Workshop: Building a device that can run for years on small batteries
summary
A mailbox sensor that lasts over 2 years on AAA batteries uses a micro switch, low-power LoRaWAN board and careful software to spend most time in deep sleep, wake on falling edge, measure battery and send a short payload. Measured peaks and 8–9 μA deep sleep baseline with an OTii Arc profiler reveal where regulators and transmissions eat energy. Lessons: pick batteries (LS14500 vs LiPo vs coin cell), disable LEDs, add an 8s grace sleep, and verify antenna and airtime with SDR or VNA.
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chapters (18)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:09Agenda
- 2:28Requirements
- 3:03Sensor choice
- 4:53Microswitch
- 5:40Electrical junction box
- 6:07Vinyl decals
- 6:34Custom enclosure
- 6:48Service stack
- 8:13Hardware considerations
- 11:37Battery selection
- 13:50Measurement techniques
- 17:20Demonstration
- 21:47Grace sleep
- 25:01Power regulator
- 32:18Spectrum analyzer
- 35:53Code
- 41:56Lessons
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