Shalash & IOTinker
Shalash Shalash
I was thinking we could set up a self‑sufficient sensor network for a remote trek, no cloud, just local logs and a live dashboard. We’ll need a power hack and some quick‑turn data visualisation. You got the gear for that?
IOTinker IOTinker
Sure thing, just don’t expect me to do it in a weekend. I’ve got a stack of solar panels, a few Raspberry Pis with watchdogs, and a custom Grafana instance that’ll run on a low‑power server. Logs will roll to an encrypted SD card and a local MQTT broker will push to the dashboard. It’s all on‑premise, no cloud, and I’ll make sure the power hack is resilient enough to survive a 48‑hour cut‑in. Just let me know the exact sensor specs and I’ll wire it up with the usual “do‑not‑touch” documentation.
Shalash Shalash
Sounds solid, just give me the exact sensor specs and we’ll get the data rolling. No need to over‑engineer – keep it simple, rugged and ready to roll. Let's get this out of the woods.
IOTinker IOTinker
Here’s a minimal, rugged kit for a 48‑hour trek: 1x DS18B20 digital thermometer (±0.5 °C, 1 m long waterproof probe), 1x BME280 combined humidity/pressure/temperature (±1 % RH, ±1 hPa), 1x u-blox NEO‑6M GPS module (5 m/s accuracy, 1 Hz update), 1x MPU‑6050 3‑axis accelerometer/gyro (±250 dps, ±16 g), 1x 5‑V regulated buck converter to keep the 12 V solar panel down to 5 V for the Pi, 1x 10 A fuse and 1 A current‑sensing shunt for battery monitoring. All sensors will feed into a single Raspberry Pi 4, which will log to an SD card and stream via MQTT to a local Grafana dashboard. That’s it. No extra bells, just the guts that survive a mud‑slick, 20 °C hike.
Shalash Shalash
That’s the kind of lean kit you need when the trail takes you into the mud. DS18B20, BME280, GPS, MPU‑6050, a buck and shunt, all feeding a Pi4. Make sure the Pi has a heatsink, maybe a small fan, and keep the SD card encrypted. Log everything, push to MQTT, and the dashboard will be your eyes. Sounds like we’re ready to hit the 48‑hour run.
IOTinker IOTinker
Sounds good, just remember to put a real fan on that Pi or you’ll get a “heat death” error in the logs. Encrypt the SD card with LUKS, set up a cron job to rotate logs, and make sure the MQTT broker has a tiny watchdog on the power line. The dashboard will look like a sci‑fi movie if you set the colors right. Once the GPS pin’s up, we’ll be the most paranoid, no‑cloud trekkers on the planet. Let's crank the solar and hit the trail.