USBwire - USB thermometer

NOTE: The Polish version of this article is also available.

The device is built almost entirely using Dallas samples:

The schematics are taken from the datasheet sample:

After I connected it to USB port, it was detected properly. However, I needed drivers... I wrote a simple userspace usb driver. It was a real PITA, as I had very little documentation available at that time, but it finally worked. The first driver wersion was this one. Yes, I included a C file. ;-P It was a total programming disaster, but it more-or-less worked.

Everything should be built top-down, except the first time.

I also wrote a PHP script that generated an image displaying the current temperature. It served as a forum signature for a long time.

A little warning: wrapping the sensor in duct tape and putting it outside the window for the whole winter is a good idea. This is what happened to mine:

Bottom line: cover your sensors with lots of glue of you want them to survive such extreme conditions.

I've lost most of the drivers I wrote (I never paid much attention to them), but the ones that survived can be downloaded here. You can also see the image-generating script here.

Note: as for now, there are both kernel and userspace drivers available for Linux and Windows, so you don't need to mess with writing the drivers if you don't want to.

Recently, the thermometer has been resurrected and with a new driver written and sensor attached, it works very well.