Documentation

Node Configuration

Configure serial nodes such as Arduino and ESP microcontrollers attached to the main controller.

Overview

Nodes are slave units attached via serial to the main controller that run on microcontrollers (Arduino, ESP32, and ESP8266). The nodes wait for configuration and commands from the main controller.

Nodes have five main configurations: name, address, type, controls, and sensors. You can find the address of attached serial devices with: ls /dev

JSON

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "Node 1",
      "address": "/dev/ttyUSB0",
      "type": "arduino",
      "sensors": [
        {
          "pin": 1,
          "type": "Soil",
          "name": "Garden_soil_moisture"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Settings

Option	Type	Required	Description
`name`	String	Yes	Friendly display name of the node.
`address`	String	Yes	Serial or IP address of the node connected to the Raspberry Pi.
`type`	String	Yes	Type of node to load the proper worker. Options: `arduino`, `ADC-MCP3008`
`sensors`	Array	No	Array of sensor configuration objects for sensors attached to the node.
`controls`	Array	No	Array of control configuration objects for controls attached to the node.
`relays`	Array	No	Array of relay configuration objects for relays attached to the node.
`use_wifi`	Boolean	No	Set to `true` for wireless connections and change `address` to a local IP.

Sensor Settings (Arduino)

Read more about sensor configurations here.

Option	Type	Required	Description
`type`	String	Yes	Options: `Soil`, `Rain`, `Float`, `Humidity`, `Temperature`
`pin`	Integer	Yes	GPIO pin number on the Arduino the sensor is connected to.
`name`	String	Yes	Name of the sensor. Slugged and used as the Redis key if a key is not specified.
`key`	String	No	Key to store value under in Redis. If not provided, the name is converted to lowercase with underscores.

Sensor Types (Arduino)

Arduinos have analog GPIO support providing access to a larger range of sensors.

Type	Returns	Description
Humidity	Object	DHT11/DHT22 temperature and humidity reading.
Rain	Integer	Analog reading of resistance across rain sensor to detect moisture level.
Soil	Integer	Analog reading of capacitive soil sensor to determine soil moisture.
Float	Boolean	0 or 1 digital read of liquid level. Prevents pump from running if marked critical and returns 0.
Temperature	Object	Temperature sensor running on Onewire bus. Onewire can be buggy with other sensors running.

Control Settings (Arduino)

Read more about control configurations here.

Option	Type	Required	Description
`type`	String	Yes	Options: `button`, `switch`, `potentiometer`
`pin`	Integer	Yes	GPIO pin number on the Arduino the control is connected to.
`name`	String	Yes	Name of the control. Slugged and used as the Redis key if a key is not specified.
`key`	String	No	Key to store value under in Redis. If not provided, the name is converted to lowercase with underscores.

Sensor Types (MCP3008)

The MCP3008 is an analog-to-digital converter chip that allows connecting analog signals to the Pi GPIO. This was a community-contributed feature.

Type	Returns	Description
Soil	Integer	Analog reading of capacitive soil sensor to determine soil moisture.

Relays (Arduino)

The relay configuration for nodes is identical to the general relay settings. See the relays page for more information.

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