A few weeks ago, Amazon had a deal going on MPow’s Motion Sensor Light with 4 LEDs. It was $10 with a coupon and from the looks of it, I was hoping to one ofthe Launchpads into the enclosure. Not to mention, they advertise the unit as having a weather-resistant IP64 and heatproof construction.
Note: As of writing this article, the 8-LED version is a better deal and less than the 4-LED version, after shipping.
The package comes with the following:
- IP64 Enclosure
- Solar panel
- PIR sensor
- 4 bright white LEDs
- Charging circuitry
- A hidden pushbutton to change modes
- 3.7V, 600mAh battery
The package came in a day as I was still on the Amazon Prime’s trial membership from Prime day. The box surprised me a little as I was hoping for a bigger enclosure. Anyway, as EEVBlog’s Dave says… Don’t turn it on, take it apart, I find a screwdriver in my hand and get going.
There are 4 screws at the back which come off easily.
Taking it apart reveals the battery and PCB. Note that the electronics are protected in a smaller area with the cover housing a weather strip seal. The seal is channeled, so that the other half fits snugly in the cover keeping water and dirt out.
The battery is held in place with double side sticky tape. Wires for the solar panel and LEDs come from outside the enclosure and are sealed with glue.
Removing two more screws exposes the PIR lens. The PCB houses the pushbutton, PIR sensor and the AS083 pyroelectric infrared control IC. The PIR filter is removable by unscrewing the 4 screws. This is the perfect place for housing your sensor.
There are no specs on the solar panel. Unfortunately, the panel is sealed into the enclosure and is not removable. In a way this is good, as it keeps the weather out.
Fitment
The goal of getting the device was to see if I could fit any of the Launchpads in. Lets start:
The MSP430G2 Launchpad fits snugly within the weather sealed area. The board may have to be inverted as the headers hit the cover.
The primary reason for getting this enclosure was to get it wirelessly connect to myhome Wi-Fi using the CC3200 Launchpad. Unfortunately, the board goes past the weather seal boundary. However, the board may still fit with a little dremelling, although it may not be IP64 rated at this point.
The CC2650STK SensorTag fits perfectly within the weather seal. In the above image, I have the debug pack connected underneath the CC2650 main PCB.
43oh member and analog.io creator, Luke Beno, also snagged one for his MSP430 wireless sensor node. This above image shows the wireless sensor node fitting snugly within the weather seal enclosure.
Links
- MPow 4 LED Version – $11.99 + $2.54 Shipping
- MPow 8 LED Version – $13.99 Free Shipping
- 43oh Discussion on the MPow Solar Charger
- LgBeno’s MSP430 Wireless Sensor Node.
Are the components on the PCB re-usable.. can we interface to it?
The wires for both the LEDs and solar panel are easily accessible. You might have to cut a few traces to get access to the PIR sensor.
They seem to be changing the price of the solar enclosures nearly everyday. The 8-LED is a few dollars more now. I purchased one anyway.
funny, we have also unassembled this device a few months ago for one of our client having similar product to make
You can easily fit a Red Bear Lab WiFi Mini or BLE Mini in there as well.
Never knew about the red bear CC3200. Looks pretty small.. but cannot find any details on size. Anyone know how small it is?
Hi Saven, the details are on their main page. The dimensions are 73 x 54 x 12mm
http://redbearlab.com/
Ordering page: http://store.redbearlab.com/products/wifi-mini
The full size one is 73 x 54 x 12mm. The wifi-mini is 48 x 24 x 5mm.
Thanks trip!
Another iot enclosure..charged inductively. For home sensors: http://amzn.to/1KpNthq Use coupon SENSOR5F for $5 off
Down to $9.99 with coupon code W27T75GX
http://amzn.to/1VM7Toh
Too bad!
They don’t ship to NL.
New coupon codes:
Buy one save $3, coupon code 7KM3SUHO $12.99
Buy two save $7, coupon code 23A8BQY9 $24.98
Buy three save $11, coupon code QBRWZBC7 $36.97