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Bill of Materials

Ravi Singh edited this page Jul 19, 2026 · 2 revisions

Bill of Materials

The canonical BOM lives in the repo at hardware/BOM.csv. This page is a human-friendly summary plus sourcing notes.

One hub serves up to 6 transmitters. If you're building for two tanks, you need 1× hub BOM + 2× transmitter BOM.


Transmitter (TX) — per tank

Qty Part Where to source Approx. cost (INR)
1 ESP32-C3 SuperMini module AliExpress, Robu.in ₹250
1 REYAX RYLR998 LoRa module Robu.in, official REYAX ₹1,200
1 INA219 breakout (or chip + 0.1 Ω shunt) Robu.in ₹200
1 CN3791 MPPT solar charger module AliExpress ₹200
1 MT3608 boost converter AliExpress ₹50
1 JSN-SR04T / AJ-SR04M waterproof ultrasonic sensor Robu.in, AliExpress ₹400
1 18650 holder (single-cell) Robu.in ₹50
1 18650 Li-ion cell (good brand — Samsung 30Q / LG MJ1 / equivalent) Local battery shop, protected against fakes ₹600
1 Solar panel, 6 V 1–2 W AliExpress, generic ₹200
1 SS14 / 1N5819 Schottky diode Robu.in ₹5
4 0805 SMD passives (1k, 2k, 100k×2 for divider) Robu.in ₹20
~8 0603 100 nF decoupling caps Robu.in ₹20
2 Tactile buttons w/ rubber boots (BOOT + RESET) Robu.in ₹40
1 Phoenix MKDS 1.5 screw terminal (sensor + panel) Robu.in ₹50
1 Custom circular PCB (50×50 mm; see hardware/pcb/tx-schematic.svg) JLCPCB / PCBWay (10× ~₹600) ₹60 amortised
1 M12 cable gland, IP65 Robu.in ₹40
1 EPDM gasket (1–2 mm × 60 mm OD) Local rubber shop ₹20
4 M3 stainless screws + nuts Local ₹20
1 PETG enclosure print (hardware/cases/circular-v1/) Your printer ~₹100 filament

Per-tank rough total: ₹3,500–4,000 (varies with PCB run size, panel quality, and printer ownership).


Hub (RX) — one per property

Qty Part Where to source Approx. cost (INR)
1 ESP32-S3 module (current hub) Robu.in, AliExpress ₹350
1 REYAX RYLR998 LoRa module Robu.in ₹1,200
1 SH1106 1.3" OLED display, white, I²C Robu.in, AliExpress ₹300
1 WS2812B strip — pick one: 2 / 8 / 24 LEDs Robu.in ₹50–₹300
1 1000 µF / 16 V electrolytic cap (WS2812 inrush) Robu.in ₹10
1 Active 3-pin piezo buzzer (5 V) Robu.in ₹30
1 USB-C 5 V / 1 A wall adapter Any ₹300
1 Custom PCB (carrier; see hardware/pcb/rx-schematic.svg) JLCPCB / PCBWay ₹60 amortised
~8 0603 decoupling caps + 10 µF Robu.in ₹20
2 Tactile buttons Robu.in ₹20
1 3D-printed enclosure (your design; we don't ship a hub STL yet) Your printer ~₹150 filament

Hub rough total: ₹2,500–3,000.

Legacy hub board. The ESP32 DevKit v1 (CP2102, 38-pin, USB-C) was the earlier development board and is no longer the shipping hub, but its firmware build is still published — if you already have a DevKit-based hub it keeps working and updating. New builds should use the ESP32-S3 module above.


Sourcing notes

18650 cells. Don't buy "5000 mAh" cells from AliExpress — they're virtually always re-wrapped salvage with real capacity around 1500 mAh. Buy genuine Samsung / LG / Sony / Molicel from a known re-seller (Nkon, IMR Batteries, or in India: Vskart, Robu's authentic batch). Counterfeit cells fail closed-circuit at high temperatures and have been the source of every reliability complaint we've debugged.

RYLR998. Buy from REYAX directly or an authorised distributor (Robu.in in India, DigiKey internationally). Counterfeits exist that don't honor the full AT command set — they pair OK but fail at advanced features like AT+CRFOP (power adjust).

JSN-SR04T variants. Modes are pre-set at the factory via the R19 / R27 solder pads. If your sensor doesn't respond to TRIG/ECHO even with the timing fix, suspect UART mode (rare but exists) — reflow the mode-select pads to the TRIG/ECHO setting.

ESP32-C3 SuperMini. The "SuperMini" variant is what we test against. Other ESP32-C3 dev boards work in principle but the pinout differs — adapt the BOM accordingly.

OLED. The SH1106 1.3" white display is what's tested. The 0.96" SSD1306 also works (different I²C controller, same address) — set OLED_DRIVER=ssd1306 in firmware config if you go this route.


What we deliberately don't include

  • Battery monitor IC — handled by the INA219, no separate fuel-gauge IC needed.
  • External LDO — the ESP32-S3 hub module has an onboard 3.3 V regulator (as did the legacy DevKit's AMS1117). On the TX we use the boost-converter output directly.
  • Watchdog IC — ESP32 has an internal task watchdog. Firmware uses it.
  • Bluetooth — disabled in sdkconfig for both targets to save power. Wi-Fi only.

If you want to add any of these, send a PR with the rationale.

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