[Open Source Project] Open Thread Sensor Tag with MQTT Discovery

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A while ago I made a little Sensor Tag - which I call Thread Sensor Tag - which measures Pressure, Humidity, Temperature and Light. It uses an nRF52480 Microcontroller to do so and also connects to a Thread or OpenThread Network to send out its measurements via UDP (it is the fastest and most power efficient way) every 20 seconds. The device draws very few power and can last up to 2-3 years on a coin cell battery (if everything works well).

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So far we used a script to translate the UDP packets into simple MQTT messages and I changed that now to use the Home Assistant MQTT Discovery. With that the devices will be detected automatically in Home Assistant with all its features. Also the battery voltage and live-time is send via this MQTT message.

My Dashboard:

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The whole project can be found here: https://github.com/HomeSmartMesh/nrf52_thread_sensortag

There is also more documentation here: https://hackaday.io/project/180630-openthread-sensor-tag where you can also find links to Buy the device or more documentation on how to integrate it etc.

I am also looking for someone who is interested in setting up this Device with the Home Assistant SkyConnect USB Stick! The Firmware running on the device is pretty low-level but it would be nice to find someone who might want to help implementing the commissioning workflow to the software which would make the integration even easier. Just contact me!

I hope you like this project and feel free to give me your feedback on it.
Maybe also tell me what other device you would like to see for the OpenThread World and Home Assistant?

I am currently looking into Motion Detection + Reed Contact and an intruder detection device based on pressure. I try to create a whole open-source set of devices used in the smart home field.

Thanks and Cheers!

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Cool. What kind of range do you get with that?

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The range is comparable with Bluetooth or WiFi 2.4GHz Devices - the device has a PCB Antenna which is always a bit weak so it might be a bit less. It also always depends on the environment of course.

Here at my home I have 60m² but a lot of plaster walls (which is bad, they are more “wet” and the signal can not go through very well) but I can put the device at 90% of the places without issues. Except my main entrance which is the furthest away from my Border Router. But there I even have issues with WiFi. I hope that answers the question. Are you using Thread already?

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Not using Thread yet. Zigbee is quite ok here. But I imagine that is the next network I go for.