RS485 Modbus Sensors ("Bus Probes")

BP#01

Bus Probes are a family of environmental sensors and a digital input (DI) with an RS485 interface. Bus Probes communicate using the standard Modbus RTU protocol.

At the moment, Tibbo offers six types of Bus Probes:

• An ambient temperature sensor (BP#01)
• An ambient temperature and humidity sensor (BP#02)
• An ambient light sensor (BP#03)
• A three-axis accelerometer (BP#04)
• A flood/leak sensor (BP#05)
• An opto-isolated digital input (BP#06)

Bus Probes are typically wired to a twisted-pair cable, which distributes power and carries the RS485 "+" and "–" lines. All probes accept a supply voltage in the 4V to 15V range. This allows you to power them from 5V sources (for example, the 5V output of the Tibbit #00-3), as well as standard 12V power supplies. The wide supply voltage range also means that you can allow for a significant voltage drop along the bus (i.e., use a bus cable of considerable length).

BP sensors are very compact (external dimensions only 40 x 36mm) and sport an attractive look and feel. Each sensor has two mounting holes for attaching it to walls and other surfaces.

Tibbo supplies two TPS2(G2)-compatible Tibbo BASIC applications (see BP-Tester-UI and BP-Tester-Web) for convenient setup, testing, and maintenance of Bus Probes. In addition, two web apps (Bus Probe Test App and Bus Probe Firmware Updater) offer similar functionality when pairing a Bus Probe with a Web485 board.