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Raspberry Pi 3 today has only Wi-Fi connectivity, but soon it will also be able to handle low-throughput cellular communications and let users control devices over long distances.
Altair has completed testing of its ALT1160 Category 1 LTE chip on Raspberry Pi, and is making it available, a company representative said. That's significant, as it will bring much-needed, long-range communications to the popular board computer.
The LTE chip is ready for sale by Altair and its partners, a company representative said. The chip will be included in various third-party add-on LTE expansion boards and sensor modules for Raspberry Pi; otherwise, Altair will take volume orders for the chip. Each chip will cost roughly $15 to $20, though prices are coming down, said Eran Eshed, co-founder of Altair.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by anubi on Thursday December 01 2016, @10:27AM
Just in case anyone wants SMS messaging via Arduino, look up SIM808 modules.
You get both the GSM cellphone access and GPS locator functions in one module that you setup via a serial line much like the old Hayes modems...
I am experimenting with some so I can put my van on a cellphone line so it will send me messages if its tampered with and tell me where they took it, also lets me do things like shut down the fuel pump remotely, force transmission to neutral by removing shift solenoid power, inhibit the starter motor circuit, or cause the thing to start flashing 10W blue LED's ( in the backup light housing ), which is to the police like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Whoever took the van will be riding down the road completely oblivious that the rear end of the van is catching the eye of every patrolman who will pull over anything so blatently mimicking a police vehicle.
( As far as forcing the transmission to neutral, this is an old mechanical diesel, and the engine can't overrev because the mechanical injector pump this engine uses has its own governor; top RPM is limited by mechanical means.)
The cellphone carrier "TING" sells lines for $6/month and also sells the appropriate SIM card the SIM808 module uses to authenticate itself on the GSM network.
This looks like a nifty way to build all sorts of roaming monitoring and control devices that don't cost an arm and a leg for monthly fees. Why pay for the whole phone experience when all you really wanted was to send a few ascii text strings back and forth... and do it under low power?
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Informative) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday December 01 2016, @11:52AM
isn't that a very low speed service that's not going to be kept on for much longer, in the US?
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2, Informative) by PurpleAlien on Friday December 02 2016, @01:47AM
Yep, 2G is all but dead in the States. You can't introduce new products based on it for example.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday December 02 2016, @04:30AM
Thanks...
I thought that SMS messaging was alive and well judging how many kids I see texting.
When I discovered the availability of these modules, I was all aglow with the opportunities it afforded me to remote control anything within roaming range of a cellphone.
I have built other things of similar functionality, but they only had a range of a couple of miles or so... this technology enables me to build my stuff for worldwide range.
Especially covert tracking/remote control of my personal valuables, when I have to remain very low power due to battery concerns, as well as no third parties involved which just jack up the monthly fees.
I like functionality, reliability, and cheap - all in the same deal.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2, Informative) by PurpleAlien on Friday December 02 2016, @04:44AM
The reason why those SIM modules are so cheap is because every vendor with 2G modules in stock is trying to get rid of them. They want to go LTE as soon as possible, but LTE is also not a panacea (especially if you want worldwide use without different module versions).
Most kids these days don't actually use SMS anymore, instead they use some messaging client over internet since it doesn't cost them extra (just the data package).
That is not to say that there is no opportunity, but you have to find at least a module that supports 3G. AT&T has a list of recommended modules:
https://www.business.att.com/content/other/ATT_Approved_3G_4G_Modules.xlsx [att.com]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday December 01 2016, @12:50PM
I've thought about the same thing but you took it further with the transmission disable, fuel pump and blinking lights. Good ideas. I was originally thinking about just location and ignition status.
I also though about how to implement it in my old Mack truck, all mechanical diesel and transmission. The problem with that rig is the key does not control the fuel or engine. You can turn the key off and the truck will still run and drive! It only enables the starter button and a few accessories. The engine is shut off by pulling a stop knob on the dash. The stop knob yanks a cable which pulls a lever attached to the fuel rack in the injector pump forcing the pump pistons to the no fuel position. How id shut that off is a good question. I'm thinking I'll have to add a fuel valve or something.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday December 02 2016, @04:54AM
You may have to bite the bullet and install a fuel solenoid, or have a solenoid which allows air into the suction end of your injector pump, so you can deliberately force a situation on your thief where he has to go bleed the air out of the injectors before he can get the truck started again.
This is what I will have to do if I shut the fuel pump down remotely. [youtube.com]
I have the mechanical Stanadyne injection pump on my van. It has a solenoid on it that cleanly shuts off the fuel, and is controlled by the ignition switch.
Like you say, those old diesels, once you get 'em started, they run all on their own with no need of any external control or support.
I aim to fix mine up so that I can remove the key yet leaving the engine running by bypassing the fuel solenoid power around the ignition switch. The existing mechanical ignition switch will not let me remove the key until the transmission is shifted into "park" and ignition is "off", so it would be a trivial thing to put in a bypass relay where the instant the transmission is shifted out of "park" without the key in place and ignition turned back ON, the relay would drop out and kill the engine immediately.
I hate to frivolously kill and start that diesel. Hell on the glow plugs. Nor do I want the engine cooling off - it can be hell starting that thing if it is really cold out; I'd rather buy it a bit of diesel fuel to keep it warm than burning the battery, glow plugs, and starter out.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1) by RS3 on Friday December 02 2016, @05:28AM
Would a block heater work for you? I've seen quite a few different types, including ones that heat and circulate coolant- you could use a timer to run it for an hour or so before starting up on cold days.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday December 02 2016, @06:19AM
Thanks...
About the block heater... I will use those on my own property. This is more for deliveries, visits, and restaurant/bathroom pit stops.
I hate to cycle all the startup systems excessively. If its freezing cold outside and I want to take my time in a restaurant, I had just as soon leave the machine idling, but know no-one can just hop in and drive off. Instant they shift it out of "park", its gonna die.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Friday December 02 2016, @08:12PM
Another alternative is an air intake heater. You can look up how its done on the dodge cummins and the ford powerstroke. Others probably do it this way as well, I'm just familiar with those two. I have thought about modifying my intake tube after the turbo to house a dodge cummins style heater but I'm having hard time finding actual dimensions to see if I have enough cross section for flow. The ford heaters screw into a threaded hole on the manifold, usually two of them are used. They glow orange hot and let your engine breath warm air during and after starts. Though they do draw a lot of current, 100-140 amps or so.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday December 03 2016, @05:38AM
I wonder how a modified propane torch would work as an air heater. It will consume some of the oxygen, but then I am thinking on startup, a diesel is running extremely lean anyway. Electrical energy is hard to come by with cold batteries which are already struggling under the load of viscous oil, glow plugs, and a starter motor.
My van sure drives different on cold days... I am quite sure its the intake air temp being low causing the fuel not to vaporize as well.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Saturday December 03 2016, @08:51PM
I've done the torch method two different ways with a 10,000 BTU mapp gas torch. My first method was to use the torch to heat the metal intake tubes after the turbo and the intake manifold. Though its easy to damage things and you really have to get the manifold pretty hot. Also a fire hazard. My other method was unorthadox. I removed the intake tube to the turbo and held the torch in the tube while a friend cranked the engine. Fired right up on a cold autumn day.
Another device to consider is the flame heater, aka thermostart, "flame starter" or "flame thrower". Also improperly called a glow plug by some. It's a little plug that you feed fuel from the return lines or bottle and it has an electric heater that ignites the fuel. You can find them on ebay for a few dollars/quid/euro/etc. You will have to fabricate a bung for the plug but that's pretty simple. I bought one though I haven't had a chance to play with it. They were commons on Perkins for marine and various machinery like tractors. Less current than glow plugs and uses a flame.
Video of one in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi4mV8nrfz4 [youtube.com]
Info from a mfgr: http://beru.federalmogul.com/diesel-cold-start-technology/product-description/diesel-cold-start-products/glow-plugs/glow-plug-for-flame-starting-systems-gf [federalmogul.com]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday December 04 2016, @05:53AM
Thanks for the comment! It seems so logical such a thing should work, as you need the reactants ( air, fuel ) warmed up, not necessarily the whole engine. When a diesel is at low load, its air is wide open, its the fuel that's restricted, so I take it there is still more than enough oxygen to go around, even downstream of a torch.
I was contemplating building some sort of air preheater doing something like this so I could duct it temporarily to the van's air intake during starting during especially trying times, to be removed and put back in the back once the engine caught and started running. You know, based one of those mapp-gas piezo-start torch thingies I can get at Home Depot, a flame chamber ( likely a length of vent pipe ), and some clothes-dryer hose. And rig up a remote starting switch so I can man the starting appara Or maybe later re-do the air intake ducting to something like sheet-metal to leave a hole where I could insert the business end of the torch when needed. Right now, the intake ducting is plastic and won't take the localized heat of a torch.
Looks like that Beru thingie is the same thing but using diesel fuel itself as the heat source. Clever.
Little by little I am picking up tidbits about how to care for this beastie. Diesels are sure a mixed bag. Some really neat blessings mixed with some shortcomings - in my book I feel I get more blessings than curses with this thing.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Sunday December 04 2016, @03:20PM
My pleasure. Old diesels are a fun thing to work on.
(Score: 2) by dlb on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:03PM
(Score: 2, Informative) by PurpleAlien on Friday December 02 2016, @01:32AM
You mean, with something like this: http://www.purplealienplanet.com/node/52 [purplealienplanet.com] which we've been building for years? Some more info if you want to know more: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-we-build-johan-dams [linkedin.com] and https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/or-not-johan-dams [linkedin.com]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday December 02 2016, @05:02AM
Thanks for those links!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by dlb on Friday December 02 2016, @03:40PM
Anyway, it'll still be informative to see how anubi sets things up. And, anubi, if you're writing your own software to handle the interactions between the text messaging and the hardware implementation, I'd love to see the specifics.
(Score: 1) by PurpleAlien on Friday December 02 2016, @06:30PM
Yes, my site and tracker. Of course, I encourage everyone interested in this area to build one :)
(Score: 2) by dlb on Friday December 02 2016, @08:19PM
And with respect to everyone interested building one...easier said than done!
(Score: 1) by PurpleAlien on Friday December 02 2016, @09:12PM
We're actually prepping a Kickstarter to bring that tracker (well, the next gen version of that one) to a wider audience in the form of a bike tracker (but no reason you can only use it for that). Until now we've focused mostly on larger projects like smart cities for government etc. We know there are other trackers out there, but this one will be truly plug and play (no SIM contracts, finding SIM cards, dealing with settings, etc.) and has lots of other advantages.
(Score: 2) by dlb on Saturday December 03 2016, @03:39AM
(Score: 1) by PurpleAlien on Saturday December 03 2016, @04:25AM
It should be priced nicely. We've also had some experience installing them in bikes: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-33154673 [bbc.com] :)
(Score: 2) by skater on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:58PM
I want to do something similar with our RV, but with temperature and status of power monitoring instead - we have pets, and there's always a concern that the power could go out while we're away. Thanks for posting this!