IoT - node-red tips

Playing with node-red I did hit a couple of problems.
This page collects some tips/suggestions/FAQ to easy deal with this great program.

fHelper - MQTT edition

Ok, time to sum up this version of fHelper project.

After a series of tests and experiments, the Huzzah32 client is quite stable and reliable to read the capacitive soil sensor.

After adding a ambient temperature and humidity sensor (AM2302 or DHT-22) and setting a dashboard using node-red, the project is ready for the final stage, using a PCB to hold the client.

fHelper - capacitive humidity sensor

Time ago I did use a traditional humidity soil sensor (from the Grove family) for the fHelper project and it ended up very badly.


After some search I decided to try a capacitive sensor.
There are many on the market, so I just did pick up one of the cheapest
and easy to have one, from Amazon.


This is a brief review of this sensor.

fHelper on Node-Red

If using Node-Red to handle fHelper an algorithm to handle the alarm is needed.


Here a brief description of the algorithm implemented in Node-Red.
The server is controlling a LED on the client to notify the plant need to be watered.

Set up a Raspberry IoT server

For some projects can be useful to have a place and mean where to collect and store data retrieved form some process.
IoT 101.


There are many IoT services out there, many free, but for some applications is better to have everything close.
Let set up a small and efficient IoT local server based on MQTT protocol running over a Raspberry Pi.