Video Demo: Single Pair Ethernet to Remotely Monitor Vibration
From sensor to data, this demonstration of 10BASE-T1L SPE walks through an actual use case from the deep depths of the SparkFun basement.
We had some fun with our partners - Digi-Key, Analog Devices, Harting, and Würth Elektronik - to not only develop 10BASE-T1L SPE prototyping tools, but to also put together a helpful demo/use case. The video below provides a quick look at the new prototyping tools and then moves to the demo.
CHALLENGE
At SparkFun we have water, essentially a river, that flows under our building - making flooding in our basement a risk. We needed a way to monitor the sump pumps to indicate if there is flooding.
SOLUTION
During this demo, Kirk (our CTO), takes viewers into our basement to demonstrate how he built a system to monitor the pumps using the MicroMod and QWiic ecosystems - including a couple sensors to monitor vibration, the SparkFun MicroMod Ethernet Function Board, the MicroMod RP2040 Processor Board, a very long single pair ethernet cable, and a handful of other parts. The data transmitted through the cable is displayed using Machinechat.
WATCH THE VIDEO
SPE Demo at IMTS this Week!
If you happen to be at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) this week and would like to play with a small scale version of this demo, visit the Harting booth, #134533.
Ready to Start Prototyping with 10BASE-T1L SPE?
Here are the two tools we co-developed and released earlier this year:
Regarding POE and our demo. The relay board that receives data via SPE and then transmits to a machinechat server on the Sparkfun network is powered via POE.
The Power over Data line feature on SPE is not implemented on the SparkFun SPE Function board. This is something we will investigate/implement with on a future SPE boards.
I'm a little bit confused by something. The video talks a little bit about PoE, but doesn't explain fully which portions are being powered via PoE. Please clarify: Is the stuff in the basement being powered by PoE? Or is it just the stuff on the first floor that's being supplied by PoE? Or both? BTW, I also noticed something on the Single Pair Function board page that says that is "not designed to provide power over the cable" -- which may be why I'm confused.
One other minor comment: The SparkFun facility seems to be "fuller" than what I recall from my tour several years ago -- I'm glad that SF keeps expanding sales, production capabilities, and product line, but am just a tad bit worried that you may be approaching the limit of what can be done in the current facility. And I don't recall mention of the basement during the tour.
I think that the basement is being powered by PoE, and the first floor is being powered using another power source. The board says it is not designed to provide power, but it can receive power, which is what leads me to think that.
Which begs the question of how the power is getting into the Single Pair Ethernet line on the first floor?