{"id":13,"date":"2014-11-06T01:59:06","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T01:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parablog-wordpress.dockerbox.rei.moe\/?p=13"},"modified":"2016-03-23T00:29:49","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T00:29:49","slug":"remote-controlled-ceiling-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/?p=13","title":{"rendered":"DIY Project: Home Automation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update: This project died when I got a job and can afford off the shelf automation stuff :’)<\/p>\n

It might come back when I start adding stuff like blinds and air conditioning control!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This project is basically me wanting to be able to automate my house but not wanting to fork over heaps of money for pre made systems.<\/p>\n

I’m a bit lazy with details so if there’s any questions you have please comment below!<\/p>\n

Newer Update v2.5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ok, so it just occured to me that I could have bent the antenna down flat so that I wouldn’t have had to make any holes….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

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As you can see its all in a box now because reasons plus annoying bright light<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I got around to making a few changes, I’ll let the images do the talking for me:<\/p>\n

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Used spare LEDs to attach the fan, deal with it. Box had a USB 125khz RFID reader in it heh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Melted the hole for the antenna with soldering iron, then cleaned tip and sliced off excess plastic with stanley knife<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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single channel relay board now in use to save space<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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my god i did a crappy solder job on this one D:<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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dem pro cut outs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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don’t tell me how crappy the fan cut out is. i know.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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cables kept getting caught in the fan so i fixed them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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close-up of ParaShield with the fan header, and RF module shown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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the area that I cut out of the proto shield to fit it over the ethernet jack<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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used a resistor leg for GND to the RF module, now i can tap into GND from that line as well B)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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blob of blue tack was used to hold things in place while i soldered<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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finally, a nice and snug fit, that looks not like shit! xD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

A few notable things, white LED on ParaShield (I’m calling it that now) has been replaced with a less bright red one. Transmitter repositioned and wired a little nicer, Ethernet hole cut (Stanley knife, metal cutters and pliers).
\nProper helical antenna added to both units, Rx unit now has single channel relay.
\nAlso, I shoved it all in a box and added a 12v fan running off 5v from the ParaShield (may add fan controls\/monitoring later) so nothing goes wrong with summertime here.
\nI’m just waiting for the other 433mhz things to add a manual light switch, and the infrared control unit. Codes all ready but need the RF receiver D:<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Also, on the app side of things,
\nI added an all on\/off section so when this projects complete, I’ll be able to stand out the front of my house, say something awesome, hit a button, and the whole house lights up or goes dark \ud83d\ude00 XD<\/p>\n

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New update V2
\nSo I discovered this thing:
\nhttp:\/\/www.ebay.com.au\/itm\/291262467339<\/p>\n

I remember reading about this a while ago but didn’t care for arduino or anything much then.
\nBut now I’m looking at this and seeing
\nThis+Relay+PSU = self contained without need for base controller!
\nPlus, did I mention ITS FOUR FREAKING DOLLARS
\nhow could I NOT order two!<\/p>\n

When they arrive I’ll have a play around see if I can figure out how to control them \ud83d\ude42
\nWill post here when I do!
\nIn other news: I ordered proper 433mhz antennas for the things, and found the PS move squigy ball.
\nWill get a box soon for it all haha,
\nI’m also preparing some LED strip on the front veranda to be controlled by my UI. And I’m developing an android app (will design a tablet version later)
\nUsing Tasker app factory!
\nEarly screenshot attached!<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a>
\nOther photos:<\/p>\n

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the two channel relay is sooo bigg D:<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Newer update:
\nI found chunks of a broken PlayStation move controller, for now I’ve soldered some resistor legs to the rgb led breakout board, and have the rgb led on the base station for reasons,<\/p>\n

Hopefully further down the track I’ll be able to turn on a mood light fading through, (although once it starts fading how do I stop it…?)<\/p>\n

Or even notifications for things!<\/p>\n

It also acts as a status light,
\nOn sending an on command it flashes green twice, the off command has two red flashes.
\nAn unused but implemented command gives three orange flashes.<\/p>\n

I need to figure out how to flash an error if an unrecognized command is received…<\/p>\n

Also I hope to find the sphere from the PS move. And to mount the led on the proto shield, maybe move the rf transmitter to make a cut out for the Ethernet jack,
\nAnd then try my luck at designing a special case for it all.
\nEither adapting an etherten case, or making a shitty one from scratch.
\nYouTube video showing on\/off light
\nSignal light: http:\/\/youtu.be\/ejXlYe17N8U<\/p>\n

————————————————————-<\/span><\/p>\n

New update: I got it working again \ud83d\ude42
\nNot sure what was wrong but I rewrote the code and now it works hahaha<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Its a bit slow probably because of the speed I have the radios set to, but oh well doesn’t matter.
\nI soldered everything together into a little clump, minimising wires, and made a shield for the transmitter so it sits neatly atop the etherten.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ll be able to add other things to the proto shield later \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Also. Found a leostick under my bed but I’m having issues uploading code to it. Going to use it to make that light switch if I get it working \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

LOOK AT ME I BROKE IT SOMEHOW
\nWent for a trip to jaycar and bought some supplies, and a smaller soldering iron
\nWhen I got home I took down the roof unit, attached shorter cables so it would fit in the little box, and put it back together,
\nBut just my luck, it’s not working now!<\/p>\n

I send commands but it doesn’t trigger the relay….<\/p>\n

I’ll have to connect it and look at serial monitor to see if it’s getting the command<\/p>\n

I’ll also add some code and an LED that blinks when it gets a command….
\nOh, and maybe the code to light that emergency light if a pin goes low?<\/p>\n

I should probably remove all the pin headers and solder right to the board actually…<\/p>\n

Or to a proto shield….<\/p>\n

The current state of the project consists of an arduino pro mini clone, that listens on the 433mhz band for a command, and turns on a relay depending on the command.<\/p>\n

There is a Freetronics Etherten acting as base station, connected to my LAN, and a 433mhz transmitter, this responds to http requests by sending various commands to the ceiling unit.<\/p>\n

Its easy to add additional remote units and set up controls for them, which I plan on doing\u00a0 when I get blinds for my windows.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I also have a raspberry pi running Rasbian that listens for a button press, which is wired to our 20 year old retro doorbell, when the button is pushed the Pi sends a pushover notification to my phone\/pebble, as well as plays a doorbell sound throughout the house\u00a0 directly connected speakers.<\/p>\n

I’m also going to be setting up Asterix or something on this to add Cisco VoIP phones around the house.<\/p>\n

I have plans for an analog control panel too, that has physical buttons connected to an arduino, to send commands to the various other arduino around the house.<\/p>\n

For example, a light control panel, push one button to send off commands to all lights in the house, or indivuaul etc.<\/p>\n

I also will be adding a sensor to the mailbox, probably solar powered, that sends a command in to the house when mail goes in, either emailing me, maybe a photo?
\nSending my pebble\/phone a notification, or just lighting up an LED on the control panel to indicate new mail!<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Update: This project died when I got a job and can afford off the shelf automation stuff :’) It might come back when I start adding stuff like blinds and air conditioning control!   This project is basically me wanting to be able to automate my house but not wanting to fork over heaps of … Continue reading DIY Project: Home Automation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,20,19,27,18,25],"tags":[7,16,9,13,12,8,10,2,11],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amateur-radio","category-arduino-2","category-home-automation-2","category-programming","category-projects","category-wireless","tag-arduino","tag-code","tag-diy","tag-electronics","tag-ethernet","tag-hacking","tag-home-automation","tag-programming","tag-tinkering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/wpid-wp-1417090802432.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions\/218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lewys.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}