Tinkering; Like Guntering for the Connected Generation.

patsy_mccabe · 14-06-2021 4:42pm

On the subject of writing code, this is something I did to download all the information from www.ICBF.com for each animal I have here.

Up to this, I was just manually doing it for all the figures. As these figures now change every 3 months, I set about trying to do it automatically.
Now, normally with MS Excel you can extract table value from a website, but with some websites those tables are not accessible. This is the case with ICBF.com.

I used a webscraping technique by using Selenium software and VBA code within MS Excel. Excel normally will only open a website using MS Explorer. With Selenium, MS Edge and Chrome webrowsers can be used.

Anyway, it took some time to do, as I'm only a novice with coding. I even managed to download the percentile values locating within the HTML coding for the different Linear Values. These pop up when you hover over the bar graphs, under the Linear tab.

So now, I open the Excel file, run the macro from a pushbutton and all the websites open and close automatically, transferring all the data to the Excel file. I do it for a list of bulls too.

These Tutorials from WiseOwl were of great help to me;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoxWcvZzYVk&t=290s

Zimmerframe · 15-06-2021 10:02pm

I saw it mentioned in the thread earlier, but did anyone come across a cheap and cheerful, fence monitor.
similar to this one:

https://fenceguard.net/#technische-daten

or

https://store.jva-fence.com.au/products/pte0705

emaherx · 15-06-2021 10:11pm

Zimmerframe wrote: »

I saw it mentioned in the thread earlier, but did anyone come across a cheap and cheerful, fence monitor.
similar to this one:

https://fenceguard.net/#technische-daten

or

https://store.jva-fence.com.au/products/pte0705

Working on it......
Your second link is essentially what I'm looking to build myself.

Zimmerframe · 15-06-2021 10:26pm

emaherx wrote: »

Your second link is essentially what I'm looking to build myself.

Good luck with it.

That one looks good, especially the analog output.

emaherx · 20-06-2021 7:26am

Some interesting reading for anyone interested in building an electric fence tester. https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10179/1161/02whole.pdf

I also came across this, which is probably the closest to what I want to build. https://github.com/kiu/lofence , Its LoRa WAN based using The Things Network. I've experimented in the past with The Things Network, its free to use but you need to either deploy a TTN Gateway or be near someone who already has, so I'll adapt this project to my existing MySensors network instead.

They have provided detailed Schematics too, https://github.com/kiu/lofence/blob/master/rev_b/hardware/kicad_lofence_schema.pdf
But I only need to look at a small portion of it.

The top circuit is just a voltage divider using a series of Resistors, this is very similar to how the cheap Neon bulb type testers work.

The other 2 circuits will take the output from the voltage divider circuit and process them into signals readable by a microcontroller. I can take their output and connect directly to one of my existing sensor nodes.

emaherx · 22-07-2021 8:24pm

I've sourced a few parts to experiment with the electric fence monitoring, but finding the time is the issue at the moment.

Most of what I do here is pure messing mostly for my own entertainment and education, but I'm really happy with 2 things that I built this year.

Is the solar well pump, it is performing much better than expected and cost under €400 and has probably already saved more than that in fuel and water costs alone, but it has been a big time saver too.
Is the monitoring setup for the same pump, especially in this very hot weather, it gives me piece of mind that the pump is providing enough water while I'm away at work and also saves me hiking up to the far end of the out farm to check it every evening. The walk wouldn't bother me normally but I'm glad to avoid it in this heat.

Interesting too to see the difference between water use this week compared with beginning of June

June 11th

This Week.

emaherx · 22-07-2021 10:14pm

Water has been getting very hot this week from my solar panels.

JustJoe7240 · 22-07-2021 10:18pm

Some fantastic posting here folks!

funkey_monkey · 25-08-2021 9:27pm

Not sure if this is correct thread, but I've some lights to put on tanker, 48W in total. So in theory should draw 4A from the 12V battery. Packaging states 1.4A draw for each unit.

I was planning on wiring into the smaller pin on the Cobo plug circuit. The wiring is rated at 25A. It would still draw 4A not be as close t its limit. The larger pins are direct from battery which is 30A. I've heard varying report on what the small pin provides - 5A and 10A, but switched from ignition. Is it's output an industry standard or manufacturer dependent?

Am I correct in stating it should be wired using the switched live from pin 82, brother said larger pins - 30A direct circuit? -ve is pin 32 and common to both. Pin 15/30 is the 30 +ve direct from battery. Is this standard wiring?

emaherx · 26-08-2021 10:18am

Not sure there is a strict standard.

I presume it's DIN-9680 plug you have?

Usually small pin is either connected to ignition or left disconnected. I've looked at a few data sheets before and Amperage varies by manufacturer.

Usually 25A/5A or 30A/10A and using the small pin may reduce the max amperage on the large +ve pin as they share a common earth.

funkey_monkey · 26-08-2021 11:38am

Yes - I know them as a Cobo plug or a D plug.

Not really sure it matters which pairing I use as it will be drawing less than 5V and it will be switched. Just wondered if there was a preference to use.

funkey_monkey · 26-08-2021 2:26pm

Manual states 5A/25A so I think I'll go on the 25A circuit.

emaherx · 26-08-2021 2:28pm

Don't think it will really matter.

But the way I like to do it is the small pin coming from the ignition with a switch between. This allows aux lights or beacons to switch on off with tractor with option to turn off aux lights for road use. Then large positive to always live 25/30A source for implements.

funkey_monkey · 26-08-2021 11:11pm

I've sourced an inline waterproof switch like what you get on a bedside lamp for turning it on/off yet still keeping it connected to the Cobo socket. Its a 10A rated switched, so I should be putting it on the 5A switched circuit - any current spike should hopefully not exceed the 5A rating - and if it does that's what the fuse is for.

emaherx · 20-09-2021 8:43pm

Latest Version of my Remote IOT Gateway https://farmer-eds-shed.com/remote-3g-4g-mysensors-lora-gateway-v2-with-iot-sim/

I now have 2 IOT Gateways running from solar panels on 2 different out farms, still only monitoring water levels, but they have been very stable now for weeks. After experimenting with a number of different USB 3G modems I finally gave in and bought a couple of 4G modem Hats designed specifically for the Raspberry Pi Zero and long term use.

One of them has a LoRa radio Module which is good for long range communications with the sensor nodes.

The other has an NRF24 radio Module which is shorter range, but I had some sensor nodes built previously and a spare radio module.

emaherx · 20-09-2021 9:19pm

Although so far I've been mostly using this to monitor water levels, I'm also working on a few other sensors and actuators.

Potential Out Farm sensors:

Solar Battery Monitor.

Electric Fence Monitor.

Electric fence switch.

Livestock GPS monitor.

Livestock Health Monitor.

I'd be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this and like to hear more suggestions.

I also have a few others around the yard and garden like:

Green house Irrigation control.

soil moisture sensors.

fuel levels.

temperature liquid/air.

humidity

emaherx · 21-09-2021 9:20am

The IOT sims from 1nce are working out really well too, data usage is low and they give you your own private address range with VPN access for your server which makes network access fairly straightforward. And the overheads of keeping the VPN going don't count against data usage.

funkey_monkey · 21-09-2021 9:47am

How will your livestock GPS & Health monitors work?

emaherx · 21-09-2021 1:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117918378#Comment_117918378

I haven't any detailed plan yet but.....

I now have an almost farm wide sensor network so just need to work on some sensors.

The monitors will work in much the same way as commercially available devices, with Heart rate and temperature sensors.

A microcontroller fitted with sensors and GPS module will periodically collect data and send to one of my IOT gateways then sleep for a defined amount of time.

There will need to be a good bit of experimentation to see how low powered and how short sleep intervals can be achieved for practical battery usage. I currently have Arduino powered room temperature sensors in my heating system that run on 3 AAA batteries which last 18 months+ between battery changes, they send room temp every 3 min, obviously the GPS would require more power than a temperature sensor but with longer sleep times and a bigger battery hopefully a practical amount of time can be achieved.

Another use could be for sheep worrying, microcontroller could alert you if sheep were very active with high heart rate, only a few sheep in flock would need collars.

Livestock monitors might not be the very top of the list, but are an example of what can be achieved.

I'm trying to build a completely open source affordable and scalable sensor network that can be used in every aspect of farming, that doesn't require subscriptions to several different cloud services.

another few things I thought of.

Bale counters for baler and wrappers, with total season count and crop type.

yield monitors.

Sprayer, slurry, FYM, fertilizer recording including fields and amounts spread.

Gas Monitors, Hydrogen Sulphide, methane, carbon monoxide etc.

27-09-2021 7:37pm

Lemming-like I've jumped back into the LoRaWAN YT videos. I figure I'll need a LoRaWAN gateway to monitor and control devices as I may not be at home to do so. I'd like to convert the batt-latch type gates I made into fence lifters with a LoRa node built in to each. I've already bought a 4g PT battery powered camera to monitor paddock moves so it's belt & braces time. Being able to monitor fencer battery, fence status, and water would be dead handy. I'll get to that automatic water pump yet...

emaherx · 27-09-2021 8:37pm

Are you looking for an off the shelf gateway or going the DIY route?

I've been getting on well with the MySensors.org DIY Gateways, but I've also dabbled with TheThingsNetwork.

There are also LoraWAN providers like Sigfox which don't require gateways but will have a small subscription per node.

Also if Someone else has implemented TheThingsNetwork Gateway in your area then you can use it either.

27-09-2021 8:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117947152#Comment_117947152

I think I'd prefer DIY, though it'll be the hardest. I don't fancy spending a lot on off the shelf or subs. I'll check out mysensors 👍️ I doubt there'll be another gateway near to where I'll be putting sensors tbh

emaherx · 27-09-2021 9:21pm

Not necessarily the hardest option at all, with loads of information available online. You are more than welcome to copy any of my project.

The hardware is simple enough. The software is not too bad either, bit of a learning curve but once you get going its mostly cut and paste from the examples. Just start off with one node and a gateway and work from there.

27-09-2021 9:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117947331#Comment_117947331

Thanks for that 👍️ That's kinda the plan alright, learn to crawl before doing any marathons. It's pretty cool what this gear can achieve, save a lot of walking.

emaherx · 27-09-2021 9:54pm

Ye, with using the solar water pumps it has really given peace of mind and I can even see problems before they are really problems. About mid summer one of the pumps had stopped working due to water level dropping and submersible pump was just sucking air, but IBC kept the cattle with water and the app alerted me to the issue. Last week I had another issue that showed up with the IBC level dropping a little lower than normal and taking much longer to fill, I received no alert but looking at the graph there was definitely something not right, turned out battery needed a top-up. Could probably do with a slightly bigger panel for this time of year but one battery top up since March is not bad either.

emaherx · 28-09-2021 9:28am

This one is perfect for a Serial or WiFi MySensors Gateway. I've also used it as a TheThingsNetwork gateway too, but it was less than ideal for that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SX1276-dual-core-Bluetooth-Development-Arduino/dp/B078M74NNN/ref%3Dsr_1_23?dchild=1&keywords=SX1276&qid=1632813090&qsid=261-3512200-1327220&s=computers&sr=1-23&sres=B07SMZPNR7%2CB07HF1V2G8%2CB07QWSZFZV%2CB07QXPYGVJ%2CB094R35MST%2CB09B1GLR7N%2CB07P7PLP9G%2CB08TRWLLRG%2CB08TRW7NH6%2CB09B1FKJW8%2CB07R4W1M2Q%2CB08PF96NFK%2CB07HD1CRPD%2CB09CMH7VKC%2CB09CMGZ72X%2CB098JS7K6P%2CB078M74NNN%2CB08SJ83H8R%2CB07P6KKYW3%2CB09D3W6YG4

These make great nodes for testing purposes or where there is reliable power source like solar. For purely battery powered nodes you'd be better off modifying an Arduino mini pro and attaching a radio module.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stemedu-Arduino-ATmega328P-3-7-12V-Antenna/dp/B07SMZPNR7/ref%3Dsr_1_10?adgrpid=57720820465&dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw-sqKBhBjEiwAVaQ9aybmXiRZkC_yX7BUvY1kgQPr24Qh-pRbwc06yX_V0tsnuRLmG64eKhoCZPsQAvD_BwE&hvadid=291386737600&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=20487&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=13280814031687235036&hvtargid=kwd-297166300482&hydadcr=8431_1723639&keywords=lora+module&qid=1632817093&qsid=261-3512200-1327220&sr=8-10&sres=B07GQQ5Q4W%2CB083J87CB8%2CB08B1G5THB%2CB08GPX1TF8%2CB084NWDFH1%2CB08P39TL45%2CB07SMZPNR7%2CB07X33BFGG%2CB08T984WCT%2CB089M41KC5%2CB07SFVQ3Z8%2CB079DKVTBJ%2CB09FDW9XBH%2CB078M74NNN%2CB09FHPWS2R%2CB07RXWJPNL

You also need one of these to program the stemedu and other Arduino devices without USB ports.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DSD-TECH-adapter-FT232RL-Compatible/dp/B07BBPX8B8/ref%3Dsr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=ftdi+3.3v+programmer&qid=1632817399&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyU1FaSk1GUEZGVkZZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzY3NjcwT1I0QTNRMEs0TE5EJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA1NjE3NjAyRENSUFlFSThPMkowJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Other than that you only need a 3.7V battery and some simple sensors and dupont cables.

Then for a controller, I use Home Assistant but there are many other options, it can be installed on an old laptop/PC raspberry pi or even just in a virtual machine.

tilting tim · 11-10-2021 11:26pm

Hi all, great thread, some very interesting projects and ideas here.

just done my first bit of monitoring on farm, installed 2 Shelly em’s to track the electricity usage on farm. Currently have both set up, one doing the mains and vacuum pump and the other doing the bulk tank and hot water heater. Hoping to invest in some energy saving devices in the next year or two but wanted to see where I would benefit the most.

Also have a new parlour going in soon so should be interesting to see the difference between variable speed vacuum pump and normal one.

Timmaay · 13-10-2021 3:06pm

I'm trying to put a pto shut off switch on the mudguard of the mf here for slurry etc, I thought it would be a simple job of wiring a break into the switch in the cab, however I need a switch that breaks the circuit, and this switch holds the break in the circuit until you want to turn on front the cab again. I thought there is a certain time of button switch that does that job, but can't remember the name. Anyone able to help me. Obviously what I absolutely do not want is the PTO randomly turning on after I've hit that outside switch tho hahah.

emaherx · 13-10-2021 4:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118014639#Comment_118014639

How dose your current in cab switch work?

Dose it latch on/off or is it a momentary push button?

A momentary push button can be wired in parallel and latching by 2 way switching but that would give you full on/off capabilities from inside and outside the cab.

If the PTO works by a normal on/off switch latching high then replace that one with one that latches high using a self powered relay (a relay that powers its own coil) with 2 reset buttons, one in cab and one on mudguard. You'd end up with 2 push buttons in cab for on/off and one on mudguard for off.

funkey_monkey · 13-10-2021 9:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118014639#Comment_118014639

The way our tractor works is by having an override switch in the cab - so when you vacate the seat the sensor turns off the PTO. To circumvent this you hold down a switch for ~5sec and it latches on to permit the switch on mudguard to engage/disengage the PTO. If you sit on seat again then the override is deactivated.

Could you put a SPDT (single pole double throw) switch in series with your main PTO switch. This will be in the cab as the override confirmation and then place a SPST (single pole single throw) switch on mudguard as the remote on/off. By trying to get it to switch off only you are potentially making this unnecessarily complicated.

The SPDT switch would allow selection between standard operation and an 'override' to allow the switch on the mudguard to come into effect - it can only be in either state - it shouldn't 'float' in a middle state. I would avoid anything fancy involving timers etc - KISS. If you do decide to go down this road make sure it is well insulated and has the correct IP ratings as a short could result in undemanded activation of the PTO with potentially deadly consequences.

PTO setup.jpg

Tinkering; Like Guntering for the Connected Generation.

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