(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best electronic component sensors

So if you want cheap you can use - http://www.ebay.com/itm/G3-8-Water-Flow-Sensor-Flowmeter-Switch-Controller-Meter-0-3-10L-min-/201402645132?hash=item2ee4887a8c:g:WQoAAOSwT6pVxD1H

I haven't tested that one yet but I plan on using it on my second tap just to verify that it works with my system.

I'm currently using this one - http://www.amazon.com/Gems-Sensors-226100-Approved-Materials/dp/B005T692BI
I got it cheaper form the kegbot store back in the day but they don't sell them there anymore. I'm sure you could shop around to find one for around $85

There is also the SwissFlow but it uses BSP threads - http://www.swissflow.com/sf800.html
I've used this in the past with an Arduino and it worked fine. I just had to add a lot of thread tape since i didn't have a BSP to NPT converter.

A lot of this info can be found on the kegbot forums.

Yes, that looks like an IR sensor.

https://www.amazon.com/KY-022-Infrared-Receiver-Accessories-Arduino/dp/B07869GP74/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=1838+ir+sensor&qid=1558299912&s=gateway&sprefix=1838+ir&sr=8-3

Standard float sensor on a gpio of an esp8266, could maybe even hack it into your existing smart plug

Edit

https://adosia.io/product/water-level-sensor-switch-horizontal/

Gikfun M8 32mm Liquid Level Sensor Fish Tank Water Float Switch PP Plastic Ball Float Controller DIY Kit for Arduino EK1373x3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G13JB57/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WNrnDbVD86S56

This is my vote for sure. You can monitor the water level in the sump pit easily with a float switch. Something like this works nicely:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYCTVT1

I'm putting a pair of these in a cistern to control turning on/off the well pump. I'm also adding a second pair low and high water alarms.

So, if I'm understanding you correctly, you simply want position feedback, and not the ability to control motors? If so, I have had good results with these encoders. They are simple and fairly inexpensive. They are relative, which means they do not report a position inasmuch as they report a rotation. It is up to you to keep track of their rotation and to zero it out. A known position + a rotation gives you a known position, but you will have to zeroize them when you start up. this could be bad if your system crashes during a performance, you'll have to physically zero out the projectors position. so you may want to look at an absolute encoder, such as this one, which I've never used.

The other problem you will run into is that unless the encoder is mounted directly onto your shaft, you will have to use a transmission of some type (belt and pulley, gear, etc) to rotate the encoder. You will have to measure the turn ratio of shaft to encoder to ensure that the values you are getting back are accurate. For example, if there is a gear reduction of some amount, your encoder will spin fewer times than your shaft, give you bad values. Since I dont really understand where you will mount it, that may or may not be an issue.

Now, others in this thread are telling you to look into an arduino, but they do not have networking capabilities, so by the time you buy a network shield and code up a working osc/udp translation layer (there's probably a library for it, but who knows), you will have spent more time and money than if you just went with the pi, in my humble opinion. Python can run osc and python is very nice for beginners, compared to c++ which you'd be using on an arduino.

wow the last one looks just like what i was looking for. buuuuut they don't ship to germany :/
i will do some testing with this one and the neverwet spray

That's totally doable, it's just that the learning curve is steep if you aren't already familiar with micro controller projects.

I am sure that raspberry pi will work for this, but I am familiar with arduino type things so that's what I would start with. A "node mcu" controller has the wifi capability, then you will need a few current transformers like this, and a couple analog to digital converters (because the node mcu only has 1 analog channel)

I tried looking for a Jaguar disassembly video, but didn't have any luck. Instead, I tried searching for tilt sensors at Amazon. In addition to ones like this, which look like the ones in the older RB guitars, there were also acceleration sensor chips like this. That's a three-axis accelerometer chip, that can tell which way gravity is pointing. Maybe one of those little chips is the sensor.

With such a lot of power and such a huge step down I'm not sure I'd be connecting a shunt directly to the Arduino and neither a voltage divider.

By preference I'd use something like this (https://www.amazon.com/DFROBOT-50A-Current-Sensor-AC/dp/B0187AAOMS).

Do you think something like this would be okay? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CWR234L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FiGJBbMH1XX65

Here's everything I purchased:

• LED Lights. I needed two strips for my application
  
  
• Power Supply
  
  
• Motion Sensor. I opted for a motion sensor vs. a door sensor because we have a bad habit of leaving the pantry door open and I didn't want the lights to be on all the time. I also bought Velcro tape to adhere the lights to the wall. The LED lights come with a sticky back, but they kept falling off. Shoot me a PM if you have additional questions and good luck!

Here's the solution that I used. I put the common wire for the furnace blower through a split core current sensor switch that controls the duct booster fan. Has worked flawlessly for the last 3 years. I used a Functional Devices RIBXGHTF. It has 120V AC terminals - making control of the booster fan really simple. Around $40 on Amazon, but I'll bet you can get it cheaper elsewhere.

I think an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor would work just fine, and it already looks like a set of eyes.

I assume you've seen these water flow meters on Amazon? https://www.amazon.com/DIGITEN-Effect-Sensor-Flowmeter-Counter/dp/B00VKAT7EE


I thought about doing using these for the irrigation to check if it's off or not, but it's pulling water from a canal, which means weeds and whatnot would clog the wheel. So I'll have to rely on some indirect solution.

It's not difficult coding, at all, with some reaserch you can find the single little pieces of your project online, like: "how to make a light sensor work"+"switch on sensor activation". with like 2$ you can get an ultrasonic module, wich you can put near the doors, to activate the lights(with an && on the light sensor: eg. if sensor is activated&&its night, then light goes on). The coding part is actually the easyest part, since it's harder to set everything up in the garage with the wiring(i have no exp on that front, sorry).

this is an example of ultrasonic sensor: http://www.amazon.com/Ultrasonic-HC-SR04-Distance-Measuring-Transducer/dp/B00XLK3MWE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1450195583&sr=8-5&keywords=arduino+ultrasound+sensor

Could you get some heating blankets and put them on the shelves? Use some PID temp controllers + scheduler/timer? You could even use something like the Wemo Insight Wifi switch to understand the usage/cost and control the system. They actually make these which seem to be designed for plans

Another option would be enclosing the area with the orchids and using a small space heater to keep the area warm, you would probably still want a few fans to keep air moving, and you wouldn't want to seal the area air-tight and suffocate them.

Issues with your system:

• Make sure you use a temperature controller. You wouldn't want the water to get to hot (and shock the plants) or boil the water.
  
• You could use an off the shelf small hot water heater or instant water heater (maybe something you can get used or second hand).
  
• Something to disable the system if the water gets low (evaporation or leaks) so the heater doesn't overheat and melt or start a fire. Like a float switch.
  
• You need a pump or something to move the water.

Termineter communicates with Smart Meters via a connection using an ANSI type-2 optical probe with a serial interface.

Price, $455

More info

> might they be moving too quickly for a break beam IR or photoresistor?

A photocell will respond plenty fast. To get the Arduino to respond quickly enough use a digital photocell or obstacle detector module connected to interrupt-on-change pins, either on Arduino pins directly or via an IO expander like the PCF8575.

Just read you are using 12v to power the sensor. I have mine powered through the 5v+ sensor pin. I would not try this with the 12v unless you want to fry the board.

This is the sensor I believe i am using https://www.amazon.com/SMAKN-3-wire-Approach-Proximity-LJ8A3-2-Z/dp/B00NIAQLK2/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=inductive+sensor&qid=1570131253&s=gateway&sr=8-9

works fine on 5v

>AC current transformer

So would i use something like this https://www.amazon.com/Current-Transformer-DROK-Transformers-Sensing/dp/B01LWN37KS? If so what would i connect to the wires? I haven't heard of using that before but my understanding is you run the cable through the inside of the hole. Then it outputs a measurement of how much is running through that cable.

After running the cable through the current transformer and getting the output signal. Would i then run that to 1kohm resistor. Then send that to an arduino?

How would i get the 1000:1 ratio? How do i bias the resistor?

I found this 10 pack of light sensors on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gowoops-Digital-Intensity-Detection-Photosensitive/dp/B01N1FKS4L/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=arduino+light+sensor&qid=1565710705&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Let's say I got these and attached them to each LED on the speaker splitter. Would I be able to attach 8 of them (mute LED and 7 zone LEDs) to the same microcontroller?

Here you go, if 2mm detection distance is okay. Prime shipping~

The best kind of sensor would be a current clamp like this one, but I haven't tried it they're a little pricey and you'll have to split the power cable to put it over only only lead (if you put it around the entire cable, the two current fields will cancel out and you'll always read zero).