Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

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saarahs
 
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Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

Post by saarahs »

Hi! I've been looking at both your XBee and CC3000 wifi products, and am not sure which one will be best for the project I have in mind.
I want a neopixel ring indoors that will change color depending on the information it receives from a temperature sensor outside. I've looked at some tutorials regarding temperature sensors and uploading the data to a website--how would I go about using the data to change the color?
I'm fairly new at this, so any help would be appreciated!

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

That's one of those situations where the answer is 10% technique and 90% personal taste.

Setting a pixel's color is pretty straightforward:

Code: Select all

    strip.setPixelColor( pixelNumber, red, green, blue );
Deciding what color to use is the part with no fixed rules.

We have a whole slew of NeoPixel projects over in the Learning System you can use for inspiration, but this one seems closest to what you're doing:
https://learn.adafruit.com/diy-flir-lig ... hotography

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saarahs
 
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Re: Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

Post by saarahs »

Thanks for the quick reply! This method seems pretty similar to the way I used photocell sensors in my previous project.
Regarding my first question, what would be the best way to get the temperature data from the sensor which would be outside the house, to the arduino inside the house?

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Re: Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

For what you're doing, an XBee would probably be the simplest choice.

All wifi modules need a microcontroller to handle the actual data transmission. The CC3000 needs to be connected to something like an Arduino, but the XBee has a microcontroller built in. That makes it a good connection port for remote sensors.

A couple of series-1 XBees can connect directly to each other without needing a webpage or central control device, and will act like just like a wired connection without the wire.

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saarahs
 
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Re: Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

Post by saarahs »

So would I still need an Arduino to power the neopixel rings? And if so, how do I connect the XBee to the Arduino?
Thanks!

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

You would need an Arduino to run the NeoPixels, yes.

WRT connecting an XBee to an Arduino, there are lots of options. Each XBee has a wireless Serial connection tied to its radio on one side and its IO pins on the other side. You can simply connect the IO pins to an Arduino's Serial pins and communicate over the radio link to another XBee.

XBees also have other pins that are held in sync on both sides of the radio link. If your Arduino sets pin-1 on XBee-1 HIGH, the pin-1 on XBee-2 will also go HIGH. You can use that to bit-bang control signals for devices that communicate digitally. Xbees also have built-in ADCs which can be read across the wireless link, so hooking up an analog temperature sensor like the TMP36 would be easy:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/165

For complete information about using XBees, this is a good reference:

https://www.adafruit.com/products/963

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saarahs
 
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Re: Remote Temperature Sensor controlling Neopixels

Post by saarahs »

Thanks for your help! :)

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