DZ 3.2.2 "Humidor" Release Is Out

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IMPROVEMENTS

Added ability to use a humidity sensor based on com.dalsemi.onewire.container.HumidityContainer to operate a humidifier and/or dehumidifier.

This is a snippet of configuration that makes it work:

<bean id="device_factory"
     class="net.sf.dz3.device.sensor.impl.onewire.OwapiDeviceFactory"
     init-method="start">
<constructor-arg index="0" value="/dev/ttyUSB0" />
<constructor-arg index="1" value="regular" />
</bean>

<bean id="humidity_sensor-6500000055FF1A26"
     factory-bean="device_factory"
     factory-method="getHumiditySensor">
<constructor-arg value="6500000055FF1A26" />
</bean>

The humidity_sensor-6500000055FF1A26 bean is further used to feed te thermostat bean that is, however, not controlling the heating or cooling device, but a humidifier or dehumidifier instead - the control chain is identical.

UPDATE: It was reported that there is at least one humidity sensor reported as a temperature sensor - the HT3-R1-A board. In this case, you don't even need to change the factory-method attribute.

DZ3 As A LEGO Construction Set

Q: Can I use DZ3 to run a humidifier?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I do it so the humidifier runs only when the furnace is on?

A: Yes, but some tinkering with relays is necessary today.

Q: But it is not documented!!!

A: So what? There's a thousand things that DZ3 is supposed to do when it is done and finished, most of them unpublished for this or that reason (sometimes as simple as "I didn't get to writing about that yet").

The architecture was intentionally created as generic, transparent and extensible and as possible, and if you want to do something that hasn't yet been documented as "released", sometimes all you have to do is to take a second look at components that are already available.

So, back to the original question, how do you run DZ as a humidifier? You use the OwapiDeviceFactory with getHumiditySensor (I don't remember if I even implemented it yet, but even if I didn't, it's a no-brainer change - look at how getTemperatureSensor is implemented. In any case, it'll be in within a couple of days for sure UPDATE: fixed). Then you feed the output of that sensor into a virtual thermostat - but with the setpoint being a humidity, not temperature. The rest of the chain is obvious - just like with heating and cooling, only this time the output device is the humidifier.

Q: Can I use DZ3 to run a dehumidifier?

A: Yes, invert P and I components of the thermostat PID controller.