Septic Alarm Monitor

What is it?

(for more details, see this)

This is an M5StickC Plus based monitor for an old-style seprtic alarm (the one that emits a loud sound). It watches for the sound and posts information about alarm starting/stopping to the Internet, thus allowing remote monitoring for the system that is inherently not remote-friendly.

What do you need to get one for yourself?

• An M5StickC Plus controller.
• A computer with Arduino IDE (to build and install software)
• A USB-C cable.

Setup

• Install Arduino software.
  • For Linux, make sure to add your user to group dialout
• Add M5StickC support to Arduino
  • In Preferences add additional board URL https://m5stack.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/resource/arduino/package_m5stack_index.json
  • In Tools->Board->Boards install M5Stack board.
• In Sketch->Manage libraries install the following libraries:
  • M5StickCPlus
  • ThingSpeak
  • TFT
• Select board M5Stick-C-Plus
• Select port (likely /dev/ttyUSB0) and speed (likely 115200)

Installation and configuration

• Go to https://thingspeak.com and create an account. Create a channel and note the Channel ID and the API key you should use.
• Copy arduino_secrets.h.template file to arduino_secrets.h and change the values in it to reflect your WiFi and ThingSpeak setup.
• Load septic_alarm_m5stickc folder in Arduino and make sure the setup above is correct.
• Connect the controller to your PC and make sure Arduino sees it as connected.
• Build and upload the software.

It is recommended to initially uncomment #define DEBUG in config.h and to build and run the controller while connected to the PC with serial monitor open to observe the operation and to make sure everything works. One you are sure it works, comment DEBUG back and re-upload.