ESP32-Watchman

PoE-powered remote facility monitor that scans for and alerts on nearby Bluetooth devices and light level changes, or detected motion

Background

Remote, unmanned facilites can provide ample opportunity for tampering, physical theft, and network penetration attacks. The M5Stack AtomPoE together with the ESP32 S3 SoC can be used as a perimeter sensing device, sending detection information to a configured Syslog server. These Syslog messages can help provide visibility into activity that may indicate traditional physical security measures have been circumvented.

Requirements

1. M5Stack AtomPoE Base W5500
2. M5Stack Atom S3 Lite
3. Optionally, either:
   • A Ultrasonic Distance I2C
   • A DLight Unit

Device Capability Comparison

This project generates Syslog notifications for all detected activity.

Configuration

All configuration is managed through a serial terminal interface. On first boot, the device automatically enters configuration mode. After initial setup, you can re-enter configuration mode at any time by pressing 'C' within 5 seconds of device startup.

Configurable options:

• Host name
• Device IP and subnet
• IP gateway
• DNS server
• Syslog server
• NTP server
• Bluetooth RSSI threshold
• Dwell time (60-86400 seconds) - time to wait between detections of the same device

Configuration changes are saved to non-volatile memory and persist across reboots.

LED Status Indicators

The device uses an RGB LED to indicate its current status:

• Red - Missing Ethernet PHY (Is the AtomPoE sled connected?)
• Yellow - Waiting for Ethernet link to come up
• Green - Connected
• Purple - NTP sync failure
• Blue - Active Bluetooth poll

Programming

Once you've successfully programmed a single unit, skip step 1. Repeating this process takes 5 minutes from start to finish.

1. Set up your Arduino programming environment
2. In Arduino, open the project file (PoESP32-Watchman.ino)
   • Edit the configuration parameters at the very top of the file.
   • Select Tools->Board->esp32 and select "M5AtomS3"
   • Select Tools->Partition Scheme and select "NO OTA (2MB APP/2MB SPIFFS)"
3. From your computer, plug a USB C cable into the Atom S3 Lite

Warning

Do not plug the device into Ethernet until after step 7 or you risk damaging your USB port!

4. Push the button on the side of the Atom S3 Lite for 3 seconds. You will see a blue LED briefly light up.
   • The device is now in bootloader mode
5. In Arduino
   • Select Tools->Port and select the Atom S3 device (usually usbmodem 101 on MacOS)
     • If you're unsure, unplug the Atom S3, look at the port list, then plug it back in and select the new entry (repeating step 5)
   • Select Sketch->Upload to flash the device
   • When you see something similar to the following, proceed to step 7

     Writing at 0x000d0502... (100 %)
     Wrote 790896 bytes (509986 compressed) at 0x00010000 in 8.9 seconds (effective 714.8 kbit/s)...
     Hash of data verified.
     
     Leaving...
     Hard resetting via RTS pin...
     

6. Switch to the Serial Monitor (Tools->Serial Monitor) and configure the device
7. Unplug the Atom S3 Lite from your computer
8. (Optional) Connect the desired sensor module
9. Connect the assembly to a PoE network port and mount as appropriate
10. Configure your Syslog alerting as appropriate

Guidance and Limitations

• The device will respond to pings from any IP address within the routable network.
• Don't have PoE ports on your network switch? No problem: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C239DGJF

Technical Information

• Operating Specifications
  • Operating temperature: 0°F (-17.7°C) to 140°F (60°C)
  • Operating humidity: 5% to 90% (RH), non-condensing
• Motion Sensor Range
  • Up to 4.5 meters
• Light Sensor Range
  • 1 lux minimum
• Power Consumption
  • 6W maximum via 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet
• Ethernet

  • W5500 PHY

  • 10/100 Mbit twisted pair copper

  • IEEE 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet