MicroMod Weather Carrier Board Hookup Guide

Contributors: El Duderino, MAKIN-STUFF

Weather Station Arduino Example

We've written a few examples to get started with the Weather Carrier Board. They can be found in the "Examples" folder of Hardware GitHub Repository and will work with any SparkFun MicroMod Processor you choose. In this section we'll only cover the comprehensive Weather Station example, but you can use the other examples to test each sensor on the Weather Carrier along with the additional soil moisture and weather meter sensors.

MicroMod Weather Carrier Board Test Example

Before getting started with the Weather Carrier Board Example you will need to install the Board Definitions for your chosen MicroMod Processor (outlined above) as well as the BME280, VEML6075 and AS3935 Arduino Libraries. You can install them using the Arduino Library manager and searching 'SparkFun BME280', 'SparkFun VEML6075' and 'SparkFun AS3935'. Alternatively, you can download the libraries from their respective GitHub repositories linked above or you can download the .ZIP for each of them by clicking the buttons below:

With the libraries and processor board definitions installed we can go ahead and move on to opening the MicroMod Weather Example sketch and uploading it to our MicroMod Processor. You can open a new blank sketch and copy the code from below or you can download the entire GitHub repository for the Weather Carrier Board which includes all of the examples by clicking the button below:

Navigate to the location the repository downloaded to and open the Examples folder. In that folder you'll find examples for each sensor as well as MM_Weather_CB_Test. Open that example in the Arduino IDE or copy the code below into a blank sketch, select your Board and Port and click "Upload".

language:c
/*
 * MicroMod Weather Carrier Board Example
 * 
 * This sketch tests all of the weather sensors on the carrier board:
 * atmospheric sensor - BME280, UV sensor - VEML6075, lightning detector - AS3935,
 * soil moisture sensor, wind and rain meters.
 * 
 * Priyanka Makin @ SparkX Labs
 * Original Creation Date: August 20, 2020
 * 
 * This code is Lemonadeware; if you see me (or any other SparkFun employee) at the
 * local, and you've found our code helpful, please buy us a round!
 * 
 * Hardware Connections:
 * Insert MicroMod Processor Board of your choice into the M.2 connector of the SparkFun Weather carrier
 *  Screw into place
 * Connect Weather carrier board to power useing USB-C cable
 * Connect SparkFun Soil Moisture Sensor to Weather carrier using latching terminals
 * Connect both wind and rain meters to Weather carrier using the RJ11 connectors
 */

#include <Wire.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include "SparkFunBME280.h"
#include <SparkFun_VEML6075_Arduino_Library.h>
#include "SparkFun_AS3935.h"

BME280 tempSensor;
VEML6075 uv;
SparkFun_AS3935 lightning;

#define INDOOR 0x12 
#define OUTDOOR 0xE
#define LIGHTNING_INT 0x08
#define DISTURBER_INT 0x04
#define NOISE_INT 0x01

#if defined(ESP_PLATFORM)
int LED_BUILTIN = 5;
//int A0 = 34;
int G0 = 4;
int D0 = 23;
//int A1 = 35;
int D1 = 27;
const int G3 = 17;
int G1 = 12;
#elif defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_SAMD)
int G0 = 2;
int D0 = 0;
int D1 = 1;
//const int lightningInt = G3;  //SPI does not currently work on the SAMD51 proto
//int spiCS = G1;
#endif

int soilPin = A0;  //Pin number that measures analog moisture signal
int soilPower = G0;  //Pin number that will power the soil moisture sensor
int WSPEED = D0; //Digital I/O pin for wind speed
int WDIR = A1; //Analog pin for wind direction
int RAIN = D1;   //Digital I/O pin for rain fall
const int lightningInt = G3; // Interrupt pin for lightning detection
int spiCS = G1; //SPI chip select pin

volatile bool rainFlag = false;
volatile bool windFlag = false;

//Function is called every time the rain bucket tips
void rainIRQ()
{
  rainFlag = true;
}

//Function is called when the magnet in the anemometer is activated
void wspeedIRQ()
{
  windFlag = true;
}

// This variable holds the number representing the lightning or non-lightning
// event issued by the lightning detector. 
int intVal = 0;
int noise = 2; // Value between 1-7 
int disturber = 2; // Value between 1-10

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  while (!Serial);

  Serial.println("MicroMod Weather Carrier Board Test");
  Serial.println();

  Wire.begin();
  SPI.begin();

  if (tempSensor.beginI2C() == false) { //Begin communication over I2C
    Serial.println("BME280 did not respond.");
    while(1); //Freeze
  }
  if (uv.begin() == false) {
    Serial.println("VEML6075 did not respond.");
    while(1);
  }

  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(soilPower, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(soilPower, LOW);
  // When lightning is detected the interrupt pin goes HIGH.
  pinMode(lightningInt, INPUT);

  //Initialization for weather meter
  pinMode(WSPEED, INPUT_PULLUP);  //Input from wind meters windspeed sensor
  pinMode(RAIN, INPUT_PULLUP);    //Input from wind meters rain gauge sensor
  //attach external interrupt pins to IRQ functions
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(RAIN), rainIRQ, FALLING);
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(WSPEED), wspeedIRQ, FALLING);
  //turn on interrupts
  interrupts();

  if(lightning.beginSPI(spiCS, 2000000) == false){ 
    Serial.println ("Lightning Detector did not start up, freezing!"); 
    while(1); 
  }
  else
    Serial.println("Schmow-ZoW, Lightning Detector Ready!");

  // The lightning detector defaults to an indoor setting at 
  // the cost of less sensitivity, if you plan on using this outdoors 
  // uncomment the following line:
  lightning.setIndoorOutdoor(OUTDOOR); 
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

  Serial.println();
  Serial.print("Temperature: ");
  Serial.println(tempSensor.readTempF(), 2);
  Serial.print("Humidity: ");
  Serial.println(tempSensor.readFloatHumidity(), 0);
  Serial.print("Pressure: ");
  Serial.println(tempSensor.readFloatPressure(), 0);
  Serial.print("Altitude: ");
  Serial.println(tempSensor.readFloatAltitudeFeet(), 1);

  Serial.print("UV A, B, index: ");
  Serial.println(String(uv.uva()) + ", " + String(uv.uvb()) + ", "+ String(uv.index()));

  Serial.print("Soil Moisture = ");
  Serial.println(readSoil());

  Serial.print("Wind direction: ");
  Serial.print(getWindDirection());
  Serial.println(" degrees");
  //Check interrupt flags
  if (rainFlag == true){
    Serial.println("Rain click!");
    rainFlag = false;
  }
  if (windFlag == true){
    Serial.println("Wind click!");
    windFlag = false;
  }

  // Hardware has alerted us to an event, now we read the interrupt register
  if(digitalRead(lightningInt) == HIGH){
    intVal = lightning.readInterruptReg();
    if(intVal == NOISE_INT){
      Serial.println("Noise."); 
      // Too much noise? Uncomment the code below, a higher number means better
      // noise rejection.
      //lightning.setNoiseLevel(noise); 
    }
    else if(intVal == DISTURBER_INT){
      Serial.println("Disturber."); 
      // Too many disturbers? Uncomment the code below, a higher number means better
      // disturber rejection.
      //lightning.watchdogThreshold(disturber);  
    }
    else if(intVal == LIGHTNING_INT){
      Serial.println("Lightning Strike Detected!"); 
      // Lightning! Now how far away is it? Distance estimation takes into
      // account any previously seen events in the last 15 seconds. 
      byte distance = lightning.distanceToStorm(); 
      Serial.print("Approximately: "); 
      Serial.print(distance); 
      Serial.println("km away!"); 
    }
  }

  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

  delay(3000);
}

int readSoil() {
  int moistVal = 0;  //Variable for storing moisture value
  //Power Senor
  digitalWrite(soilPower, HIGH);
  delay(10);
  moistVal = analogRead(soilPin);  //Read the SIG value from sensor
  digitalWrite(soilPower, LOW); //Turn the sensor off
  return moistVal; //Return current moisture value
}

int getWindDirection()
{
  unsigned int adc;
  adc = analogRead(WDIR); //get the current readings from the sensor

  if (adc < 380) return (113);
  if (adc < 393) return (68);
  if (adc < 414) return (90);
  if (adc < 456) return (158);
  if (adc < 508) return (135);
  if (adc < 551) return (203);
  if (adc < 615) return (180);
  if (adc < 680) return (23);
  if (adc < 746) return (45);
  if (adc < 801) return (248);
  if (adc < 833) return (225);
  if (adc < 878) return (338);
  if (adc < 913) return (0);
  if (adc < 940) return (293);
  if (adc < 967) return (315);
  if (adc < 990) return (270);
  return (-1);
}

The code begins by checking which MicroMod Processor was selected in Arduino and adjusts a few pin settings accordingly so it will work with any SparkFun MicroMod Processor. Next, it initializes all the on board sensors and checks for proper responses as well as checking for external sensors (wind, rain and soil).

Once all the sensors initialize, the code prints out data from each sensor. Open your serial monitor and set the baud to 115200 to watch the data print out.