SRF06: a cheap range finder

By martinm, in Reviews, Measures and DIY, may 30,2014.

We are often asked if we have any plan for a range finder. Well, the answer is "no, not a this time". However, we do have some reasonable alternatives.

Installing the VirtualHub on a QNAP NAS

By Sébastien Rinsoz, in Tiny PC and Measures, may 21,2014.

Until now, it was possible to run the VirtualHub on a QNAP NAS, but only for the NAS servers using an ARM processor. Moreover, we didn't have a .qpkg file to make installation easier. We are putting this straight by providing you with a QNAP package to easily install the VirtualHub from the NAS web interface. This enables you to easily monitor the temperature of the room hosting your NAS using a simple Yocto-Temperature.

Are your parcels well treated?

By martinm, in Measures, may 16,2014.

Have you ever asked yourself what happened to parcels sent through the mail? We did! It's not that we have to complain about the Swiss postal services, quite the opposite. But we wondered how they manage to deliver the next morning, anywhere in Switzerland, a parcel mailed at 5 pm.

Controlled-environment cultivation

By martinm, in Internet of Things and Measures, april 11,2014.

As illustrated in a previous post, you need only a few Yoctopuce modules and a very simple logic to regulate an environmental factor such as humidity. Starting from there, why not generalize the principle and produce an environment fully optimized for a specific aim, such as growing plants? We decided to test this principle to grow mushrooms. Mushrooms, rather than tomatoes or pumpkins, because mushrooms grow fast and in the dark. It's therefore quite easy to make a time-lapse of their growing if you control lighting well...

How to use Yoctopuce modules in the middle of nowhere

By Sébastien Rinsoz, in Measures and Android, march 27,2014.

How to measure environmental factors (temperature, light, humidity, ...) in a field located kilometers away from any electric socket and any Wifi network? The first solution coming to mind is to use an Android phone and to connect Yoctopuce sensors by USB. This solution works (as illustrated here), but to power this type of installation, you need to use a solar panel and a battery of a relatively large size. To perform some measures for a relatively short period of time (a few weeks), there is a simpler and probably cheaper alternative: using a Wifi connection between the phone and the sensor instead of a USB one.