Recently I shared tutorials on using BME280 sensor and OLED Display with Arduino. I recommend you check it out if you haven’t already. In this article, we will make an indoor Arduino weather station. Previously, we made a simple weather station without sensors. But, for this project we will use an Arduino nano, a BME280 sensor, and an OLED display, along with a breadboard and jumpers for prototyping.
Once you gather the materials for this project, let’s start by assembling the circuit.
Assembling the Arduino Weather Station Circuit
We will use I2C for communication, so this is very simple wiring. Refer to the circuit diagram, below.
The connections are very simple, we use 4 wires to connect all the components. Just connect all the Grounds (GND) together and VDD/VIN to 3.3v. Next connect the SDA and SCL to A4 and A5 respectively. That’s all for the connections. Here is a picture of the circuit on actual breadboard.
After making the circuit, it’s time to program it.
Program Arduino Weather Station
Next, it’s time to create a new sketch. Open the Arduino IDE. You’ll want to combine the code from the BME280 sensor and output the readings to the OLED display. While it’s always better to practice writing the code yourself, we’ve included some sample code below.
Here’s your download!
Download arduino_weather_station.ino
After the code is successfully uploaded to your Nano, you will notice the OLED light up and start displaying Temperature, Pressure, and Humidity.
Improvements and Modifications
We can improve this prototype by making the circuit more permanent. To do this, you can solder everything on a perf board. I used an Arduino Pro Mini for the perf board circuit because it has a small footprint and low power requirement. The connections are same as the Nano. Just make sure you check the pinout diagram before finalizing the wires. Here are some pictures of the build.
You’ll notice that this prototype is small but has some extra room on the top. This was intentional because I wanted extra enough room to add other sensors in the future. The design depends on what you plan on making. I powered everything using 3.7v Li-ion battery.
This guide was designed to give you an overview of the electronics and coding for your very own Arduino weather station. In the next tutorial, I plan to add some more features to this project, and walk you through designing a custom enclosure.
I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new. If you have questions or face any problems, feel free to ask in the comment section below.
Lastly, if you are into robotics, don’t forget to check out my eBook, “Mini WiFi Robot.”
