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:
Where can i get the project code that was running on the RP2040? I would like to use the T1L and Ethernet modules on a similar demo? I'm looking for the project that is running in your basement water monitoring system. How does the gateway box switch between the T1L and Cat 5 and how is the MAC layer being processed?
Hi, Not sure if you guys have tested the SPE kit, but the ESP32 board that it is supplied with is not compatible with the demo codes on the Github. Not sure what CPU you use in the basement, but the one on top floor looks like the RP2040. Can you please point me to the right link for a demo code for the SPE kit? Again, the supplied ESP32 is not compatible with the codes, the CPU get an error and it is stuck in a boot loop.
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.
We don't usually bring people to the basement for the tour.
If you double check the demonstration video:
Understood about not bringing folks to the basement! A lot of people wouldn't really care about it!
I think that my confusion was based on the assumtion that the "facilities closets" that I've had access to have had lots of available outlets for power supplies, while many of the "remote locations" (like basements) where the actual sensors are have a scarcity of electric outlets. Also, running ordinary CAT-5/CAT-6 within a facilities closet would usually be trivial, but running Single Pair rather than CAT-5/CAT-6 to a "remote" location might be more attractive.
This is just a demonstration of the SPE function board's capabilities as part of the product release.
I think you might be too focused on the video as a project and taking the demo out of context. We are highlighting the capabilities of the SPE function board; otherwise, we could have just fished a PoE cable into the basement instead. In application, an SPE cable would be used to transfer data over distances beyond the limitations of a CAT-5/6 cable.
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?