Weather Station One Part 1 - the Central Station

prusaprinters

<h3>Overview on project</h3><p>This is part of the Weather Station One project, a complete and modular weather station. The design of the system has been driven by a number of requirements:</p><ul><li>collect all common weather channels including temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, rain, wind speed and direction, illumination / sun hours, ground humidity</li><li>modular design allowing one to implement part of it, or extend the range of sensors</li><li>high depth of production; DIY as much as possible</li><li>long range transmission support - with the point of measurement far from home</li><li>integration into a home automation system</li><li>functional, easy to print, and beautiful 3D design</li></ul><p>When considering a project like this, please be aware that even with all designs published, it will be some work to do. This includes not only 3D printing, but carpentry work, soldering / electronics, and software in addition.</p><p>The parts published are made up from:</p><ol><li><strong>Part 1: Central Station. </strong>This is the part all sensors are connected to. It is battery / solar powered to allow placing it in the best place to measure data. It sends data collected using a HC-12 / 433Mhz band (up to 1 kilometer distance) chip.</li><li><strong>Part 2: Base Station.</strong> This is the Central Station's counter part. It receives data using another HC-12 chip and is dispatching it to our home-automation system. In addition, it hosts a web server allowing direct access to weather data.</li><li><strong>Part 3: Temperature </strong>(and other) <strong>sensor</strong>. This sensor is designed to sit in a proper Stevenson Screen / Wetterhütte. The current version measures ambient temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure using a digital sensor. It is connected to the Central Station.</li><li><strong>Part 4: Rain Gauge.</strong> This is a rain gauge collecting rain and feeding it into commuting buckets. The number of commutes is measured using a reed contact triggered a bucket-moved magnet. It is connected to the Central Station.</li><li><strong>Part 5: Wind Vane and Anemometer.</strong> Probably the most complex printing part measuring 16 wind directions and wind speed. Similar to the rain gauge, it is a mechanical part. Wind directions are measured using either 8 reed contacts, or an magnetic angle measurement sensor. Wind speed is measured by a single reed contact closed every time the anemometer wings do a full rotation. &nbsp;It is connected to the Central Station.</li><li><strong>Part 6: Stevenson Screen / &nbsp;Wetterhütte.</strong> This part is not detailed further because we have built it based on a <a href="http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/%7Estefan/huette.html">tutorial published by DWD (Deutscher Wetterdienst)</a>.</li><li><strong>Part 7: optional Battery Pack.</strong> The solar module and charger chosen come with a mount for a 14500 sized Lithium battery. Depending on the power consumption of the Central Station (and sensors) you may want to use an external Battery Pack.</li><li><strong>Part 8: Software and Electronics.</strong> This part is published on <a href="https://github.com/HarrysLapTimer/WeatherStationOne">Github</a>.</li><li><strong>Part 9: Solar Panel Mount</strong>. This is a solar panel mount as used currently. It allows adjusting the elevation to optimize generation for Winter and Summer seasons. Mid term it will be replaced by a solar tracker following the sun azimuth.</li></ol><p>For your convenience, I have created a <a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/social/92858-harry/collections/101642">WeatherStationOne</a> collection including all but parts 6 and 8.</p><p>End of overview common to all parts.</p><h3>Part 1 - Central Station</h3><p>This is basically a box hosting an ESP32 microcontroller, a HC-12 chip, a solar charger module, a battery, and a number of connectors. The electronic parts and the software implementing central the station logic (includes pulling / collecting data from sensors) are described on <a href="https://github.com/HarrysLapTimer/WeatherStationOne.git">github</a>. The circuit diagram is included for illustration.</p><p>The STLs provided allow both a single color, or a multicolor print. This later can be done easily using the M600 command for tool changes and the configuration of a printer with two (virtual) extruders in PrusaSlicer. I assume there are similar technics for other printers / slicers.</p><p>I have decided to make the box from a bottom, center and top part. This allows access to circuit boards soldering from both the bottom and the top during assembly.</p><p>The box is not water proof and supposed to go into the Stevenson Screen.</p><h4>Printing configuration</h4><ul><li>Layer height 0.2mm</li><li>0.4mm nozzle</li><li>15% infill</li><li>White and black PETG filament</li><li>place top and bottom parts surface on the printing bed</li><li>automatic support (from building plate only)</li></ul><h4>Other parts needed</h4><ul><li>1x Waveshare Solar Power Manager</li><li>1x <strong>rechargeable</strong> Lithium-ion battery matching Waveshare power manager</li><li>1x solar panel 6 - 24V, 3 watts or more</li><li>1x ESP32 Developer Board</li><li>1x HC-12 board</li><li>1x 10 uF Elco</li><li>2x 10k Ohm resistor for voltage divider / battery monitoring</li><li>1x 10k Ohm pull down resistor for anemometer</li><li>1x 220 Ohm resistor for LED</li><li>1x green LED 5mm</li><li>5x MiniDIN (PS/2) 6 pin sockets</li><li>universal circuit boards for ESP32 and sockets</li><li>8x M2x8 screws (boards)</li><li>12x M3x10 screws (housing)</li><li>DC socket in case an external battery box is added</li></ul>