Ok.....but exactly how 'Ultra-Low' power are we talking about
A real smart city solution (with many other use-cases!
How the platform works
Connecting the Sensor to mcMod120
mcDemo205
Installing into the bin
Programming the module to send information to Ubidots
Displaying the data in Ubidots dashboard
Thanks for reading

Published March 25, 2017 © GPL3+

Ultra Long-Life Smart IoT Recycling Bin

An ultra-low power, battery-operated recycling bin to showcase a perfect smart city IoT solution using mcThings, SIGFOX and Ubidots!

BeginnerFull instructions provided1 hour3,719

Things used in this project

Hardware components

mcThings mcModule120 Dev Kit

We recommend a kit for this example so that you have multiple modules to gather information from (Not required but you will need at least one mcModule, one mcGateway and an mcDongle)

mcThings mcMod120 Module

You'll need at least one mcModule120 for this project if you wish to use mcAir

mcThings mcGateway110

You'll need an mcGateway for this project

mcThings mcDongle

You'll need one of these to complete your firmware updates! Be sure to update your firmware to the latest versions before starting

mcThings mcDemo205

Used if you wish to work with the SIGFOX network

US100 Ultrasonic Sensor

http://www.yourduino.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=121

Hammond- plastic encosure

http://www.hammondmfg.com/scpg.htm

Software apps and online services

mcThings mcStudio

Ubidots

Sigfox

MQTT - Means of sending information to Ubidots

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)

Story

In this use-case, we put together a couple of impressively long-life ultrasonic distance sensors using the mcThings IoT hardware platform and then displayed the data in Ubidots, an awesome IoT cloud application! We're employing two different IoT communication networks (SIGFOX and mcAir) to relay the information to the cloud proving how easy it is to create feasible and realistic IoT solutions using mcThings.

Ok.....but exactly how 'Ultra-Low' power are we talking about?

Since we are using two different devices and two different networks, we'll have different battery life estimates:

Ultrasonic sensor attached to an mcMod120 powered by a 3V lithium coin cell:

@ Twice per day measurement and published via mcAir: 2.5+ years!

@ Measuring every 30 seconds and published via mcAir: 2+ Months!

Ultrasonic sensor attached to an mcDemo205 powered by 4 x AAA

@ Twice per day measurement sent over SIGFOX: 6+ Years!

@ Measuring every 10 minutes sent over SIGFOX: 3+ Months!

*Note - Learn more about mcAir in the platform section below. Above estimates do not take into account potential environmental temperatures that may affect battery life

A real smart city solution (with many other use-cases!)

Using either mcAir or SIGFOX, there are tons of feasible and truly realistic IoT solutions:

Smart City - Imagine smart Garbage/Recycling/Bin/Container levels relayed back to a city control/dispatch center to increase efficiencies with vehicle routing, statistics, etc

Large Facilities - Large facilities with hundreds of bins (like amusement parks, airports, hospitals, universities/colleges, etc)

Agriculture - Imagine smart water troughs/feed/silo bins for livestock for real-time alerts on levels, etc

Parking/Object detection - Imagine an easy to deploy object and distance sensor system for all sorts of different use-cases

Fun Stuff - how quickly are your tomato plants growing? how high your cat can jump? guess your height? etc?

How the platform works:

The mcThings platform includes 2 main components: mcModules and mcGateways. A powered and connected mcGateway creates the mcAir network (up to 200m range under optimal conditions) and bridges the information between the mcModules (within range) to and from the Internet. Using the IDE (mcStudio) and mcScript (ultra-low power programming language - a subset of VB.NET) allows you to wirelessly connect, debug and program modules with your customized scripts.

Note - You also require an mcDongle to complete firmware updates on the modules/devices and gateways! We recommend looking at the mcModule120 Dev kit which includes everything you need to get going!!

You can use mcAir and SIGFOX in tandem

Connecting the Sensor to mcMod120

PIN 0 to VCC, PIN 1 to Echo/Rx, PIN 2 to Trig/Tx, GND to GND

We then drilled some holes into an enclosure, inserted the device and closed it up!

mcDemo205

Using the pins on the mcDemo205, you can connect the sensor directly without soldering.. choose your own pins! We drilled two holes into the device enclosure and installed the sensor.

Installing into the bin:

Depending on the enclosure you use and what you want to measure, you could use many methods for install. In the below we slapped on some double-sided tape and boom, installation complete!

Easy installation!

Programming the module to send information to Ubidots

Ubidots has an impressive device repository which includes example projects and information on bringing information into the application. Check out the mcModule walk-through on Ubidots to get started.

We created a library for the US100 and then wrote a short program to send the distance (in mm) every 30 seconds and out to the Ubidots cloud. See full code and library at the bottom of this project.

mcDemo205 - Modify the project code to package the information for SIGFOX. Then, you will need to create a webhook from the SIGFOX backend to be consumed and displayed into the Ubidots Dashboard!

Displaying the data in Ubidots dashboard

Ubidots is incredibly simple to use. Ensure that you check out the walkthough for information on sending data.

Using the visualization widgets allow you to see the data in real-time! With long-term testing, we found that the sensor seems to be accurate to within +-5mm and can measure up to 3 meters away.

The recycling bin in the cover gif is almost exactly 1 meter deep (1000 mm) so we setup the gauges in the dashboard to visualize the data as well as a table with showing the last message information and a historical graph.

You can also use the simple alert setup to receive a notification based on your requirements. In the above, if the device measured a distance of 200mm/20cm or less, an email was sent. You could send the information out in multiple ways for different use-cases!

Thanks for reading!

We'd love to hear your ideas for other use-cases for this type of device! Please become a member of our hub here on Hackster to stay up-to-date with new projects! We've got plenty more to come.

Thanks!

Code

Define PinMode Pin4 As DigitalOutput Alias sensorPower

Class US100 
    
    Const UART_BAUDRATE As Integer = 9600
    Const DISTANCE_COMMAND As Byte = 0x55
    
    Private _uartDev As Uart
    Private _txPin As Pin
    Private _rxPin As Pin
    Private _buf As ListOfByte
    
    Public Sub New(tx As Pin, rx As Pin)
        Disable()
        _txPin = tx
        _rxPin = rx
        _buf = New ListOfByte()
    End Sub
    
    Public Function GetDistance() As Integer
        _uartDev = Uart.Create(UART_BAUDRATE, _txPin, _rxPin)
        _buf.Clear()
        Enable()
        Thread.Sleep(800000)
        _uartDev.Write(DISTANCE_COMMAND) 'Command to request distance
        If Not WaitForResponse() Then
            _uartDev.Close()
            Disable()
            Return Nothing
        Else
            _uartDev.Close()
            Disable()
            'calculate and return distance
            Return _buf(0) * 256 + _buf(1)
        End If
    End Function
    
    Private Function WaitForResponse() As Boolean
        Dim try As Integer = 3000
        While (try > 0)
            If _buf.Count>= 2 Then
                Return True
            End If
            try -= 1
            Thread.Sleep(1000)
        End While
        Return False
    End Function 
    
    Public Sub Receive()
        Dim chr As Integer = _uartDev.Read()
        While chr >= 0
            _buf.AddByte(chr.ToByte)
            chr = _uartDev.Read()
        End While
    End Sub
    
    Public Sub Enable()
        sensorPower = True
    End Sub
    
    Public Sub Disable()
        sensorPower = False
    End Sub
    
End Class

Class UbidotsUltrasonic
    
    Const DeviceLabel As String = "YOURDEVICENAME"
    Const topic As String = "/v1.6/devices/" + DeviceLabel
    
    Shared usSensor As US100
    
    Shared Event Boot()
        usSensor = New US100(Pin.Pin2, Pin.Pin1)
    End Event
    
    Shared Event DistanceMeasurement() RaiseEvent Every 30 Seconds
        ' Create distance JSON object
        
        Dim distance As Integer = usSensor.GetDistance()
        Dim payload As Json = New Json  
        payload.Add("mmDistance", distance) ' distance in mm
        
      
        'Remove in final design (only used for debug)
        Dim payloadString As String = payload.ToString()
        Dim stringlength As Integer = payloadString.Length()
        
        ' Publish to Ubidots
        
        Lplan.Publish(topic, payload.ToListOfByte)
        
        
        
    End Event
    
    Shared Event Uart0Receive()
        usSensor.Receive()
    End Event
    
End Class

Credits

mcThings

17 projects • 70 followers

Use mcThings to quickly & easily create, test and deploy IoT solutions for industrial, business/commercial and individual needs!

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Ultra Long-Life Smart IoT Recycling Bin