Welcome to the first instalment of Dive Into JeeNodes. This one is a bit lengthy, alas…

The purpose of these articles is to introduce you to the world of Physical Computing and Wireless Sensor Networks in an easy to follow way. We will create a low-cost setup to let you track the light level of some spot anywhere in your house and present this information on any computer, tablet, or mobile phone with access to your home network.

What

In more visual terms, this is what we’re aiming for, and what we need to to set up for it:

Don’t worry too much about the detailed diagram on the right – it’s just to give you an idea of the pieces involved. Here’s a quick rundown of the hardware which will be used:

• a remote wireless sensor node – which will be a JeeNode SMD
• the sensor – an LDR, which changes resistance depending on current light levels
• an USB BUB to load new code into the JeeNode
• a central wireless node to collect the measurement data – this will be a JeeLink
• a small Linux “bare board” computer – we’ll use a Raspberry Pi (with Raspbian)
• your existing local wired (and optionally wireless) network
• some cables, a USB power supply, batteries, and…
• your time, your attention, and your enthusiasm, of course!

In case you’re wondering: the Wireless Starter Pack includes much of the above.

None of this is set in stone. It’s possible to replace the Raspberry Pi with another board, or even run that part on your exsiting workstation, laptop, or server. You could use two JeeNodes, or replace the JN SMD + USB BUB by a JeeNode USB, or even create your own variations – but to limit the scope of this DIJN series, the above will be used here.

Note very specifically that you will not need to solder anything for this setup, although it’s very likely that you’ll be itching to do so once the basic system is working – because that’s how you can get more sensors and remote control features in there.

The final result will be something you can leave on, consuming a fraction of a normal PC’s or even laptop’s power – fully unattended, running a dedicated built-in webserver where everything gets configured and where the up-to-date light level “readings” will be available.

It might not sound like much… but don’t jump to conclusions just yet!

Why

This is a truly minimal setup. It ought to be possible to assemble this in say a weekend, even if you’ve never done any hardware or software development before. The total cost should remain well under €150, more or less evenly split between the two JeeNodes + sensor and the Raspberry Pi + power and cabling. It’s still a significant amount of money… for which you could also buy a game console, or go watch all the latest blockbuster movies in 3D.

So what’s the point?

Well, it might not look like much, but this little setup opens up a whole new world and offers access to a surprisingly broad range of state-of-the-art technologies:

• our world is being filled with sensors at an astonishing pace – just think of all the new “senses” mobile phones have acquired in the last couple of years
• wireless information exchange is becoming so ubiquitous, it’s not even funny anymore: we live in an always-connected age, and that trend is here to stay
• software, in the form of built-in intelligence, is everywhere – from the smallest ultra-low power microcontrollers, to tiny functionally-complete computers running Linux
• hardware is shrinking and spreading everywhere, and more and more based on self-contained extremely sophisticated low-cost electronic chips
• web technology is advancing faster than ever, covering everything from “big” desktops, to laptops, tablets, and mobile phones

With the DIJN setup presented here, everything just mentioned becomes something you can investigate, explore, tinker with, alter, extend, improve upon, or simply… learn from!

Whether you want to do this out of geek curiosity, for general self-education, to refresh knowledge from the past, to increase your job opportunities, to enhance specific skill sets in… take a deep breath: embedded or web software, microcontroller or Linux hardware, basic electronics, advanced chip capabilities, miniaturisation, ultra-low power design, system integration, wireless networking, communication protocols, C / C++ programming, JavaScript, shell scripting, Linux command-line tools, … everything is in there, in that “little” setup, ready to go where your interests (and your patience) take you.

Not only is everything open source, and hence ready to be explored, it’s also virtually risk free: even if you were to damage something (which is surprisingly hard, with a few simple precautions), it would be in the context of a very limited and low-cost setup.

Just add an extra wireless node, and go solder things together for the first time in your life. Or look into that Linux stuff which drives the Raspberry Pi. Perhaps you’re curious about WebSockets and real-time software. It’s all there. It doesn’t bite. It’s probably easier to understand, because small systems have to be simple by design to maintain their low cost.

Yet at the same time, it’s all really state-of-the-art in many ways. The power levels and battery life achievable with JeeNodes is measured in years. The performance of the Raspberry Pi is such that it can actually drive a display with full-screen HD movies. And the Node.js-based web server technology we’re going to use is at the forefront of what the web has to offer today. This isn’t some mix of technologies cobbled together “just because it works”. Under the hood is what drives our technological world today, and a glimpse of what will be evolving into the technology of tomorrow.

How

The DIJN series of posts is aimed at being totally, completely, fully, truly practical. Every post (ehm, except this one) is about making things work. Concrete steps, describing everything needed to create that final setup. This is going to be as “hands on” as it gets…

Then again, not everything is going to be spelled out in baby steps, and where possible, pointers will be supplied to point to instructions elsewhere, such as how to set up the Arduino IDE, or how to prepare an SD card for use as bootable system in the Raspberry Pi.

The goal is really to reach that finish line, for everyone who’s interested, regardless of specific knowledge. I.e. a working system, spanning a surprinsigly wide range of topics and technologies, but by necessity a very simple system. The idea is that once you have a working setup, you also have the foundation for diving in deep, to explore whatever aspect interests you most, and to alter and extend as much as you like.

This series will not explain how everything works. Nor go into more advanced topics such as implementing ultra-low power modes in the sensor node. Or extending the web server with huge amounts of logic and web page presentation. That’s step 2 (and 3, and 4).

Winding down

This post ended up being much longer than planned. Let’s hope the next ones fare better. There will definitely not be a DIJN post every day – it’ll be spread out over this month, to allow adding some lighter material and other topics from/about JeeLabs. There are only so many hours in a day – and that applies to both reading and writing all this stuff :)

I’m quietly hoping that a few people will try and follow along right away though, and hopefully also comment on where information is incomplete or incorrect. But even if you don’t have the time or opportunity to tag along as this unfolds, please note that this series of posts will be available from the Dive Into JeeNodes page on the Café wiki.

There’s a lot to cover. And I hope there is something in here for everyone. Last but not least: please do comment and make suggestions. That’s how weblogs like this work best.

Onwards!