I wanted to test whether I could literally just swap out the 328P-based Pro Mini for my Pro Mini XL, and even possibly the Pro Mini nRF52. In theory, this would enable a more repeatable like-for-like comparison when I later compared the different Pro Minis. ![]() So I decided to make a strip-board testbench instead with female headers for the microcontroller. Initially, I breadboarded everything in the usual way.Īnd of course, wires were sticking out everywhere like a rat’s nest.ĭebugging bad connections on the breadboard soon began to eat up precious time. So I dug out a breadboard, Pro Mini 328P clone and radio module and set to work. I wanted to see how easily I could replace the existing Pro Mini 328Ps and how much room I would have for anything (.or everything!) else. With only 32KB program memory, I ended up limiting myself to an SI7021 to monitor temperature and humidity.īut now I was revisiting the problem with my freshly minted Pro Mini XLs. However, using the Pro Mini 328P as the microcontroller for the LoRaWAN nodes had previously constrained the number of sensors I could comfortably hang off it. On large scale farming, you could get micro-climates specific to one area of a field that differ from another area - depending upon the geography and topology. You might also want some sort of location information from a GPS perhaps, to tie all that environment information to a specific area. all play a factor to a greater or lesser degree. Temperature, humidity, altitude, barometric pressure, wind speed, etc. In a perfect world you would monitor as much about the local environment as possible to help you predict when freezing might occur. That's because it might actually cost tens of thousands of dollars to do so.Įspecially in a state with severe drought like California. ![]() water sprinklers, etc.) when you’re almost positive a freeze is imminent. You can only resort to defensive measures (e.g. Your entire crop is gone - for another year! ![]() It can get so cold that it will freeze the fruit buds when they’re just starting to emerge… and then that’s it. The (Main) Problemįarmer "Dave’s" farm sits at over 4,000 feet up in the mountains, so it gets cold. So I was invited back to upgrade and reinstall a new one. Until one day a blaze of fire consumed one of the barns and almost all of the tech perched on top of it! (Thankfully, no one was injured and the fire was contained quickly.) So I set up a LoRaWAN system of solar/battery powered nodes and a gateway to provide the environment visibility Farmer "Dave" needed. ![]() Using a Raspberry Pi 2 and LoRa concentrator board for the gateway (more on that below!) and a nice supply of Pro Mini 328P clones with Hope RFM95 radio modules for the nodes, I was all set. Whilst I waited for the official development devices to arrive, I did what any impatient "Tech Tinkerer" would do. I soon discovered that I had just missed out on a Kickstarter campaign for The Things Network (back in 2016), but I pre-ordered myself a Gateway, Node and Uno anyway. Initial research into low-power, long range radio transceivers led me to LoRa and LoRaWAN. half an hour’s drive away from the main HQ. I began tinkering with all things LoRaWAN back in 2016 during a commercial farm monitoring project.įarmer "Dave" needed to monitor the temperature and humidity of a 120+ acre farm.īut it was approx. Hmmm, what else could I fit, I wonder.?! Gettng Started So I updated the pin-mappings, replaced the 328P for the XL, recompiled.Īnd now my existing Arduino sketch was only using 20% of the program memory ! Why not test the pin-compatible, drop-in replacement benefit of the Pro Mini XL?Įssentially, all I needed was more program memory and SRAM. Whilst trying to develop/debug a Pro Mini 328P-based low-power temperature/humidity sensor node on The Things Network over LoRaWAN, I’ve been reaching the 32KB program memory limit and 2KB dynamic memory (SRAM) limit.
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