Electronics engineer Sebastian Sokołowski has designed a 3D-printable anemometer, or wind gauge, to be used with House Assistant — however, in an uncommon twist, it lacks the normal spinning arms.
“On one aspect, it’s obtained little cups that spin with the wind, and on the opposite, a vane that factors to the place the wind’s coming from. They’re easy and get the job accomplished by measuring rotation velocity and route,” Sokołowski explains of conventional spinning anemometers. “Then you definately’ve obtained the ultrasonic wind gauges. These are high-tech units that keep away from transferring components by measuring how briskly ultrasonic waves journey between sensors, affected by wind. They’re tremendous correct and responsive, however the price ticket is thru the roof. Severely, you’d suppose they have been fabricated from gold!”
Wanting a sturdy and correct wind gauge however being unwilling to pay the value of economic ultrasonic fashions, Sokołowski set about taking a 3rd path — constructing a sensor with no spinning components that, he claims, presents the identical reliability and precision because the ultrasonic fashions, however which swaps costly parts for easy pressure gauges.
“When wind pushes in opposition to a vertical put up hooked up to a versatile base, it causes the put up to bend. The stronger the wind, the extra it bends,” Sokołowski explains. “By measuring this bending in two instructions — north-south and east-west — we are able to determine each the wind’s velocity and route. However wait, there’s a catch. Temperature can have an effect on our measurements as a result of supplies broaden or contract with temperature modifications. So, how can we be sure we’’e measuring wind results and never temperature fluctuations? Easy answer: use 4 pressure gauges as an alternative of two.”
The 3D-printed “sail” is designed to catch the wind coming from any route. (📷: Sebastian Sokołowski)
Sokołowski’s completed design makes use of 4 opposing pressure related to an “omnidirectional sail” that appears like an outsized badminton shuttlecock, designed to steadiness sensitivity with responsiveness. Inside the bottom is an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller, speaking to a four-channel analog to digital converter (ADC) — studying the pressure gauges’ motion, performing the mandatory calculations to shift that into wind velocity and route, and transmitting it to House Assistant by way of the ESPHome firmware.
The mission is documented in full on Sokołowski’s web site, and within the video embedded above and on the maker’s YouTube channel; Sokołowski is making the PCB design recordsdata and “sail” 3D print recordsdata accessible without cost on-request, with the PCBs additionally accessible for buy at $6.47 unpopulated on his retailer.