Chinese Diesel Heater Controller Integration

This project enables smart control and monitoring of a Chinese diesel heater using modern IoT platforms and hardware. It leverages a Raspberry Pi as a serial-to-MQTT gateway, integrates with Home Assistant for user-friendly HMI, and uses an Arduino as a OneWire-to-Serial adapter for temperature sensing. The solution provides seamless operation, remote access, and automation capabilities for the heater.

System Architecture

• Chinese Diesel Heater -- The primary heating device, controlled via its serial interface.
• Arduino (OneWire-to-Serial Adapter) -- Reads temperature data from OneWire sensors (e.g., DS18B20) and transmits it via serial to the Raspberry Pi.
• Raspberry Pi (Serial-to-MQTT Server) -- Acts as a bridge, receiving serial data from both the heater and Arduino, parsing it, and publishing relevant information to an MQTT broker.
• MQTT Broker -- Facilitates communication between devices and Home Assistant for real-time updates and control.
• Home Assistant (HMI) -- Provides a graphical interface for monitoring heater status, temperature readings, and sending control commands.

Features

• Real-Time Monitoring
  Heater status Room and heater temperature readings

• Remote Control
  Start/stop heater Adjust parameters (fan speed, temperature setpoint, etc.)

• Automation & Scheduling
  Create automations based on temperature, time, or other sensors

• Data Logging
  Historical temperature and device status tracking

How It Works

• Interface to existing controller Arduino reads values via OneWire and sends the data over serial to the Raspberry Pi.

• Serial Communication Raspberry Pi communicates with both the heater controller and Arduino via serial ports.

• MQTT Integration The Raspberry Pi parses serial data, formats it, and publishes updates to specific MQTT topics.

• Home Assistant HMI Home Assistant subscribes to MQTT topics, displays data to the user, and sends control commands back via MQTT.

• Command Handling The Raspberry Pi receives MQTT commands, translates them to the heater’s serial protocol, and sends them to the device.

Components

• Chinese Diesel Heater
• Raspberry Pi (with MQTT client)
• Arduino (with OneWire and serial libraries)
• Home Assistant Server
• MQTT Broker (e.g., Mosquitto)