This will add a light sensor to the parasite:

This has been tested to work with JLCPCB manufacturing qoute but not ordered yet for the below reasons.

1. I don't really know if this design is correct as I'm fairly begginer in electronics (so far my circuits are working but this is another level)
2. I don't know how to program a compatible code...

Partially solving https://github.com/rbaron/b-parasite/issues/4

HI,

Nice work!!

I'm looking for guidance on how to program the devices, I have an Atmel ICE that has SWD would that work?

Are there any cheap programmers that could easily be used?

I like to request an optional Zigbee firmware image for b-parasite which could be used as an alternative to the Bluetooth firmware:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zigbee-flower-sensors-for-soil-moisture-light-temperature-humidity/272803/

At least the nRF52840 SoC used by Ebyte E73-2G4M08S1C radio module could support Bluetooth, Thread, and Zigbee 3.0 stacks:

https://csa-iot.org/csa_product/nrf52840-zigbee-3-0-for-nrf-connect-sdk/

https://www.nordicsemi.com/products/nrf52840

https://www.ebyte.com/en/product-view-news.aspx?id=445

Would be great if someone with the skills could build the b-parasite application with Zigbee End Device support for nRF5 SDK.

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-software/nRF5-SDK-for-Thread-and-Zigbee

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-software/nRF-Connect-SDK

hi,

I try to flash the firmware with my J-Link Edu. but unfortunately I get following error? As it's the first time flashing with swd, I cannot figure out what the issue is. After a successful compile, it would like to flash the softdevice part and encounter the following error:

% SDK_ROOT=~/Documents/b-parasite-main/code/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560 PLATFORM=E73_2G4M08S1E make flash_softdevice
Flashing: s140_nrf52_7.2.0_softdevice.hex
nrfjprog -f nrf52 --program /Users/lorenz/Documents/b-parasite-main/code/nRF5_SDK_17.1.0_ddde560/components/softdevice/s140/hex/s140_nrf52_7.2.0_softdevice.hex --sectorerase
ERROR: Unable to connect to a debugger.
ERROR: Low voltage detected at the target. Please make sure the device is
ERROR: properly supplied.
NOTE: For additional output, try running again with logging enabled (--log).
NOTE: Any generated log error messages will be displayed.
make: *** [flash_softdevice] Error 43

same for just make flash, the Vcc is directly connected to the jlink. no coincell involved. Any ideas? Thx

Hi,

I realize it's not really about the b parasite as such, but I've done what's suggested in the doc and ordered the board and controller separately. But I've never had to solder something that doesn't have pins before and after trying, it's insanely hard, I just made a huge mess.

Any tips, tricks or links to good tutorial on how to assemble this ? Also is there a list of the "pins" (pads ?) actually used, looks like some of them can be ignored but which ones ?

Thanks !

This PR substitutes the LDR introduced in #6 with a phototransistor. Some advantages:

• RoHS compliance
• More compact
• Relatively linear
• SMT, so it can be assembled by fabrication houses

I haven't dug into this myself yet, but noticed this morning that one of my plants moisture reading "overflowed". When looking at the code, I saw that moisture readings are actually fit to a polynomial and the final values from the equation. Haven't done any debugging yet, so probably not much to go on, but opening the issue as something is clearly miss-behaving. Will follow up as I get time. I'm also not convinced that the moisture reading is right in the first place. It's continuously trending up, yet I haven't added water to the soil since adding the sensor.

Love this project, thanks a bajillion for open sourcing.

This sample is mostly adapted from the zigbee template from the nRF Connect SDK. It's a basic/educational/experimental/exploratory/fun firmware sample for b-parasite.

Fixes #56.

Tasks

• [x] Clusters
  • [x] Temperature
  • [x] Humidity
  • [x] Power config
  • [x] Soil moisture
  • [x] Illuminance
• [x] Power profile & initial tune
• [x] Zigbee2MQTT integration
• [x] Testing with Zigbee2MQTT & Home Assistant
• [x] Write documentation

Zigbee firmware sample

This sample is adapted from the zigbee_template from the nRF Connect SDK.

Clusters

These clusters are defined in the sample:

|Cluster ID|Name| |--------|---| |0x0001|Power Configuration| |0x0400|Illuminance Measurement| |0x0402|Temperature Measurement| |0x0405|Relative Humidity Measurement| |0x0408|Soil Moisture Measurement|

Pairing Mode

The sample will first boot and start looking for a Zigbee coordinator - in pairing mode. The onboard LED will be flashing once a second while in this mode. Once a suitable network is found, the LED will briefly flash 3 times and remain off.

Factory Reset

Most Zigbee devices provide a physical button to "factory reset" it - causing it to forget its joined network and look for a new one.

b-parasite has no physical buttons, and the implemented work around is to distinguish between two reset modes:

Power up mode

The device enters this mode when it is powered. For example, swapping an old battery or connecting to eternal power. This is the "usual" reset mode, and joined networks will be remembered.

Reset pin mode

If the device's RESET pin is briefly grounded, the device will effectively be factory reset. The device will leave its previous network and start looking for a new one.

Configs

Available options in Kconfig. Notable options:

• CONFIG_PRST_ZB_SLEEP_DURATION_SEC: amount of time (in seconds) the device sleeps between reading all sensors and updating its clusters
• CONFIG_PRST_ZB_PARENT_POLL_INTERVAL_SEC: amount of time (in seconds) the device waits between polling its parent for data

Zigbee2MQTT & Home Assistant

This firmware sample has been tested with Zigbee2MQTT, an open source Zigbee bridge that connects seamlessly with Home Assistant.

The b-parasite.js file in this PR contains a converter that can be installed to Zigbee2MQTT to suppoort this sample. See Support new devices for instructions.

Here's how it looks in the Zigbee2MQTT addon inside Home Assistant:

Zigbee Home Automation (ZHA) and Home Assistant

The firmware sample has also been tested with the ZHA Home Assistant integration. With ZHA, no custom device parser is needed, and all sensor clusters are identified by ZHA out of the box.

Here is how b-parasite looks after being paired with ZHA:

Battery Life

While sleeping, the device consumes around 2 uA:

In the active cycle, it averages around 125 uA for 1 second:

Building

Same instructions as in the Wiki.

Prebuilt binaries

There's now a zigbee_nrf52840_default.hex automatically built as part of the actions for this branch.

• Fixed battery cluster reporting (bug).
• Made some configuration properties configurable through Kconfig.
• Made log level configurable in zigbee and core parasite lib.
• Split debug build config from production.

I contributed to a zigbee firmware fork in the past and tried to migrate some concepts / bugfixes I experienced there. I personally really like the idea here, that the core libraries are reused no matter what protocol stack is used. This seems to me the right approach and I am happy to push the zigbee firmware forward.

In the long run, I believe even more configuration could be centralized. The Zephyr configuration system is quite powerful. Let me know what you think. 😃

I'm running into this build error. Help would be appreciated.

-- west build: generating a build system Including boilerplate (Zephyr base (cached)): C://ncs/v1.7.1/zephyr/cmake/app/boilerplate.cmake -- Application: C://GitHub/b-parasite/code/nrf-connect/samples/ble -- Zephyr version: 2.6.99 (C://ncs/v1.7.1/zephyr), build: v2.6.99-ncs1-1 -- Found west (found suitable version "0.11.1", minimum required is "0.7.1") -- Board: bparasite_nrf52833, Revision: 1.2.0 -- Cache files will be written to: C://ncs/v1.7.1/zephyr/.cache -- Found dtc: C://ncs/v1.7.1/toolchain/opt/bin/dtc.exe (found suitable version "1.4.7", minimum required is "1.4.6") -- Found toolchain: gnuarmemb (c://ncs/v1.7.1/toolchain/opt) -- Found BOARD.dts: C://GitHub/b-parasite/code/nrf-connect/prstlib/boards/arm/bparasite_nrf52833/bparasite_nrf52833.dts -- Found devicetree overlay: C://GitHub/b-parasite/code/nrf-connect/prstlib/boards/arm/bparasite_nrf52833/bparasite_nrf52833_1_2_0.overlay Error: bparasite_nrf52833.dts.pre.tmp:371.13-14 syntax error FATAL ERROR: Unable to parse input tree CMake Error at C://ncs/v1.7.1/zephyr/cmake/dts.cmake:219 (message): command failed with return code: 1 Call Stack (most recent call first): C://ncs/v1.7.1/zephyr/cmake/app/boilerplate.cmake:553 (include) C://ncs/v1.7.1/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:24 (include) C://ncs/v1.7.1/zephyr/share/zephyr-package/cmake/ZephyrConfig.cmake:40 (include_boilerplate) CMakeLists.txt:7 (find_package)

-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred! FATAL ERROR: command exited with status 1: 'c:<removed>\ncs\v1.7.1\toolchain\opt\bin\cmake.EXE' '-DWEST_PYTHON=c:<removed>\ncs\v1.7.1\toolchain\opt\bin\python.exe' '-Bc:<removed>\GitHub\b-parasite\code\nrf-connect\samples\ble\build' '-Sc:<removed>\GitHub\b-parasite\code\nrf-connect\samples\ble' -GNinja

• The terminal process terminated with exit code: 1.
• Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it.

Hi, Can anyone help me how to program them? I already assembled a few, but I have no idea how to compile the firmware. The readme not much of a help. I will use the E73 2g4m08s1e version chip, and I have Arduino ide. Thanks in advance

zigbee-herdsman converter for sample based b-parasite Zigbee devices to work out-of-the-box in Zigbee2MQTT and IoBroker:

https://github.com/rbaron/b-parasite/tree/main/code/nrf-connect/samples/zigbee

As per the initial Zigbee sample pull request:

https://github.com/rbaron/b-parasite/pull/81

https://github.com/rbaron/b-parasite/tree/main/code/nrf-connect/samples/zigbee

The b-parasite.js file in this PR contains a converter that can be installed to Zigbee2MQTT to support this sample. See "Support new devices" for instructions.

https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/advanced/support-new-devices/01_support_new_devices.html

Will anyone submit that b-parasite.js converter file as a pull request to zigbee-herdsman-converters repo for inclusion by default?

https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman-converters

I like to request an optional Matter over Thread firmware image for b-parasite as optional alternative to Bluetooth and Zigbee FW.

https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/matter/

Battery-operated b-parasite device based on Nordic Semiconducor's nRF52840 radio module should be a SED ("Sleepy End Device") or SSED ("Synchronized Sleepy End Device") device on your Thread network.

https://openthread.io/guides/thread-primer/node-roles-and-types#device_types

• Sleepy End Device (SED) = SED is usually off and wakes occasionally to receive messages from its parent.
• Synchronized Sleepy End Device (SSED) = SSED is an enhanced SED. It transmits less data than SED and relies on receiving messages from its parent only in specified time intervals.

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/ug_thread_commissioning.html#thread-ot-device-types

To add Matter devices over Thread, users will a Thread Border Router (e.g. OpenThread USB radio dongle) and a Matter controller.

https://www.theverge.com/22832127/matter-smart-home-products-thread-wifi-explainer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_(standard)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(network_protocol)

FYI, since the new Matter standard (including Matter over Thread protocol) also relies on the same ZCL (Zigbee Cluster Library specification) for device clusters and attributes as the very latest revision of the Zigbee 3.0 specification, it, in theory, should mean that so as long as try to strictly adhere to cluster and attribute standard with the official Zigbee Cluster Library (R8) and Zigbee PRO 2017 (R22) Protocol Specification then should, again, in theory, an application made for Zigbee should also be compatibility to build a matching firmware for the Matter standard over Thread protocol:

• Zigbee PRO 2017 (R22) Protocol Specification
• Zigbee Cluster Library (R8)
• Zigbee Base Device Behavior Specification (V1.0)
• Zigbee Lighting & Occupancy Device Specification (V1.0)
• Zigbee Primer

Nordic Semi nRF52840 SoC b-parasite use already supported Thread protocol and now applications for the new Matter standard:

https://www.nordicsemi.com/products/matter

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/ug_thread_commissioning.html#thread-ot-device-types

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/samples/samples_matter.html

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/samples/matter/template/README.html

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/applications/matter_weather_station/README.html#matter-weather-station-app

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/ug_matter_gs_adding_clusters.html#ug-matter-creating-accessory

https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip/tree/master/examples/all-clusters-app/nrfconnect

https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip/tree/master/examples/all-clusters-minimal-app/nrfconnect

https://webinars.nordicsemi.com/developing-matter-10-products-with-5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ar13rMxGIk

For reference also check out:

https://github.com/project-chip/zap

https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip/tree/master/examples/ota-requestor-app/ota-requestor-common

https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip/tree/master/examples/common/QRCode

https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip/tree/master/examples/common/screen-framework

PS: Home Assistant now support Matter and Thread via their new Home Assistant SkyConnect USB stick or Home Assistant Yellow:

https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2022/12/07/release-202212/

https://www.crowdsupply.com/nabu-casa/home-assistant-yellow/updates/more-yellows-shipping-and-thread-plus-matter-updates

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/matter/

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/io.homeassistant.companion.android

https://www.home-assistant.io/skyconnect/

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/home-assistant-skyconnect-usb-stick-announced-will-be-compatible-with-both-zigbee-and-thread-including-matter-chip-over-thread/433594

https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2021/09/13/home-assistant-yellow/

https://yellow.home-assistant.io/

PPS: Others that will soon get support for Matter over Thread is the upcoming hubs from Athom Homey and Samsung SmartThings, as well as integrated Thread radios inside some Google Nest Hub / speakers (for Google Home) and Amazon Echo (for Amazon Alexa) which it is said that later hardware models will get updated firmware for Matter controller.

I started collecting information about options of conformal coating into the new wiki page. It's very minimal but hopefully we can make it richer soon.

I added the brand of acrylic coating I use, and I would love if more people shared what worked for them. Please consider sharing your successes and failures on this issue and I'll compile them into the wiki.

Tks!

Hi, let me start by thanking you for developing this sensor. Building it wasn't easy, but a fun experience overall.

I have a question about the measured soil moisture. My sensors has reported values in the 20% area in the past, so I can confirm it's working in general. Since watering the plant, the value has gone up to 100%, and not gone down since (sensor is still working of course). The soil feels quite dry to me, so I would assume a value of 50% or something would be more adequate.

Is there anything I can do to influence the calibration, or verify my sensor is working correctly? Is there a bring-up routine somewhere?

I'm very interested in this project. I have a couple of MiFlora's, but they have not proven to be reliable for me, so I'd like to try a different approach.

I was wondering if any considerations or attempts have been made to use a 4 layer PCB instead. This would allow the copper pads for moisture measurement to be placed on the inner layers of the PCB, sandwiched between (bare) FR4. To me it seems more elegant and reliable option compared to using a coating spray, by mitigating the risk for corrosion. Of course the PCB will become a bit more expensive, but I think the benefits outweigh this.

One concern I have is whether the measurement would be impacted by a change in the PCB layout. The capacitive coupling to the soil would become slightly different. Would there be any way to (re)calibrate such PCB layout to obtain the same performance as the original design?

Note: a similar approach can be found here: https://github.com/diyruz/flower

EDIT: I found some pointers on how to re-do the calibration for a different PCB layout.

This is not an issue, but I wonder if I place the sensor on the wall, could it measure wall or at least wall surface moisture content?

I know there multe wall humidity / moisture measurement method and devices, the basic ones are

• resistance - with two prongs that is pretty much useless
• capacitance - with ball at the end
• microwave etc. I don't care really - super expensive devices, probably could be done somehow by mmwave sensors diy, but would require lot of research

So when/if my test batch of assembled pcs arrive and i place them on the wall in different heights is it possible that they would give some reliable moisture measurement even if just one side is in contact with the wall?

Even the air RH seems to be more accurate than the two prong meters.

At first I wanted to order these sensors from JLCPCB as the first made to order HW experience, as the commercial sensing smart home solutions are unreliable and only ones working, at least for me, are hacked xiaomi BT TH sensors. But now I may have real use for this as I want to get rid of the moisture in walls of the 110+ years old house I'm attempting to fix. (the moisture is not much of an issue in the 110+ years old part of the house, but in the about 50 year old addition is crazy - like 0.8 meter of the wall from the ground is wet too the touch). So having actual data about how each attempted measure affects wall humidity would be awesome.