Autonomo received, how to proceed

#1

Yesterday I received the Autonomo (UV-version) in the mail :smiley:
But Iā€™m new to this (total noob)!
Iā€™ve got no clue (yet) how to connect all modules (GPRSbee), solar panel, battery etc. And what has to be done after that (programming?, how?)
If anyone can tell me what to do, or point me to the right direction (a tutorial about how to connect the autonomo), it is highly appreciated!

I would like to get the data reported to my raspberryPi with domoticz.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Maurice.

#2

Dear Maurice,

The first thing you need to do is install the latest Arduino IDE

which can be downloaded from:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

The next step is to go to the Autonomo web page at:

http://autonomo.sodaq.net

There you will find detailed instructions on installing the required board files which would allow you to start loading your first sketches.

We will soon start adding more demo sketches (like we did for our Mbili at http://mbili.sodaq.net ) to this page.

Hope this gets you started

#3

Ok, so Iā€™m a total noob.
Iā€™ve installed Arduino IDE 1.6.6 (conform Use Arduino IDE 1.6.6 for Autonomo), and loaded the Sodaq SAMD board version 1.6.4.

Now what? Do I connect an USB cable from my computer USB port to the micro USB port on the Autonomo? I guess this is needed for programming? Or do I have to write the program to memory card and put that in the memory card slot on the Autonomo?

Or do I have to connect the battery and solar panel first? And than connect the USB cable?
Does the USB port charge the battery (when needed)?

Is the memory card needed for programming, or is it only for storage of data, or both?

How do I connect the UV meter? What do I need to get a reading?

I have tons of questions, but letā€™s start with these first. Iā€™m also reading the Starting Guide and Tutorials on the arduino website, but I have to connect an led etc. to switch it on and off (example). And there is no info in the tutorial on what/how to connect a board to program it.
Sorry for al these questions and maybe Iā€™m too causious (I guess I can damage my the board when I connect the wrong cablesā€¦?).

Thank you in advance (again)!

#4

I was too impatient, so I connected the battery and USB-cable. Battery-charge light is on, so I guess this works.
Found out that the UV-meter has to be connected to the connector board that is called ā€˜shieldā€™. On the seeed-wiki I found out that I have to connect the UV-meter to A0. So that is on the ā€˜switchedā€™ line of the Grove Shield.

Do I understand correctly that I can only connect one sensor with the specification ā€˜use A0 to connectā€™ ?

How do I connect the Grove Shield? It seems logical to connect the shield with the ā€˜tabā€™ on the board on the same side of the Autonomo-boardā€¦ Is that correct?

Got it! On the kickstarter-page I see a picture of (a slightly different) Grove Shield with the ā€˜tabā€™ in the same position as the Autonomo :smiley:

#5

I also have very little experience with Arduino or hardware in general. Iā€™m looking for a page with clear pictures of how to connect everything and a short explanation of how it works. What does the grove shield do, and what are the connections for. I also have a wifibee which I donā€™t know how to use right now. Furthermore, I got the tph sensor which needs to be connected to the Grove shield I think but how? I got the software setup but Iā€™m looking for an overview of the samples and what they demonstrate.

#6

Hi maurice,

You need the usb cable to program the board, the sd card is optional to store data.
But before you can upload your sketch to the board you need to install the autonomo in the arduino ide.
Can you follow the instructions on autonomo.sodaq.net

The LiPo and solar panel can be connected inthe order you want.
The Lipo is charging from both Solar panel and usb, you can connect them at the same time!
When the lipo is fully charged the charge led will turn off.

Let me know if the installation works, and that basic sketched like the blink sketch are working. Then I will help you to connect the sensors / leds

For you to start with donā€™t use the switches row yet.
Change A0 in the code to A2, A6 or A10.
Change this in the code, in most of the tutorials you find online they use Serial as the debugline, this is for all ā€œoldā€ arduino boards, you need to change Serial into SerialUSB to get feedback in the Serial Monitor.

The Autonomo has 3 types of connection: Analog ports, for every analog sensor. defined as A0, A1 etc
Digital ports, D1, D2ā€¦ etc
And one I2C bus. On the shield you see SCL SDA.

I hope this helps you, let me know if you get everything working

Jan
SODAQ

#7

Hi Alan,

The shield is just to make it easyer to connect sensors to the board.
For the TPH you need to use the I2C bus. Marked SDA/SCL on the shield.

You can find the libraries at: https://github.com/SodaqMoja?tab=repositories

Example sketch:

#include <Wire.h>
#include <Sodaq_BMP085.h>
#include <Sodaq_SHT2x.h>

// MBili / Tatu
//#define debugSerial Serial
// Autonomo
#define debugSerial SerialUSB

//TPH BMP sensor
Sodaq_BMP085 bmp;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  debugSerial.begin(57600);

  setupTPH();
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  debugSerial.println("Sending payload: TempSHT21T, TempBMP, PressureBMP, HumiditySHT21T");
  String reading = takeTPHReading();
}

void setupTPH()
{
  //Initialise the wire protocol for the TPH sensors
  Wire.begin();
  
  //Initialise the TPH BMP sensor
  bmp.begin();
}

String takeTPHReading()
{
  //Create a String type data record in csv format
  //TempSHT21, TempBMP, PressureBMP, HumiditySHT21
  String data = String(SHT2x.GetTemperature())  + ", ";
  //BMPTemp is commented out, the data will be to long if you also send batt volt.
  data += String(bmp.readTemperature()) + ", ";
  data += String(bmp.readPressure() / 100)  + ", ";
  data += String(SHT2x.GetHumidity());
  
  return data;
}

The wifi library can you find here: https://github.com/GabrielNotman?tab=repositories

I hope this will help you get going. Let me know if you get everything working.

Jan
SODAQ

#8

Hi Jan,

Iā€™ve connected the grove shield with the autonomo by lining up the shapes. Thanks to your description I now know which port to use for the TPH sensor.

Iā€™m still not sure about how to connect the wifi bee physically. I know which slot to put it in but Iā€™m not sure whether the triangular shape needs to point outwards, the same way as the triangular shape on the board and grove shield or if the triangular shape needs to point inwards.

thanks for your feedback

#9

Hi Alan,

All bee mudule we have point outwards on the autonomo board.

#10

Got it, now I also see the small drawing showing the orientation. I donā€™t know why I didnā€™t see it before.

#11

Thank you Jan for the description of the ports. (just starting again with the autonomo after a couple of weeks with no time).

Iā€™ve bought some grove sensors and some of them are I2C, so I need to buy a hub as well.
Noticed that the ā€˜barometerā€™ library of grove (seeedstudio) didnā€™t work with the autonomo, but the Sodaq_BMP085 library (as mentioned below in the link to github SodaqMoja) works.
Is this because of the processor used on the Autonomo?
So I guess some other libraries need to be adjusted too?

#12

What does the grove shield do, and what are the connections for. I also have a wifibee which I donā€™t know how to use right now.
Furthermore, I got the tph sensor which needs to be connected to the Grove shield I
think but how?
I got the software setup but Iā€™m looking for an overview of the samples and what they demonstrate.