What is a Tentacle?
Tentacle is how Anemone Platform calls open hardware devices which are connected to it.
In the end, a fully grown Anemone has a lot of cute Tentacles, right? ;)
Supported Tentacles
Anemone platform currently supports two open hardware devices based on nodeMCU v2 by default (we call them Tentacles). But any open hardware device which is capable of using MQTT can be connected to the Anemone Platform.
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Right now two low-cost hobby Tentacles based on nodeMCU v2 are supported - a Button and Display.
Support for the industrial quality devices from the BigClown family is coming soon.
Button Tentacle
Features
- Based on nodeMCU v2
- Connected via Wi-Fi
- Requires USB Power
- Low-Cost
- Hobby usage
Button Tentacle is an open hardware button. It is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi. It has to be connected to the power via USB cable. Pressing it can trigger action in your Flow.
Display Tentacle
Features
- Based on nodeMCU v2
- Connected via Wi-Fi
- Requires USB Power
- Low-Cost
- Hobby usage
Display Tentacle is an open hardware display. It is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi. It has to be connected to the power via USB cable. It can show some result value from your Flow.
BigClown (BC) Base Tentacle
Features
- Based on BigClown Base Station
- Connected via USB, communicates with Remotes on 868 MHz Radio
- Requires USB Power
- Industrial quality and usage
Support for this Tentacle is coming soon! But you can download a cute 3D Printable Case for it right now.
BigClown Base Tentacle allows you to read various data and send it to your Flow. It has a modular sensor architecture (sensors in BigClown world are called Tags). BigClown Base Tentacle does not have the ability to connect itself to the internet (therefore to the Anemone Cloud) directly. You will need to connect it to your computer or RaspberryPi via USB cable or wirelessly to the BigClown USB Dongle.
On the other hand BigClown Base Tentacle can receive wireless data from the rest of your BigClown network (for example from the BigClown (BC) Remote Tentacle, the BigClown USB Dongle can be used for that purpose as well).
BigClown Tentacles are more complex, versatile and robust than the low-cost tentacles based on NodeMCU v2. BigClown Tentacles have industrial quality. But all of this comes for a cost. BigClown Tentacles are also more expensive.
More about BigClown (BC) Base Tentacle
BigClown (BC) Remote Tentacle
Features
- Based on BigClown Remote Station
- Communicates with Base on 868 MHz Radio
- Operated on Battery Power
- Wireless
- Industrial quality and usage
Support for this Tentacle is coming soon! But a cute 3D Printable Case for it can be downloaded right now.
BigClown Remote Tentacle allows you to read various data and send it to your Flow. It has a modular sensor architecture (sensors in BigClown world are called Tags). BigClown Remote Tentacle does not have ability to connect itself to the internet (therefore to the Anemone Cloud) directly. You will need to connect it wirelessly to the BigClown Base Tentacle or directly to the BigClown USB Dongle.
On the other hand BigClown Remote Tentacle is the ONLY Tentacle which can operate completely wirelessly. It can collect data and send them over radio. It is powered by four AAA batteries.
BigClown Tentacles are more complex, versatile and robust than the low-cost tentacles based on NodeMCU v2. BigClown Tentacles have industrial quality. But all of this comes for a cost. BigClown Tentacles are also more expensive.
More about BigClown (BC) Remote Tentacle
Tentacle Usage
Usage of a Tentacle is very easy:
- For the supported devices the platform will generate all the necessary source code needed to connect the device to a platform and shows a step-by-step instructions how to upload the generated source code to the device.
- For other devices (not directly supported), the generated MQTT credentials can be used to establish MQTT connection with Anemone Cloud.
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