home automation News - Page 4 of 5 - CNX Software

August 5, 2022August 8, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Sonoff ZBDongle-E Zigbee 3.0 USB dongle features EFR32MG21 MCU with +20dBm radio

ITEAD has just released a new “ZBDongle-E” Zigbee 3.0 USB adapter with Silicon Labs Mighty Gecko EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller with a +20dBm radio for extended range. The new dongle is an alternative to the popular Texas Instruments CC2652P-based Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus, also known as “ZBDongle-P”, with a more compact design, and many of the same features. Sonoff ZBDongle-E specifications: Wireless MCU – Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 multiprotocol wireless MCU @ 80 MHz with 64KB RAM, 768KB flash, +20 dBm 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee 3.0 and Thread support, and as well as a Bluetooth 5.1 Low Energy radio Connectivity – Zigbee 3.0 with SMA antenna connector, +20 dBm output power Host interface – USB port with CH9102F USB to TTL chip Expansion – 7-pin IO header with programming pins Misc – Boot and reset buttons, Zigbee LED, Power LED Power Supply – 5V/100mA via USB port, […]

February 25, 2022February 25, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Dragino LDS02 LoRaWAN door and window sensor offers long range and battery life

Dragino LDS02 LoRaWAN door & window sensor

Home automation usually relies on short-range wireless standards such as Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, or WiFi, sometimes with the help of repeaters for larger houses. But if you need to monitor large houses, several houses on a piece of land, or apartments, you’d be glad that you can also do so, at least for doors and windows, with LoRaWAN using Dragino LDS02 sensor. The LDS02 sensor will work like your typical wireless door/window sensor, detection when those are opened and closed, and for how long, but will offer a much longer range of up to 2km in urban settings, as well as battery life meaning it could last for years depending on the frequency of door/window events, as well as uplink frequency configuration. Dragino LDS02 LoRaWAN door sensor specifications: Based on SX1262 LoRa transceiver LoRaWAN v1.0.3 Class A Bands – CN470, EU433, KR920, US915, EU868, AS923, AU915, IN865 Door Open/Close detection […]

October 12, 2021August 26, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

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

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 […]

May 12, 2021May 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

The Zigbee Alliance renames to the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), Project CHIP becomes “Matter”

connectivity-standards association matter

The Zigbee Alliance is/was an organization of hundreds of companies creating, maintaining, and delivering open standards for Zigbee… and other Internet of Things (IoT) standards including Smart Energy, Green Power, JupiterMesh, rf4ce, Dotdot, etc… Since the organization does not reflect its involvement beyond Zigbee, the name has just been changed to the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), and while they were at it they also rebranded “Project CHIP” (Connected Home over IP) to “Matter”, maybe because “connectivity standards matter!” 😉 There’s also a new website csa-iot.org but it may not have complete information just yet, and they invite you to access the Full website (https://zigbeealliance.org/about/) for extra details. Nothing much has changed here besides the name. But there’s more to report about Matter. A dedicated website has launched for the new standard, although the code remains under the Project Chip GitHub account at this time. What’s more interesting is that formal […]

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021 by Abhishek Jadhav - 3 Comments

Open-source VSCP IoT/M2M automation framework supports Arduino, Raspberry Pi

VSCP (Very Simple Control Protocol) is an open-source IoT framework that works on development boards like Arduino or Raspberry Pi, and lets you control IoT home automation tasks. The framework is highly scalable, has a very low footprint, and as such is specially designed for resource-limited devices. VSCP is an open-source standard protocol for m2m, IoT and other remote control and measurement applications. It enables simple, low-cost devices to be networked together with high-end computers and/or to work as an autonomous system, whatever the communication media is. The VSCP Protocol has two levels: Level 1 and Level 2. The protocol was primarily used in CAN networks (that is Level 1 for tiny microcontrollers) because CAN is cheap and reliable with high efficiency. However, VSCP can be used for faster transport layers such as TCP/IP, so here comes Level 2 which achieves better performance. We have already seen Souliss, an open-source […]

July 2, 2019July 2, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Sonoff MINI & R3 Smart Switches Support a DIY REST API

ITEAD Studio’s Sonoff are low-cost wireless switches based on ESP8622/ESP8285 WiSoC, and supporting WiFi and/or 433 MHz connectivity. They usually come with a firmware that allows users to control them with eWelink app for Android or iOS. But many people will install alternative open source firmware such as Sonoff-Tasmota or ESPurna to get more flexibility such as the ability to use MQTT. But the company’s latest models, including Sonoff MINI and R3 series, implement a “DIY” REST API that allows you to control the device, or flash the firmware over a LAN connection. Sonoff MINI two-way Smart Switch Sonoff MINI is designed to be installed behind existing wall-mounted light-switches and wall-mounted power-sockets. Specifications: Terminal blocks with 6x inputs/outputs: N/L Inputs – AC 100-240V 50/60Hz 10A Max N/L Outputs – AC 100-240V 50/60Hz 10A Max S1/S2 – Designed to optionally connect a standard on/off switch Connectivity – Wi-Fi 4 – 802.11 […]

June 3, 2018June 5, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Sonoff S26 Smart Socket Mini Review & Teardown

ITEAD Studio very recently launched their Sonoff S26 WiFi Smart plug as a more compact and cost effective upgrade to their Sonoff S20 smart sockets, and which comes in 6 different versions for China, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe type F for Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Eastern Europe, and Europe type E for France, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Tunisia and Morocco. You can find the one that suits you most on World Standard website. I was interested in getting the device, mostly to check the hardware design, so the company sent me one sample to try out. Sonoff S26 Unboxing Sonoff S26 comes is a white package with Sonoff branding. I received the US type plug (S26B model) which includes a ground pin on both side, so it’s not suitable for most sockets here in Thailand that do not […]

May 24, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ESP8266 based ANAVI Light Controller can be Programmed with Home Assistant or the Arduino IDE (Crowdfunding)

ANAVI Technology previously launched a Light pHAT allowing for RGB Light strip connection to Raspberry Pi boards, and during my review of ANAVI Light pHAT with Raspberry Pi 2, it did the job, but if that’s all you want to do, the Raspberry Pi board is clearly oversized & overpowered for the job. So Leon ANAVI got back to the drawing board and designed a similar open source hardware board – called ANAVI Light Controller – with an built-in ESP8266 module that removes the need for a fully fledged Linux board. ANAVI Light Controller specifications: Wireless Module – ESP8266MOD module based on ESP8266 Tensilica L106 32-bit processor Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n Expansion Terminal block for 12 V RGB LED strip 3x I2C headers for sensors Debugging – UART header Misc – Button Power Supply – 12 V via power barrel jack Dimensions – 75 mm x 40 mm Certification […]