic technologies around their neck. So my question is : How can you make a cheap, reliable device which is easy to integrate but which is also discreet and which would cost them a minimum monthly payment?

I built a lot of IOT devices at home and for work, most gateways are using the Wifi internet box or the smartphone connectivity... But what if someone doesn't have any of those two? It is still very commun for age people !

Hologram NOVA is a perfect way to answer this question. It give a inexpensive way to upload the few necessary sensors datas. We can then choose how we receive the informations (mails, notifications, messages...). Moreover, information transfer is really fast so we can use it in time dependent application like an Emergency Button !

For the embedded part, I choose to use Z-wave. It is a great protocol for home automation so it will accelerate the development.

But Z-wave don't offer much affordable development board. At the beginning, I was hesitating to dismantle a NodOn button. Then I discovered Z-Uno, a programable Z-wave protocol using Arduino IDE. Perfect to build a small low energy device !

System diagram of the emergency button with Z-wave and Nova 3G

Introduction

Welcome to the build tutorial. You should find here all the informations you need to make, modify or adapt it at home. The code, 3D design and pictures are available on a GIT.

The first idea of the project is to build an emergency button. If I have time, I will also add a 9 DOF sensor to also detect if a person fall. This second part can be very tricky, even commercial products have trouble doing it... But it's interesting to open a bit more the project with more sensors ;)

Step 1 : Button Hardware and autonomy

This part is pretty simple. I didn't add a circuit to charge battery, it will depend on the autonomy of the system.

Schematic of the Z-wave button

The Z-uno board has some very interesting documentation. Here we can understand a lot about the powering options on page 30. And Here we have the actual characteristics of the different mode.

An important thing to notice : if we want to have some interresting durability on a small battery, we need to remove the R12 resistor (which is not really one, it's 0 ohm!).

With this condition, we can use FLiRS mode and have 70uA. BUT WE CAN T USE THE USB ANY MORE! See the forum here for more information.

With 70uA on a 200mA batterie, we should be able to have 4 months autonomy (a bit less with the other components of course...).

It's not to bad, but I will also check a combine sleep mode to be more efficient...

Step 2 : Nova 3G gateway

I saw a lot of advertising about Hologram Nova on the DIY community recently, so I decided to buy one. The device arrived very quickly and was easy to configure. Now let's try to link the API !

USB 3G Nova Hologram dongle

There is some very good tutorial to setup the environment. In here you have all the necessary informations to install the Hologram repository on a Raspberry Pi.

Once it's done, we can easily send some messages using Python. On the GIT repository of Hologram, we have some examples to send simple text messages.

We can also send datas to the webserver with simple command line. Here is my first "This is a Z-wave Emergency" on 3G !

Here is the online page. I just received my three test messages :

And if you want to track me, here is my latitude and longitude. It 's pretty accurate!

Localisation with Nova 3G

Step 3 : Open Z-wave alias OZW

Now we have the Nova environment running, let's install OZW. The repo is here.

The USB dongle from Aeotec has an embedded batterie. We can include devices on the network by just pressing the button when the USB isn't plugged.

Aeotec Z-stick GEN 5 (I made the project with a GEN 2, both should work the same)

Once OZW is installed and the Z-uno is paired with the stick, let's install OZW Control Panel from here to see if everything is working.

Capture of openzwave control panel

Write your dongle port PATH on device name and don't check USB box. It's not working.

Here we can see the USB aeotec dongle controller is recognized as node 1 and my Z-uno as node 2. Use add or remove device if the inclusion didn't work well. I also added a fibaro power switch as node 5.

Now the network is created, we need to install python-openzwave from the same repo :

"cd python-openzwave" then "sudo make install"

It takes a while on the Raspberry Pi. Once it's done, check your USB port with

'ls /dev/tty*"

You should have a ttyUSB0 if your are using a Aeotec Gen 2 like me. But other dongle can be ttyACM0.

Step 4 : Link Nova and Z-wave

Now, we have our two dongles working, we need to create a little program to link everything together

first copy the example sniffer program : "sudo cp examples/api_sniff examples/Gateway_Emergency_Nova-3G_Zwave.py"

And then "sudo nano examples/Gateway_Emergency_Nova-3G_Zwave.py" to modify it.

You are now in the nano editor of the python file. First modify if necessary the line "device="/dev/ttyUSB0" for your port. Then on "config_path" check if it's the right one. For me it was "../openzwave/config" and I had to modify it as "../open-zwave/config"

We also need to add "import subprocess" at the beginning

Last thing, we trigger the hologram command when the zwave button is pressed :

def louie_value_update(network, node,value):

print('Louie signal : Value update : {}.'.format(value))

print('Sending Emergency message on NOVA-3G')

print subprocess.check_output(['sudo','hologram','send',"ALERT!! Zwave Emergency Button ON"])

Add those lines to send the alert through NOVA

Now, ctrl X then Y and enter to save.

We start the program with "python examples/Gateway_Emergency_Nova-3G_Zwave.py"

Then press the Zwave button and you should receive your emergency message !

5 lines before the end, you can see the message sent through Nova

And of course the result :

The alert on hologram server

Step 5 : Program your Z-UNO board

Once you received your Z-UNO board, you can go to this website to start programming it. It works very good on my Mac, just be carrefull of two things :

I tried at first with the version 1.6.9 and it didn't work... Just download and install the old 1.6.5 version before starting!

When you press "Burn Bootloader" don't forget to select the "programmer" "Z-UNO programmer".

Then everything worked great. You have several exemples on "Files" "Exemples" "Z-uno". Which will simplify a lot the software development for this board.

Step 6 : 3D design

On the first version of this project, I was using an ESP8266 wifi board. It was a bit smaller, so I had to adapt my design.

Here is the new version made with Sketchup. The render don't look as good as SolidWorks, but the 3D printed result should be more or less the same :)

Overview of the design

Assembly video

If you are interested in designing in Sketchup with a Z-UNO board, I just made an "approximate" design. It's available on the GIT (File 3D_design/Z-UNO_design.skp). I didn't add the antenna, it's a bit annoying to set it on the exact position I need ^^

Sketchup home made design of Z-uno board

Here on the left is the the first emergency button design based on Solidworks with an ESP8266 chip. The Render looks great, too bad I don't have a licence any more... On the right is a little test of fusion 360 software. It looks really beautiful too, but I didn't had time to finish it.

SolidWorks design of the Emergency Button V1 based on a ESP8266 wifi board

Fusion 360 design. It's a great software, but I draw faster on Sketchup !

Step 7 : Let's make it !

Here are all the parts, now it's time to assemble everything together!

Emergency Button parts

The electronic was a bit messy on this first assembly :

I have only one Z-Uno to build my two projects (I also made a Magic Frame / Zwave project). So a part of the wires are not necessary like the UART and the external power supply...

The second reason is a little problem with the WS2812 LED. I don't know why I have to put two in series and then, the second one take the number 0. It can be a library problem, or maybe my electronic is a bit weak to control the LED directly (but throw one LED it works). A bit more work to do!

There is no part holding the enclosure top and bottom together. I need to improve this on the next version !

The bracelet is printed as one single element. This design is flexible enough to put it your wrist and still seems very solid (done many test, still not broken!). The best is to adapt it to the wrist of the person (mine are very small).

3D printed bracelet tests

And here is the final result, with all the electronic inside (including a 200mA battery). Under the black circle is the button and under the white circle the RGB LED. When you press the black button, the device send an emergency signal and start blinking red.

Integration finished !

Step 8 : conclusion

I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial. I was a bit short on time at the end of the project as it was a bit long to get all the necessary devices to have everything working together.

I really liked playing with Z-wave and Nova. I will continue to improve this tutorial, so I hope to see you soon !

Schematics

Code

Python code of the gateway Zwave / Nova 3G

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""
Modify by Jean Perardel to call Nova 3G command and run for one hour. 
Use while True to loop forever

This file is part of **python-openzwave** project https://github.com/OpenZWave/python-openzwave.
    :platform: Unix, Windows, MacOS X
    :sinopsis: openzwave wrapper

.. moduleauthor:: bibi21000 aka Sbastien GALLET <bibi21000@gmail.com>

License : GPL(v3)

**python-openzwave** is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

**python-openzwave** is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with python-openzwave. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses.

"""

import logging
import sys, os
import subprocess
#logging.getLogger('openzwave').addHandler(logging.NullHandler())
#logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
#logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

logger = logging.getLogger('openzwave')

import openzwave
from openzwave.node import ZWaveNode
from openzwave.value import ZWaveValue
from openzwave.scene import ZWaveScene
from openzwave.controller import ZWaveController
from openzwave.network import ZWaveNetwork
from openzwave.option import ZWaveOption
import time
from louie import dispatcher, All

device="/dev/ttyUSB0"
log="Debug"
sniff=3600.0

for arg in sys.argv:
    if arg.startswith("--device"):
        temp,device = arg.split("=")
    elif arg.startswith("--log"):
        temp,log = arg.split("=")
    elif arg.startswith("--sniff"):
        temp,sniff = arg.split("=")
        sniff = float(sniff)
    elif arg.startswith("--help"):
        print("help : ")
        print("  --device=/dev/yourdevice ")
        print("  --log=Info|Debug")

#Define some manager options
options = ZWaveOption(device, \
  config_path="../open-zwave/config", \
  user_path=".", cmd_line="")
options.set_log_file("OZW_Log.log")
options.set_append_log_file(False)
options.set_console_output(False)
options.set_save_log_level("Debug")
#options.set_save_log_level('Info')
options.set_logging(True)
options.lock()

def louie_network_started(network):
    print('//////////// ZWave network is started ////////////')
    print('Louie signal : OpenZWave network is started : homeid {:08x} - {} nodes were found.'.format(network.home_id, network.nodes_count))

def louie_network_resetted(network):
    print('Louie signal : OpenZWave network is resetted.')

def louie_network_ready(network):
    print('//////////// ZWave network is ready ////////////')
    print('Louie signal : ZWave network is ready : {} nodes were found.'.format(network.nodes_count))
    print('Louie signal : Controller : {}'.format(network.controller))
    dispatcher.connect(louie_node_update, ZWaveNetwork.SIGNAL_NODE)
    dispatcher.connect(louie_value_update, ZWaveNetwork.SIGNAL_VALUE)
    dispatcher.connect(louie_ctrl_message, ZWaveController.SIGNAL_CONTROLLER)

def louie_node_update(network, node):
    print('Louie signal : Node update : {}.'.format(node))

def louie_value_update(network, node, value):
    print('Louie signal : Value update : {}.'.format(value))
    print('Sending Emergency message on NOVA-3G')
    #command = 'sudo hologram send "ALERT !!! Emergency Button Zwave"'
    #command = 'mkdir yabadou'
    print subprocess.check_output(['sudo','hologram','send',"ALERT!! Zwave Emergency Button ON"])

def louie_ctrl_message(state, message, network, controller):
    print('Louie signal : Controller message : {}.'.format(message))

#Create a network object
network = ZWaveNetwork(options, log=None)

dispatcher.connect(louie_network_started, ZWaveNetwork.SIGNAL_NETWORK_STARTED)
dispatcher.connect(louie_network_resetted, ZWaveNetwork.SIGNAL_NETWORK_RESETTED)
dispatcher.connect(louie_network_ready, ZWaveNetwork.SIGNAL_NETWORK_READY)

print("------------------------------------------------------------")
print("Waiting for driver : ")
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
for i in range(0,300):
    if network.state>=network.STATE_STARTED:
        print(" done")
        break
    else:
        sys.stdout.write(".")
        sys.stdout.flush()
        time.sleep(1.0)
if network.state<network.STATE_STARTED:
    print(".")
    print("Can't initialise driver! Look at the logs in OZW_Log.log")
    quit(1)
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
print("Use openzwave library : {}".format(network.controller.ozw_library_version))
print("Use python library : {}".format(network.controller.python_library_version))
print("Use ZWave library : {}".format(network.controller.library_description))
print("Network home id : {}".format(network.home_id_str))
print("Controller node id : {}".format(network.controller.node.node_id))
print("Controller node version : {}".format(network.controller.node.version))
print("Nodes in network : {}".format(network.nodes_count))
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
print("Waiting for network to become ready : ")
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
for i in range(0,300):
    if network.state>=network.STATE_READY:
        print(" done")
        break
    else:
        sys.stdout.write(".")
        #sys.stdout.write(network.state_str)
        #sys.stdout.write("(")
        #sys.stdout.write(str(network.nodes_count))
        #sys.stdout.write(")")
        #sys.stdout.write(".")
        sys.stdout.flush()
        time.sleep(1.0)
if not network.is_ready:
    print(".")
    print("Can't start network! Look at the logs in OZW_Log.log")
    quit(2)

print("------------------------------------------------------------")
print("Controller capabilities : {}".format(network.controller.capabilities))
print("Controller node capabilities : {}".format(network.controller.node.capabilities))
print("Nodes in network : {}".format(network.nodes_count))
print("Driver statistics : {}".format(network.controller.stats))
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
#while True : 
time.sleep(sniff)

print("")
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
print("Driver statistics : {}".format(network.controller.stats))
print("------------------------------------------------------------")

print("")
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
print("Stop network")
print("------------------------------------------------------------")
network.stop()

Credits

Jean Perardel

5 projects • 7 followers

Born in the Alps, I love travelling, paragliding, trekking and, of course, designing projects. :) I am very happy to inspire people with my work!

Emergency Button with Z-wave - 3G Nova Gateway