Hangar monitoring system

Camera's, GPSs and other Gizmos (please let me know if you find an existing thread to be moved into this NEW section)
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andy
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Hangar monitoring system

Post by andy »

I built and installed a hangar monitoring system for my Maule so that I could tell what's going on 22 miles away on my cell phone and control remote devices in the hangar. Here's what it can do.
  • Remotely monitor temperature, humidity, air pressure, light intensity, UV-A/UV-B light
  • Remotely monitor for fire or intrusion (PIR sensor)
  • Remotely turn on and off AC appliances such as an engine preheater from your cell phone
  • Remotely set limits by cell phone for temperature, humidity, air pressure, light intensity, UV-A/UV-B light to notify your cell phone if they exceeded
  • Remotely monitor a video camera with night vision capability
Here's the parts list and costs (less shipping).

$32.10 Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 microcontroller purchase
$34.40 Arduino MKR ENV sensor purchase
$14.98 Onyehn PIR sensor 5-pack purchase
$7.75 Raculety IP65 Waterproof Junction Box purchase
$18.60 Adafruit 328 Battery, Lithium Ion Polymer, 3.7V, 2500mAh purchase
$9.33 USB-A to USB-micro cable purchase
$19.00 Apple 12-watt 5 vdc power adapter purchase
$26.95 Sparkfun IoT power relay purchase
$8.33 Verizon mifi 8800L Jet Pack and cellular data service monthly charge
$149.99 Lorex Smart Indoor/Outdoor 1080p Wi-Fi Camera
$0.00 Arduino IoT Remote app for iPhone
$0.00 Arduino IoT Cloud service for one device
$313.10 TOTAL PURCHASE COST
$8.33 TOTAL MONTHLY RECURRING COST

The camera isn't strictly necessary but I like being able to see my airplane and the hangar condition from my iPhone so I think it's worth the cost. The camera will send notifications to your phone if it detects a person, sound or significant change in light. It can also be set to sound an alarm. You can be anywhere in the world and monitor and control your hangar from your phone. I haven't tried this with an Android phone because I don't have one, but the Arduino IoT Remote app is available on the Google Play App Store so it should work the same.

I'm posting this since it took me a lot of time and experimentation to put the hardware and software together and if any other Maule owners are interested in doing something similar, I can save them a lot of time, trouble and money. You are welcome to my Arduino code at no cost. It's not very complex and you can customize it fairly easily if you're into programming. I'd also be willing to help you through the tricky parts such as setting up the Arduino IoT Cloud account and defining the components. As far as physically assembling the components, anyone who is handy can do it but I'd be willing to put the Arduino microcontroller and environmental shield and PIR sensor into a project box since there's a bit of soldering that has to be done for the PIR sensor. I'm not looking to make a business out of this but I don't mind making a limited number of microcontroller assemblies if you want help.

This system is pretty flexible. You could omit all the Arduino Internet Of Things (IoT) components if all you want to do is monitor your hangar with the Lorex camera. If you have wifi at your hangar, you don't need the Verizon mifi and you could save $8.33/month. Just doing that part would drop the purchase cost to about $150.

I'm not going to the hangar today but next time I'm there I'll take a photo of the whole thing and post it. For now, here's a remote photo taken by the Lorex video camera that came off my iPhone.

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Andy
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DavZeeMXT
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Re: Hangar monitoring system

Post by DavZeeMXT »

I’m sure I’m not the only one to read this and think this setup is a dream come true.
Very much looking forward to following along on this thread!
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Re: Hangar monitoring system

Post by Hale-Yes »

Andy, Believe me, I understand that this airplane ownership thing can become a obsession, but wouldn't it be better if the two of you just moved in together? :D :D :D :D :D :oops: :oops:
"The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are out numbered by those who vote for a living" Author unknown.

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andy
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Re: Hangar monitoring system

Post by andy »

I tried for a hangar/home about 20 years ago when my wife and I had only been married for 25 years. She wouldn't go for it, so you can guess which view prevailed.
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Re: Hangar monitoring system

Post by Hale-Yes »

Yup, I understand. Most gals take a dim view of that open relationship concept. . .I try (with limited success) to keep my aircraft obsession concealed. I think it has evolved into a don't ask, don't tell thing.
"The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are out numbered by those who vote for a living" Author unknown.

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Re: Hangar monitoring system

Post by HeavyLoad »

Andy. Awesome project. I've automated several things in my life. And always fun to see others do projects like this.

Which cell data service plan are you using from Verizon? Is that price the same if you don't already have a plan with Verizon?

btw. For a cheaper web cam solution I'd recommend wyze cams. They have a few and don't require a cloud data service. Here is one that allows for remote panning. https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-pan.html
And the latest v3 cam has excellent night mode. https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-v3.html but looks like they are currently on back order.
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Re: Hangar monitoring system

Post by andy »

HeavyLoad, I added the Verizon mifi 8800L to our shared data plan which allows us to share 8GB of data per month between our cell phones, my iPad mini and the mifi. We are "renting" the mifi JetPack from Verizon rather than spending $199 up front to buy it so it works out to be about $16 more per month with all the taxes and fees. The $8.44/month that they advertise for this device doesn't include all the taxes and fees - of course! I have to give it credit for doing a good job in a weak cellular signal area though. Closed metal hangars aren't conducive to radio signal propagation. I get about 2 bars of signal on it with the hangar door closed and I have no trouble connecting to it over the cellular data network. An external antenna would help but there's no external antenna connection on it.

The only reason that I used the Lorex HD IP cam is that I already had it and it works pretty well, although it's a bit of a pain to set up. I'm not familiar with the Wyze v3 web cam but just about anything would be cheaper than the Lorex. The Lorex Home app does have some nice features like push notifications to a smart phone and smart zones which allow you to select the grids in the image that you want to monitor but I don't think it's worth $199.95. It's weatherproof to some extent in case of a leak in the hangar so that's a good feature. If you mount the camera outside, you have to cover the rubber flap on the top with tape to prevent water from getting inside the area where the memory card sits and damaging the camera. I have one in my driveway and it's been working well for over a year.

I was experimenting with the Arduino microcontroller and I don't really need all the environmental sensors. I like to be able to see the temperature at the hangar to decide whether or not to bring a propane cylinder for engine preheat. My hangar lease doesn't allow me to keep flammable fuels in the hangar other than what's in the airplane's fuel tanks. The PIR sensor detects intruders as well as flames if a fire breaks out but I don't really need the humidity, air pressure and luminance. It was just easier and cheaper to buy the Arduino MRK ENV sensor board with all of these sensors than to add individual sensors to a prototype board.

The big feature of the Arduino is it's ability to connect to wifi from the mifi JetPack and allow me to remotely turn electric engine preheat on and off using the IoT relay. I could program the Arduino to turn the preheater on for a specified time or until a certain temperature has been reached.
Andy
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