IoT-devices GGreg20_V3 Ionizing Radiation Geiger counter module under Home Assistant server with ESPHome plugin yaml-script setup example for generic ESP32.
Hackaday Project Page: https://hackaday.io/project/183103-ggreg20v3-ionizing-radiation-detector
ESPHome-Devices Project Page: https://www.esphome-devices.com/devices/IoT-devices-GGreg20-V3/
ESPHome ESP32 Page: https://esphome.io/components/esp32.html
This hardware device is designed to be compatible with as many common software platforms and hardware systems as possible. GGreg20_V3 is compatible with any of the following systems: Arduino, ESP8266, ESP32, STM32, Raspberry Pi, ESPHome, Home Assistant, Tasmota, MicroPython, NodeMCU, Node-RED and many others. All you need to connect the GGreg20_V3 is a system with a pulse counter on the GPIO and a timer to measure time.
- Product description https://iot-devices.com.ua/en/product/ggreg20_v3-ionizing-radiation-detector-with-geiger-tube-sbm-20/
- Datasheet https://iot-devices.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ggreg20_v3-datasheet-eng.pdf
If you already have a server installed, just start it. If you need to deploy the server, we recommend that you review the instructions we developed for deploying Home Assistant in a virtual machine running Windows 10. https://alterstrategy.com/2021/05/03/home-assistant-server-instructions-for-deploying-to-a-windows-virtual-machine/
Step 2. Connect the ESPHome extension for the Home Assistant server via the Supervisor -> Add-on Store menu
The procedure for installing an official Add-on, such as ESPHome, in Home Assistant is quite simple. We recommend that you review Step 8. Installing the ESPHome Plugin (Option) the instructions mentioned earlier. https://alterstrategy.com/2021/05/03/home-assistant-server-instructions-for-deploying-to-a-windows-virtual-machine/
The YAML file is a common text script file in Home Assistant (in this case dedicated to ESPHome) which is used as config when building the firmware. We have developed such a file for ESP32 with GGreg20_V3 and posted it here for free download and use by anyone who needs to connect GGreg20 to Home Assistant via ESPHome.
Let's look on the main parts of the esp32-ggreg20-v3.yaml file prepared by us:
To calculate the value of the ionizing radiation power in CPM and in microsieverts per hour, we used Pulse Counter Sensor - an API-component of the ESPHome plug-in: https://esphome.io/components/sensor/pulse_counter.html
This part of the yaml code is responsible for that:
sensor:
- platform: pulse_counter
pin:
number: 23
inverted: True
mode:
input: True
# No pullup or pulldown on ESP32 side because of internal pullup set in hardware at GGreg20_V3 pulse output side
pullup: False
pulldown: False
unit_of_measurement: 'CPM'
name: 'Ionizing Radiation Power CPM'
count_mode:
rising_edge: DISABLE
falling_edge: INCREMENT # GGreg20_V3 uses Active-Low logic
use_pcnt: False
internal_filter: 190us # for SBM20 tube, for J305 tube use 180us
update_interval: 60s
accuracy_decimals: 0
id: my_cpm_meter
- platform: copy
source_id: my_cpm_meter
unit_of_measurement: 'uSv/Hour'
name: 'Ionizing Radiation Power'
accuracy_decimals: 3
id: my_dose_meter
filters:
- sliding_window_moving_average: # 5-minutes moving average (MA5) here
window_size: 5
send_every: 1
- multiply: 0.0057 # for SBM20 or 0.00332 for J305 by IoT-devices tube conversion factor of pulses into uSv/Hour To calculate the total radiation dose received in microsieverts, the Integration Sensor, also a component of the ESPHome API, is used: https://esphome.io/components/sensor/integration.htm
This part of the yaml code is responsible for that:
sensor:
- platform: integration
name: "Total Ionizing Radiation Dose"
unit_of_measurement: "uSv"
sensor: my_dose_meter # link entity id to the pulse_counter values above
icon: "mdi:radioactive"
accuracy_decimals: 5
time_unit: min # integrate values every next minute
filters:
# obtained dose. Converting from uSv/hour into uSv/minute: [uSv/h / 60] OR [uSv/h * 0.0166666667].
# if my_dose_meter in CPM, then
# for SBM20 [0.0057 / 60 minutes] = 0.000095; so CPM * 0.000095 = dose every next minute, uSv.
# for J305 [0.00332 / 60 minutes] = 0.00005533; so CPM * 0.00005533 = dose every next minute, uSv.
- multiply: 0.0166666667After downloading the file, we suggest you open it with any text editor and become familiar with its contents. Next, in the interface of the ESPHome plugin on the Home Assistant web page with administrator access rights, you need to create your own yaml file by clicking "+" and answering a few initial questions of the wizard. After completing the "wizard", a standard file with the basic parameters appears in the ESPHome interface. Now you need to add to this file the parts that you will find in our yaml example file.
Step 6. Connect the GGreg20_V3 radiation detector to the ESP32 controller via the Out connector to the selected GPIO of the controller
As you can see, the connection is quite simple - you only need to supply power from the ESP32 board for the GGreg20 module, and connect the output (Out) of the sensor to the input (GPIOxx) of the controller and supply 5V to the micro USB connector of the ESP32 board:
There are two ways to connect the GGreg20_V3 to the ESP32 board power supply:
- supply the GGreg20_V3 with 3.3V
- supply GGreg20_V3 with 5V voltage.
You can also choose the third option, when both modules are powered by independent power supplies. In this case, note that both modules must be connected to a common ground.
Before building the firmware, you need to validate the yaml file you created. This will protect you from file errors that may have accidentally made.
Note. If the controller is new - you need to compile and download to the PC a binary firmware bin-file in the ESPHome interface - click DOWNLOAD BINARY after successful compilation.
Next you need to write the firmware to the ESP32 controller. This can be done by means of the ESPHome-Flasher utility. It can be freely found and downloaded via the Internet. https://github.com/esphome/esphome-flasher/releases
After flashing the firmware and restarting the new device, it is recommended to restart the Home Assistant server too.
Important! After starting the server you need to go to the menu Configuration -> Integration. Find there a new device that you flashed and connect it to the server configuration, if it is not connected automatically.
There are two ways to verify that the corresponding GGreg20 entities are registered in the Home Assistant server:
- go to the Developer Tools menu on the sidebar of the Home Assistant interface and search for the relevant data;
- or go to the menu Configuration -> Integration and search there.
Here is an example of a demo tab from an active server for two devices GGreg20_V1 and GGreg20_V3 located in different coordinate axes. Each device uses the same yaml file as we created above.
IoT-devices Online Shop: https://iot-devices.com.ua/en/product/ggreg20_v3-ionizing-radiation-detector-with-geiger-tube-sbm-20/
On Etsy: https://iotdevicesllc.etsy.com
On Tindie: https://www.tindie.com/products/iotdev/ggreg20_v3-ionizing-radiation-detector/
IoT-devices YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHpPOVVlbbdtYtvLUDt1NZw/videos