vbus-collector

Data visualization is done by vbus-server

The easiest way to use this project if Homeassistant is already used is to install the Addon Hassio VBUS

Features

• Save data to sqlite database
• Send data to mqtt brocker (for integration in other home automation software)
• Direct HTTP integration to Homeassistant

Docker container

https://hub.docker.com/r/ttobias/vbus-collector/

HowTo Build

The RaspberryPi or other linux machine should be running and connected to the internet, ssh sould be available.

• Get root via sudo -s, su or other ways 😄

Get the necessary packages (raspbian)

$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install git build-essential cmake libsqlite3-dev sqlite

Get the necessary packages (archlinux-arm)

$ pacman -Syu
$ pacman -S git base-devel cmake libsqlite3-dev sqlite3

Download the source code

$ mkdir -p /srv/vbus
$ cd /srv/vbus
$ git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/tripplet/vbus-collector.git collector

Compile the data collector service and the included libraries

$ cd /srv/vbus/collector/paho.mqtt.c
$ cmake -S . -B build -DPAHO_BUILD_STATIC=TRUE -DPAHO_ENABLE_TESTING=FALSE
$ cmake --build build --parallel
$ cd "/srv/vbus/collector/cJSON"
$ cmake  -S . -B build -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF -DENABLE_CJSON_TEST=OFF -DENABLE_CJSON_UTILS=OFF -DENABLE_LOCALES=OFF
$ cmake --build build --parallel
$ cd /srv/vbus/collector
$ make

Setting up system files

Now the udev rule and systemd service file need to be soft linked to the right locations

$ ln -s /srv/vbus/collector/00-resol-vbus-usb.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
$ systemctl link /srv/vbus/collector/monitor-vbus.service

Get the connected usb devices, identify the vbus adapter and make sure the 00-resol-vbus-usb.rules file contains the correct vid and pid. For mine it was vid=1fef, and pid=2018, if these are different on your device, change them in the provided 00-resol-vbus-usb.rules file.

$ lsusb
  Bus 001 Device 011: ID 1fef:2018
  ...

Now reload the udev rules

$ udevadm control --reload-rules

If the VBUS-USB adapter is connected the file /dev/tty_resol should exist

$ stat /dev/tty_resol
  File: '/dev/tty_resol' -> 'ttyACM0'
  Size: 7    Blocks: 0    IO Block: 4096    symbolic link

Check if the collector is working (stop with Ctrl+C)

$ /srv/vbus/collector/vbus-collector --delay 1 /dev/tty_resol
  System time:13:19, Sensor1 temp:20.7C, Sensor2 temp:21.0C, Sensor3 temp:22.9C, Sensor4 temp:24.0C, Pump speed1:0%, Pump speed2:0%, Hours1:2302, Hours2:2425
  System time:13:19, Sensor1 temp:20.7C, Sensor2 temp:21.0C, Sensor3 temp:22.9C, Sensor4 temp:24.0C, Pump speed1:0%, Pump speed2:0%, Hours1:2302, Hours2:2425
  System time:13:19, Sensor1 temp:20.7C, Sensor2 temp:21.0C, Sensor3 temp:22.9C, Sensor4 temp:24.0C, Pump speed1:0%, Pump speed2:0%, Hours1:2302, Hours2:2425

Start the monitor-vbus service, remove the "--mqtt" parameter form the service file if no mqtt server is a available at localhost:1883

$ systemctl start monitor-vbus

Check wether the service is running properly

$ systemctl status monitor-vbus
  ● monitor-vbus.service - Monitor resol vbus temperatures
     Loaded: loaded (/srv/vbus/collector/monitor-vbus.service; linked; vendor preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mi 2015-09-02 13:29:23 CEST; 10min ago
   Main PID: 12422 (vbus-collector)
     CGroup: /system.slice/monitor-vbus.service
             └─12422 /srv/vbus/collector/vbus-collector --no-print --delay 60 --db /srv/vbus/collector/data.db /dev/tty_resol

Check that data is being written to the sqlite database

$ sqlite3 /srv/vbus/collector/data.db "SELECT * FROM data ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 4;"
  174837|2015-09-02 11:28:10|10:24|18.8|20.9|22.6|22.9|0|0|2302|2425
  174836|2015-09-02 11:29:07|10:22|18.9|20.9|22.7|22.9|0|0|2302|2425
  174835|2015-09-02 11:30:05|10:21|18.8|20.9|22.6|22.9|0|0|2302|2425
  174834|2015-09-02 11:31:03|10:20|18.9|20.9|22.6|22.9|0|0|2302|2425

Date/Time values in the sqlite database are stored in UTC. To get the correct local time ensure that the timezone on the system is set properly and use:

$ sqlite3 /srv/vbus/collector/data.db "SELECT datetime(time, 'localtime'),* FROM data;"

Options file

vbus-collector can be controlled using cli options for fast testing but the preferred way is to use an options file.

For production the following file could be used.

{
    "device": "/dev/serial/by-id/usb-1fef_2018-if00",
    "interval": 60,
    "verbose": false,
    "database": "/srv/vbus/collector/data.db",
    "print_stdout": false,
    "mqtt": {
        "enabled": false,
        "base_topic": "heizung",
        "server": "tcp://localhost:1883",
        "client_id": "vbus",
        "user": null,
        "password": null
    },
    "homeassistant": {
        "enabled": false,
        "entity_id_base": "sensor.heating"
    }
}

Usage:

$ vbus-collector --config options.json

Homeassistant integration

If Homeassistant is enabled in the options file, vbus-collector will send all sensor updates to the Homeassitant instance using the HTTP REST API.

All sensors are created using the entity_id_base appended with and underscore and the sensor name. For example: sensor.heating_furnace

How to enable:

1. Enable the homeassistant in the options.json.
2. Enable the API component in Homeassitant.
3. Create a long lived access token.
4. Provide the access token using the environment variable SUPERVISOR_TOKEN.
5. Provide the Homeassistant URL using the environment variable HOMEASSISTANT_API_URL.
6. Optionally change the entity_id_base option.

Setting environment variables for the systemd service can be done by creating the /srv/vbus/collector/homeassistant-secrets with the following content:

SUPERVISOR_TOKEN=....
HOMEASSISTANT_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8123

Optionally if Homeassistant is running on a different system the environment variable HOMEASSISTANT_API_URL can be used to send the sensor values to a different system.

Additionally I created a Homeassistant Addon Hassio VBUS which runs vbus-collector and vbus-server inside a Homeassistant Addon.

The Addon is functional and working but lacks documentation

Have fun