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Simple bash scripts to read temperature data from SwitchBot devices

This is a collection of linux bash shell scripts for reading SwitchBot's temperature sensors. The scripts use bluetoothctl to receive the data from the devices. Therefore the package bluez of your linux-distribution must be installed.

The scripts must either have execution rights or be started with bash.

scan_sensors

This is a simple script to search for the sensors and get their address (MAC). It runs endless and must be aborted with Ctrl-C when all sensors have been found.

The sensors should be close to the receiver to ensure proper reception.

To speed up the process, you should press and hold the bluetooth button of the devices until the LED flashes or the bluetooth symbol appears on the display. This causes the devices to send data even though no value has changed.

Example:

$ bash scan_sensors
Scanning for sensors. Use Ctrl-C to exit ...
Found WoSensorTH: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
Found WoIOSensorTH: YY:YY:YY:YY:YY:YY
Found WoSensorTHP: ZZ:ZZ:ZZ:ZZ:ZZ:ZZ
Test AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA ...

The result shows the type of device and the MAC address after a while.

You need these MAC values to configure the sensor_config file.

Type	Description
WoSensorTH	SwitchBot Meter
WoSensorTHP	SwitchBot Meter Plus
WoIOSensorTH	SwitchBot Indoor/Outdoor Thermo-Hygrometer

Configure your sensors

The file sensor_config contains the sensors configurations. Edit the file to insert the MAC addresses of your devices. Make sure you have either modified or removed the samples in this file. Otherwise, the tools will prompt you to edit the file.

log_sensors

This tool scans for bluetooth messages and filter out the SwitchBot temperature messages.

$ bash log_sensors
2023-07-08 12:01:42 EA:D8:03:13:C0:33: outdoor sensor        30.0°C / 30%
2023-07-08 12:02:38 E4:16:56:54:8F:5E: room sensor           22.8°C / 47%
2023-07-08 12:05:33 EA:D8:03:13:C0:33: outdoor sensor        30.1°C / 30%
2023-07-08 12:11:50 E4:16:56:54:8F:5E: room sensor           22.8°C / 47%
2023-07-08 12:14:46 E4:16:56:54:8F:5E: room sensor           22.8°C / 48%
2023-07-08 12:21:28 EA:D8:03:13:C0:33: outdoor sensor        30.3°C / 31%

A new row will appear each time one of your SwitchBot sensors sends new data. It may take a while before the first values are displayed. The tool does not actively poll the device, but waits for the sensors to send data.

You may want to redirect the output into a log file. Then use

bash log_sensors > sensors.log

or

bash log_sensors | tee sensors.log

show_sensors

This tool shows a table of all configured sensors with the data received from the sensors. Shortly after the start, the output looks like this:

Name                     Temp Humidity Last Update         Signal Quality
==================== ======== ======== =================== ==============
room sensor           no data  no data -                   [        ] -
outdoor sensor        no data  no data -                   [        ] -

After a while the tool has retrieved some data and shows the last received values from the sensors:

Name                     Temp Humidity Last Update         Signal Quality
==================== ======== ======== =================== ==============
room sensor            23.2°C      51% 2023-07-09 08:43:29 [******  ] -50
outdoor sensor         25.0°C      51% 2023-07-09 08:40:33 [***     ] -86

The column "Last Update" shows when the last data was received. For sensors that are further away, it can take me more than an hour to receive data. The last column shows the signal quality with the RSSI value.

You have to use Ctrl-C to exit the program.