balenaSense v2: Updated temperature, pressure, and humidity monitoring for Raspberry Pi

Discussions
27

@matt36er the current version (V2) of balenaSense does not support the BALENASENSE_TEMP_OFFSET variable. The updated guide is located here: balenaSense v2: Updated temperature, pressure, and humidity monitoring for Raspberry Pi

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@rcarteraz Bosch does make a library for converting BME 680 VOC readings into an air quality index. It is proprietary and requires a license, but you could download it and try it out, although you would have to integrate it into the sensor block or create a new AQI block. https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/software-tools/software/bsec/
Otherwise, you could create a simple graph in the dashboard that brackets the resistance values into a crude air quality index. See the section on “viewing the dashboard” in this post for some more information about editing the dashboards: balenaSense v2: Updated temperature, pressure, and humidity monitoring for Raspberry Pi

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Great Article. About time I put my Raspberry Pi to use. This will be my first Sensor Project so give me a free pass if I seem to ask rather obvious Questions.

I have a Raspberry Pi 4B with 16GB Storage.

I know the Article gives a list of Sensors but wanted to confirm if the List is still applicable and for Specific Sensor Recommendations based on Performance/ Durability. Like best sensor among those. Obviously this will depend on the item to be measured. For now am not particular on anything. Just want to put the raspberry pi into use and measure as much as possible, accurately.

I don’t have a soldering device, so I would obviously prefer one with solderless connectors.

FYI I have checked on Amazon. There are many sellers of some of the sensors at different prices/ reviews.

Hence why am asking, hopping to get guidance hopefully on something that has been tried or is reputable

30

Hello @Ojay first of all welcome to the balena community.

Related with the compatible sensors, go to the balenaSense blogpost and check on the Getting started sections the sensors which are compatible with the balenaSense.

Let us know what are your next steps here.

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Hey, thanks for the welcome.

The Blog is actually what brought me to the Forum. Was looking for the sensors and I just couldn’t figure out a reputable seller since on Amazon there are several.

Plus I also wanted to check if there are better sensors than those recommended in the guide.

Basically I was more or less looking for specific pointers on for instance where I can get the solderless BME680.

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32

Let’s see if @alanb128 knows more sensors compatible with balenaSense.

If you want solderless i remember these ones from Pimoroni were compatible with balenaSense @Ojay
→ BME680 Breakout - Air Quality, Temperature, Pressure, Humidity Sensor

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33

Hello @ojay one of the Bosch sensors are a good starting point: BME680, BMP280, BME280. If you buy them with “qwiic” connectors (available at Adafruit, Sparkfun and others) you can connect to the Pi without soldering. You’ll just need a qwiic to female socket jumper cable such as this: STEMMA QT / Qwiic JST SH 4-pin Cable with Premium Female Sockets [150mm Long] : ID 4397 : $0.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits.

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34

Okay Thank You.

It has also occurred to me that i could also simply get these soldered at an Electrical Shop, assuming there are no specific soldering requirements.

35

So i finally got the Components together but am a bit lost how the Cable you linked connects. I have the following:

  1. Raspberry Pi 4B
    image

  2. ACEIRMC BME680 Digital Temperature Humidity Pressure Sensor Breakout Board

    image
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  3. Stemma QT/Qwiic JST SH 4-pin Cable with Premium Female Sockets - 150mm Long Ada
    image

Anything i am missing?

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@Ojay,

Good question. Thank particular BME680 sensor device doesn’t have a STEMMA QT connector to match your cable. Other sensors, perhaps including other BME680 sensors, do have a STEMMA QT connector. For instance, this is a view into a balenAir here in the balena office:

bme680
bme6801920×1446 153 KB

You can probably use the sensor device that you have but you may want to use individual jumper / dupont cables.

37

Okay Thanks that is clear enough. Unfortunately my options are a bit limited and can only get stuff from Amazon US which only had that BME 680 highly reviewed Board.

I think i have seen the Dupont Cables but unfortunately they will take a month or so to arrive.

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38

Amazon carries the Sparkfun version of the BME680 with a Qwiic connector that will work with the cable you have. https://www.amazon.com/SparkFun-Environmental-Sensor-Breakout-environmental/dp/B088KW9SWK/

There’s also a more generic version with dupont connectors included: https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Environment-Temperature-Barometric-Motherboards/dp/B0CWYD5RDN/

I haven’t tried either of these so I can’t provide a recommendation but at least you can get an idea of options available that require no soldering and will connect directly to a Pi.

39

Noted and Thanks…

40

This BME 688 Sensor comes with a cable with 6 ends. Where do these connect on the raspberry pi 4?

image

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Hwy @Ojay - check the Pi pinout on https://pinout.xyz/ and match things up. The sensor will have a specification for VCC (either 3.3V or 5V), so you would match that (and the other pins) to those on the Pi.

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Okay thanks.

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So i got it up and running though i didnt use two cables.

The BME 688 Sensor i got supports AI Function, Supports Temperature/Humidity/Barometric Pressure/Gas Detection.

I have connected it to my Raspberry and it is working fine, though I don’t understand the relatively high temperature readings. On the Raspberry I have installed balena.

Now what I am currently lost on is how to connect it to home Assistant. Even after following the guide I can’t seem to get it working on HA.

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How do i convert the resistance to useful information?

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44

There are some resources online to calculate air quality from the resistance values and other readings, such as: BME680 gas resistance values - #14 by AJG - ESPHome - Home Assistant Community

Where are you having trouble setting up the communication with Home Assistant? Do you have mqtt enabled there?

1 Like
45

Something weird is happening post-update. I have loaded fresh images with 6.0.50 and 6.0.36+rev1 (Pi 3, 64 Bit OS and a BME680). It loads and works fine until I shutdown and restart. Something happening in the update is breaking things.

The error logged upon restarting is “2024-11-03T06:21:02Z E! [inputs.http] Error in plugin: [url=http://sensor:7575]: Get “http://sensor:7575”: context deadline exceeded (Client.Timeout exceeded while awaiting headers)”. Everything is present and started but no data is arriving from the sensor after the restart.

These get requests work from a fresh install and I can’t see what the update is changing, but it’s looking like it’s something on your side (or is at least visible on your side) is causing a timeout afterward. Any suggestions?

Cheers!

46

Hello @ScottP are you rebooting the device or just restarting the services before you receive the errors? Also, is the “update” you’re referring to a host OS update or something else?