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I'm trying to make my own home wireless security system. I will be using probably 3 AA batteries to power these devices. My problem is that I need to know if the batteries will be enough to power the devices for at least 6 months. Below are the details of all the devices I will be using:

  1. Mini Nano V3.0 ATmega328P Microcontroller Board w/USB Cable For Arduino
  2. Makerfire Arduino NRF24L01+ 2.4GHz Wireless RF Transceiver Module
  3. uxcell MC 38 Mount Wired Door Window Sensor Magnetic Reed Switch Recessed

Below are some project requirements that might be useful:

  1. For the Nano, I want to put it to sleep using delay(2000) in the loop() function. The Nano will be the one checking the window sensor.
  2. I will be using a project enclosure of about 4X4 inches.

If this will not be possible maybe someone knows of other devices that use less power that will be more suitable for this project? I would prefer something easy to use like Arduino Nano with USB so I can easily program it.

EDIT: sorry but I just like to add that from the main HUB component, I would like to check the status of the window sensor if it is open/closed. This will be useful if there is an open window/door around the house when going to sleep. Probably the Nano will broadcast its current window sensor status to the main HUB program. Thanks.

Marquinio
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3 Answers3

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You should use interrupts for the reed switch and then put the microcontrolller into sleep for a keep alive interval. Your master device should check that the sensor is still active and set off the alarm if its not. You would also want to allow for a battery low condition that might disable the alarm for convince. This still should keep the power consumption low.

The nano is roughly 1mA @ 3.3v while the CPU is running and 72uA when its in sleep. Discounting power consumption in the alarm condition triggered by the interrupt using an interval of 9 seconds using delay or interrupt timers then average consumption then about a second to wake up and send a keep alive over the RF. (0.000072 * 9 + 0.001 * 1) / 10 = 0.0001648 amps. (average over 10 second duty cycle)

My guesstimate of your RF power consumption without knowing what kind of protocol would be somewhere around 128 bytes per transmission taking about 90ms. (0.0001 * 9910 + 0.015 * 90) / 10,000 = 0.0002341 amps.

Total of their averages is: 0.0003989 or 398.9uA.

Alkaline AA cells vary widely. So instead based on some Ni-MH with 2400mAh per cell and 1.2v

3 cells would be 3.6v so you'll "get" most of the mAhs out of the batteries.

2400mAh = 2400000uAh

2400000uAh / 398.9uA ~= 6016.54 hours or 250 days or 8 months.

Power consumption were intentional overestimates. You should be able to make it last a lot longer.

https://www.avrprogrammers.com/howto/atmega328-power http://harizanov.com/2013/05/nrf24l01-power-consumption-footprint/

jdwolf
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It only seems to do one thing: activate an alarm if the reed switch changes. Power the system through the reed switch. It will have zero standby current and the battery will last the shelf life. That said, you might be able to use an RF module w/o even a MCU, though not that particular one...

dandavis
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You should use a reed switch that is both NC and NO. Then power only the disconnected part of the switch and listen to pin changes and put everything into sleep. This can improve your power consumption. See the answers postet here: Low Power Pin Change Detection

Kwasmich
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