TTT Microcontroller(s?)

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Re: TTT Microcontroller(s?)

Postby facethewolf » Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:07 pm

I am really enjoying this thread.

On the subject of reporting GPS location when stolen or just plain driven around:
Have you guys looked at cheap, low-bandwidth cellular modems designed for Arduinos and other homemade Internet of Things?
http://www.popsci.com/bring-cheap-cellular-internet-tiny-devices-sparks-electron
It's about $3/month.

In another vein, there are long range point-to-point radios for digital data available on unlicensed spectrum.
https://hackaday.io/project/17997-s1g-rf-sub-1ghz-radio-modules-915mhz-and-433mhz
This wouldn't require a monthly subscription, and theoretically you could contact your trailer anywhere in town, and ask it where it is.
http://www.aeronix.com/products/915Mhz
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12030
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Arduino long range radio

Postby facethewolf » Sun Jan 01, 2017 11:20 am

In my research on point-to-point low power, long range communication, I discovered a new tech called LoRa. It uses a special modulation of 915MHz (In AMerica) to transmit data for multiple miles. Adafruit sells a LoRa transceiver for Arduino for ~$10.
Waspmote sells a usb transceiver to connect to a laptop. Interestingly it's a lot more than $10. I don't know why.
https://www.cooking-hacks.com/waspmote-gateway-sx1272-lora-sma-4-5-dbi-900-mhz

But I also found that the waspmote platform offers a whole range of sensors like air quality and water quality sensors. They might come handy in a trailer's fresh water tank.
https://www.cooking-hacks.com/documentation/tutorials/waspmote
If you don't want to drill holes in the water tank, you can put the sensor in the outlet pipe.

On the subject of thievery, I would want a tiny hidden camera on the teardrop mounted high and facing forward to capture the license plate of the tow-vehicle. If I ping the Arduino from a distance, it could send me GPS coordinates and a picture.
THe Arduino would run off it's own 5-volt, solar recharged battery, in a hidden nook of the trailer
These are just a few ideas I've come up with.
Hope you like these ideas.
I'm excited to play around with this stuff.
Sincerely, Sean
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Re: TTT Microcontroller(s?)

Postby facethewolf » Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:51 pm

Put a Raspberry Pi or Arduino on the cellular network with Particle.IO
https://www.particle.io/products/development-tools/raspberry-pi-on-particle

Using C or C++ you can program a remote control interface for your Trailer and remotely access it from anywhere on the internet.
Using the Particle service is free for individual setups, what they call Prototype Development. They make their money when an IOT device company starts mass producing those products.
It's very appealing.
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Remote control Arduino via chat

Postby facethewolf » Tue Feb 07, 2017 1:29 pm

Announced at CES this year, a special simcard that works in 150 countries, costs $15/year, but only works for chat apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Telegram. It blocks all other data and voice. My first thought was "I wish this had come a LOOONG time ago when I went to Europe."
My second thought was that $15/yr might be perfect for communicating with an Arduino long distance via chat.

https://www.chatsim.com/applications
https://www.amazon.com/ChatSim-Unlimited-WhatsApp-Telegram-countries/dp/B014L8CD6A/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1486492055&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=chatsim&psc=1

Along with a standard Arduino, you can use a GSM/GPS shield
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2636

Rafael Specht da Silva wrote a tutorial for sending commands to the Arduino over Telegram and getting back responses.
https://medium.com/@rssilva/talking-with-arduino-using-telegram-and-javascript-d874a0b560cb#.fhjundxpw
Ideally, I'd want to be able to program a whole list of commands and responses: GPS location, Temperature--indoor and outdoor, battery status, daylight tracking, Take a picture of the tow vehicle. Turn on and off lights, etc.

It's also possible to do similar functionality with a Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi has a full Linux environment better for long-term tracking.
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Re: TTT Microcontroller(s?)

Postby capnTelescope » Sun Feb 12, 2017 9:48 pm

Great finds, Sean :thumbsup: :applause:
I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.

Brad
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