It’s that spooky time of year again, but this time it can be extra spooky with the help of home automation.
One classic spooky thing to do is have a TV do something scary when people walk by. This is easier than ever on any TV now that everyone has Raspberry Pi with HDMI output and z-wave (or other) motion sensors everywhere. Check this out:
Continue reading Some fun or spooky Halloween automations with Home Assistant
NOTE/UPDATE: After an update this kind of stopped working and I struggled with it a lot. Now I actually recommend using snapcast instead of this solution. It works better!
I moved to a new place and it has more than one room. Naturally, I hooked up the stereo in the living room and tested it like my dad taught me: by playing “Money For Nothing” really loudly. It worked. But wait a minute, there’s an upstairs now… how will I get it playing up there? I could always use the wifi network and raspberry pis to beam audio around. Yeah, let’s do that!
Continue reading Multi-room audio over Wi-Fi with PulseAudio and Raspberry Pi(s)
One of my first memories is a vision of lying near my dad in the basement in the mid-1980s while he endlessly soldered away at some big project. Later, I spent a lot of my childhood messing around with the product he was assembling: a Hero Jr. robot. This was a educational personal robot, intended to be your “friend, companion, and security guard.” Here he is:
Hero Jr. has a sonar, infrared motion sensor, light sensor, sound sensor, radio-frequency remote, drive motor, obstruction sensor, and a RS-232 serial port. His out-of-the-box features included a security guard mode, alarm clock, poetry, singing, and (my favorite) the ability to explore around the house, often while singing America, Daisy Bell, or Little Miss Muffet.
Continue reading The Hero Jr. personal robot from HeathKit: a 1984 product way ahead of its time
If you have a digital video recorder (DVR) hooked up to some cameras and you want to access it remotely when something happens, you can set up remote access to review things from wherever. Here’s how to do it.
Continue reading Secure remote access to a camera DVR with VPN and VLANs on an OpenWRT router
A few months ago, I got an email from a Sweden-based artist and teacher named MC Coble asking if my Morse code laser post could be helpful for an art installation they were working on. MC used Morse code in previous installations like one in Toronto where they sent coded light from a giant dome to people below who then relayed signals with flashlights. As a part of a new project, MC wanted people to be able to enter protest chants into a website and then have a system convert the message to code and flash a light in a gallery window. Did I want to help? You bet I did!
I got super excited about the prospect of helping with this and knew that with a combination of things I’ve used before it would be really doable. The plan was to have a webserver accept messages from a form and transmit them to a Raspberry Pi (cheap mini-computer), which would then flip pins on a relay to blink the light, like this:
After many emails and some ups and downs, everything worked! This really feels like how the internet is supposed to work.
Continue reading Helping an artist with a Morse code protest chant installation in Denmark
So in the continuing saga with my mom’s home-automated furnace, it got extra cold recently and I noticed it wasn’t getting up to temperature in time for her to wake up. I figured I could come up with a formula to compute the time needed to come to temperature and turn on the furnace at a dynamic time in the morning so it’d be just right.
UPDATE 2021: This was fun but nowadays I have to direct people to a more complete python solution here.
I got a few Amcrest Wifi security cameras for my mom’s house at her request. They’re pretty nice overall (My only complaint is that the web-interface doesn’t fully support Linux). I set one up to save a jpg snapshot to memory every minute and then flew across the country. When I wanted to access them, I couldn’t just put the SD-card in a computer or anything, and clicking all 14,000 of them seemed like a pain, so I decided to figure out how to get them with a Python script.
Continue reading Downloading files from an Amcrest security camera with Python
There are some digital levels on the market that are really nice tools to have for a variety of purposes. I grabbed a DXL360 and am really happy with it so far. When I wanted to do an angle vs. time calibration measurement of my Barn Door Startracker over 10s of minutes, I really wanted to get the data from the level into a computer so I could plot and process it a bit.
The level has a USB port but the manual suggests that an optional attachment is required to get it into a computer, at least for this model. However, the manual also states that data comes out of it in RS232 format. I bet I could read that data with some more generic equipment that I have sitting around. And it turned out to be easy. This post shows how I did it.
Continue reading Reading data from a DXL360 digital level onto your computer
I like to mix hobbies, so naturally I’ve been eying astrophotography for a while. I’ve taken a time-lapse here and a moon picture there but, inspired by the folks over at /r/astrophotography, I wanted to take it to the next level. Since the Earth is spinning, any long exposure of the night sky has star trails, so you have to make your camera counter-spin if you want clear shots. In this post, you can read about how I made a simple barn door sky tracker to do this.
Barn door sky trackers have been made at home by lots of people for a long time. There are a variety of designs with different levels of complexity and precision required. I thought I’d make the simplest-to-construct one, a Haig mount. To correct he tangent error, I decided to use a cheap microcontroller (MCU) and have it speed up appropriately via software. Fun!
The math behind this is fun mostly because it’s straight out of high school and you finally at long last get to use it. Here’s the basic design:
I got one of those RGB LED matrix things for my birthday and wasn’t sure what to do with it. Then I found this awesome library which has Python bindings and can control it nicely even from a Raspberry Pi. Conveniently I had a spare Raspberry Pi 1 B+Â sitting around so I hooked it up. After playing around for a while, I got the demos working.
UPDATE: Full documentation of infopanel is now available.
But I needed to connect it to home-assistant to really make it valuable to myself. So I wrote a little program called Infopanel (available for free on github) that lets you do some things:
You can set the scenes to be just random or you can control them through MQTT.
It’s intended to be very configurable but since it’s brand new some extra development is needed to make everything perfect. Send in your ideas and requests and code changes!
A relatively complete example configuration file is in the repo. That demonstrates using MQTT, connecting MQTT topics to various sprites, building your own frames of animation by hand, and adding in gifs and images from file paths. Note that you have to set an environmental variable or two to get the fonts right and whatnot.
I have a website or two and sometime wish I could get notifications whenever someone visited them, just for fun. Well I did it, and now I can get beeps in my home whenever anyone visits. It’s kind of cool to hear it go off, though normally it will be annoying, so we need a switch for it.
My mom has one of those on/off furnaces (EDIT: actually it’s a boiler) that heats up water and circulates it through pipes around the house that have little radiator fins. She wants it to turn on before she wakes up so it’s not so cold in the morning. In this post, I explain how to turn a normal furnace into a smart furnace controlled by Home Assistant for only a few bucks.
Here’s the code for the smart furnace project. This is provided “as is”. Use at your own risk; I take no responsibility if this code damages or destroys your equipment or home or injures or kills anyone. Controlling household/industrial equipment is a non-trivial task.
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/* * Furnace Controller for ESP8266 and MQTT. * * * Connections: GPIOs go to inputs, obviously. Connect 5V to VCC and jumper VCC to * VCC-JD to power the coils. Note that GPIO HIGH corresponds to relay off with this * board. * * D8 is a bad choice because it's actually GPIO 15 which messes things up during * reboot. * * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT * SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR ANYONE DISTRIBUTING THE SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR * ANY DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, * ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER * DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. * * Safety Features: * 1. Should shut down if disconnected from internet (would be more robust * with internal MQTT broker, but then couldn't message nick) * 2. Should shut down if furnace pin has been on for a really long time. * This could happen if the RPi/hass dies but the internet is still up. * * See https://partofthething.com/thoughts/enlighten-your-old-furnace-with-a-raspberry-pi-home-assistant-an-esp8266-and-some-relays/ */ #include <ESP8266WiFi.h> #include <ESP8266mDNS.h> #include <WiFiUdp.h> #include <ArduinoOTA.h> #include <PubSubClient.h> #define wifi_ssid "[redacted]" #define wifi_password "[redacted]" #define mqtt_server "[redacted]" #define mqtt_user "[redacted]" #define mqtt_password "[redacted]" #define mqtt_error_topic "mom/status/furnace_error" #define mqtt_status_topic "mom/status/furnace" #define listen_topic "mom/furnace/#" #define ota_password "[redacted]" #define ota_hostname "[redacted]" #define FOUR_HOURS 14400000 // milliseconds #define NUM_PINS 6 #define FOUR_HOURS 14400000 // milliseconds #define NUM_PINS 6 int MOLLY_PIN=D5; int UPSTAIRS_PIN=D6; int LIVING_ROOM_PIN=D7; int BASEMENT_PIN=D4; int NICK_BEDROOM=D1; int DEN=D2; int allPins[NUM_PINS] = {LIVING_ROOM_PIN, UPSTAIRS_PIN, MOLLY_PIN, BASEMENT_PIN, NICK_BEDROOM, DEN}; // track how long each pin has been on for auto-shutoff function // (for when MQTT controller on Pi dies but net is up) unsigned long onTime; unsigned long now; int numPinsOn = 0; WiFiClientSecure espClient; PubSubClient client(espClient); void setup() { Serial.begin(115200); setup_gpio(); setup_wifi(); setup_mqtt(); setup_ota(); } void setup_gpio() { // Connect each relay pin to each GPIO. // Hook +5V up to relay module. for (int i=0;i<NUM_PINS+1;i++) { pinMode(allPins[i], OUTPUT); } all_pins_off(); } void all_pins_off() { for (int i=0;i<NUM_PINS+1;i++) { digitalWrite(allPins[i], HIGH); } numPinsOn = 0; } void setup_wifi() { delay(10); Serial.println(); Serial.print("Connecting to "); Serial.println(wifi_ssid); WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA); WiFi.begin(wifi_ssid, wifi_password); while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) { delay(500); Serial.print("."); } Serial.println(""); Serial.println("WiFi connected"); Serial.println("IP address: "); Serial.println(WiFi.localIP()); } void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) { Serial.print("Command arrived ["); Serial.print(topic); Serial.print("] "); for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) { Serial.print((char)payload[i]); } Serial.println(); // Switch on the heat if an 1 was received as first character int pin = -1; if(strcmp(topic,"mom/furnace/livingroom")==0) { pin = LIVING_ROOM_PIN; } else if (strcmp(topic,"mom/furnace/upstairs")==0){ pin = UPSTAIRS_PIN; } else if (strcmp(topic,"mom/furnace/molly")==0) { pin = MOLLY_PIN; } else if (strcmp(topic,"mom/furnace/basement")==0) { pin = BASEMENT_PIN; } else if (strcmp(topic,"mom/furnace/nick_room")==0) { pin = NICK_BEDROOM; } else if (strcmp(topic,"mom/furnace/den")==0) { pin = DEN; } if (pin == -1){ Serial.print("Unknown Topic. Aborting command.\n"); return; } else { Serial.print("Pin is "); Serial.print(pin); Serial.println(); } if ((char)payload[0] == '1') { Serial.print("Turning on"); digitalWrite(pin, LOW); numPinsOn = 1; // will be a problem if we start doing more than 1 zone. Upgrade then. onTime = millis(); // will roll over every 72 hours or so. } else { Serial.print("Turning off"); digitalWrite(pin, HIGH); numPinsOn = 0; } } void setup_mqtt() { client.setServer(mqtt_server, 8883); client.setCallback(callback); } void reconnect() { // Loop until we're reconnected. int reconnectAttempts = 0; while (!client.connected()) { Serial.print("Attempting MQTT connection..."); // Add a will message in case we get kicked offline for some reason. if (client.connect("ESP8266Furnace", mqtt_user, mqtt_password, mqtt_status_topic, 1, 1, "0")) { Serial.println("connected"); client.subscribe(listen_topic, 1); // important to get QoS of 1 to ensure message makes it. client.publish(mqtt_status_topic, "1", true); } else { reconnectAttempts++; Serial.print("failed, rc="); Serial.print(client.state()); Serial.println(" try again in 5 seconds"); if (reconnectAttempts > 60) { // If we cannot connect for a long time, shut off all pins. Internet is dead // and we can't be controlled anymore. Fallback on manual thermostats at this point // so we don't burn the house down. all_pins_off(); client.publish(mqtt_error_topic, "1", true); // for sensing errors. reconnectAttempts=0; } delay(5000); // Wait 5 seconds before retrying } } Serial.print("MQTT connected."); } void setup_ota() { ArduinoOTA.setPort(8266); ArduinoOTA.setHostname(ota_hostname); ArduinoOTA.setPassword(ota_password); ArduinoOTA.onStart([]() { Serial.println("Starting OTA update."); all_pins_off(); }); ArduinoOTA.onEnd([]() { Serial.println("\nOTA update ended."); }); ArduinoOTA.onProgress([](unsigned int progress, unsigned int total) { Serial.printf("OTA Progress: %u%%\r", (progress / (total / 100))); }); ArduinoOTA.onError([](ota_error_t error) { Serial.printf("Error[%u]: ", error); if (error == OTA_AUTH_ERROR) Serial.println("Auth Failed"); else if (error == OTA_BEGIN_ERROR) Serial.println("Begin Failed"); else if (error == OTA_CONNECT_ERROR) Serial.println("Connect Failed"); else if (error == OTA_RECEIVE_ERROR) Serial.println("Receive Failed"); else if (error == OTA_END_ERROR) Serial.println("End Failed"); }); ArduinoOTA.begin(); } void failsafe() { // If any pin has been on for more than four hours it seems like something's wrong. // Possibly the Rpi died and isn't sending an off signal. // Granted, if a bunch of zones were coming on and off staggered, then // this would have to be upgraded to get fancier. now = millis(); if (numPinsOn > 0 && (now-onTime)> FOUR_HOURS) { all_pins_off(); Serial.println("Seems stuck on. Rebooting."); client.publish(mqtt_error_topic, "2", true); // for sensing errors. ESP.restart(); } } void loop() { if (!client.connected()) { reconnect(); } client.loop(); failsafe(); ArduinoOTA.handle(); delay(500); } |
Oh this is exciting! I’ve been trying to figure out how to get motion events from my IP camera into my home-assistant instance running on my Raspberry Pi, and I just did a successful test! It works! Hooray. Briefly, I set up an email server on the Pi, have the camera email the Pi, have the email server trigger a script which parses the email for key words and sends MQTT signals as appropriate, at which point the home-assistant MQTT client sees them and triggers automations (like blinking a light to scare people off). Here’s how I did it.
Continue reading Getting IP camera motion events into Home Assistant to trigger things
As documented earlier, I made one of those CRT-in-a-winebottle things. I used a cheap 2-stage mechanical vacuum pump for it. Well, it was so good that my boss wanted to use it as a science demo at some dinners he gives, so it’s been permanently transferred to work. So I need a new pump, and a new chamber!
Continue reading Cheap vacuum pump for home physics experiments
I just configured a pretty slick burglar alarm with the open-source Home-Assistant platform running on my Raspberry Pi. It can be armed to trigger when a door is opened and/or when a motion sensor goes off.
Then, a sequence of events happens:
Continue reading Raspberry Pi + Home Assistant DIY Burglar Alarm
Or, how to control your A/C from your phone
You may have seen my earlier post about my new home automation setup. Well I just upgraded it! I just finished testing out a new infrared remote control send and receive capability and it is pure awesome. Here’s what I can do now from within home-assistant:
This post is about how I did it on my Raspberry Pi.
Update: A video!
Continue reading Adding IR send and receive capabilities to my home-assistant based smart home
I went over to my friend’s house last night to help get home-assistant on a Raspberry Pi working for his z-wave door sensors and siren. The Ecotech sensor showed up fine but the Aeotech recessed one (Recessed Door Sensor Gen5 , ZW089-A) did not show up by default. After poking around in the logs for a while, we realized that it was sending BASIC_SET command classes instead of BinarySensor commands. Apparently (I thought I had fixed this already), home-assistant doesn’t recognize the BASIC_SET commands just yet. But looking at the config file for this device, we discovered that config item 121 changes which kind of report this sensor sends:
Continue reading Using an Aeotech recessed door sensor in home-assistant
In this post, we’ll take a brief measurement of regular old FM radio stations and try to determine where we are. It’s like a GPS but with local FM transmitters instead of satellites. I did this just for fun. I wonder if it could be used for indoor location and stuff? It is nowhere near as accurate as GPS. But whatever.
Reading FM radio signal powerThe first step is to get a reading of all the nearby radio stations. I used gnuradio and a HackRF One software defined radio. A simple flow-chart that takes the FFT and dumps it to a file is all I needed. I had to throttle the I/O or else my computer would freeze. I used 16M sample rate to have as wide a bandwidth as possible.
The file sink saves the FFT results in 4-byte integers and just has one 1024-length vector after the other. In a few seconds, I had a 50 MB of data. I did all the post-processing in an external Python script.
Continue reading Determine your location from relative FM radio signal strengths
I’ve always dreamed of having a “smart-home.” There’s just something cool about being able to flip switches and read sensors and have a program turn a light on when you open the door, but only if it’s dark. This post is about home automation.
UPDATE: I made a video demoing everything:
