More techno geek stuff

Darren Wright

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Seems like about ever 3 - 4 months, my daughter or wife call saying they left the house for a walk and forgot their keys and the keypad on the garage door won't work. It's either user error, which the pad isn't very intuitive, or the battery is dead on it. And it usually occurs when I'm out of town or at work. :doh:

So I've been playing around with some new devices that utilize the very affordable ESP8266 Wifi chip, the Nodemcu (http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-development-Compatible-Atomic-Market/dp/B01ACJIAPU). The device can be programmed using it's native language, Lua (http://nodemcu.com/index_en.html), or using the Arduino IDE (http://www.seeedstudio.com/recipe/1107-getting-started-with-nodemcu-devkit-in-arduino-ide.html).

These are becoming pretty popular for home automation and monitoring systems as they are easy to program and sensors/modules are readily available for just about any type of application.

Anyway, I've programmed this one to host a web page, which the user must enter a code to open the garage door. They also have to have a device that is on my secured home wifi. So any of my family members that have their phone connected to my wifi can open the door.

This is the proto type, simply just the nodemcu (3.3v at pins), a logic level converter for 3.3v to 5v connections, and the relay (5v). It has 3 other pins for door sensors to show if the door is opened or closed.
2016-03-26 18.47.54.jpg

I tapped it into my opener button to test it out, the door sensors aren't connected yet in this video, and I bypassed the door code for testing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjCifZsdPZQ

With this, any family member can open the door and I can do it for them remotely if need be. I also plan to send some messages to my email when the door is opened and closed.
 
So the first thing I'm confused by is .. you can park in your garage :huh:

Cool setup, though :thumb:

Can you wire the email alarm to a sensor so if the regular opener is used it also triggers? or are you planning to bypass the regular opener all together?
 
Thanks Guys. Brent, other than needing to control a motor, should be pretty much the same code. I've got a couple of these motor shields on order to try something similar... http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/351626621523

So the first thing I'm confused by is .. you can park in your garage :huh:

Cool setup, though :thumb:

Can you wire the email alarm to a sensor so if the regular opener is used it also triggers? or are you planning to bypass the regular opener all together?

Ha, this is her garage, so yes, there is parking in there. Sometimes I can get mine in the shop, but it's a rare occasion. The open/close sensor will work independent of the open/closing relay, so it will notify anytime it changes state. I'm planning to use two of these magnetic switches (http://www.amazon.com/10BS-MC27ST-Magnetic-Switches-Security-Applications/dp/B015OXO1ZW) on each end of the opener's shaft and the magnet will ride on the carrier to trigger the switch that it's by, or show an in-between state if neither are triggered.
 
That'll work! Those switches did not review well though hopefully yours work better than the ones the folks on amz reviews got.


For the chicken door wouldn't you want to use a light sensor instead so open when light, closed when dark?
 
That'll work! Those switches did not review well though hopefully yours work better than the ones the folks on amz reviews got.


For the chicken door wouldn't you want to use a light sensor instead so open when light, closed when dark?


Yep, Simple change, but also need to add the code to control a stepper motor to open/close the door. They want 240$ for one. I'm sure I can build one for less than 30$
 
That'll work! Those switches did not review well though hopefully yours work better than the ones the folks on amz reviews got.

The review was accurate, the NC side doesn't work on these, which is fine, I needed the NO side anyway. So I wouldn't recommend them either and will be giving them a crappy review too.
 
I'm not sure just what to say. It's cool. Very ingenious. But, I'd tell them to quit forgetting their danged keys. I forgot I don't have a garage. I do have a tractor shed, though. It don't have a door, though. Never mind. I guess I need more coffee.
 
Do you need electricity for that to work?


My system is a little less tech savy.

#4 finish nail = 2 cents
One key = $2.00 ?

Bank nail into some place secret

Hang key on nail

Unlock door - go inside - put key back

No batteries, works even if electricity is out.

Certain people know where it is.

Think you can find the key? Good luck!
 
Got it updated and installed today, but still need to make brackets for the mag switches.

Hang key on nail
Got one of those for emergencies, but this would be more useful for myself even as I'll need in the garage and would have to run inside to open it. I've always got my phone on me, so it's a nice convenience too.
 
I am slow to catch on so please bear with me. So u configured the arduino to host the login page and you're using your WiFi network to hook into the device.

Cool idea .....but let's discuss reliability because as you say this always happens when u away.

So I dunno about you but my experience with various routers here has been that they see to get locked up and then the WiFi network goes pooch until it gets reset.

Any reason the server could not have its own WiFi nettwork and have the node mdu hook up to that. It would then be stand alone and not require the router. Then u could put a battery backup on the arduino and voila no issues.
I noticed this is how my Nixon camera is doing WiFi. It's stand alone rather than hooking into the local network.

Very neat project and I want to thank u for sharing it and all the links.
This fits in well with my hobby plans.

So I guess there is no reason u could not expand the same basic system to provide for other automation.....thinking sprinkler control, swimming pool circulation timer..security lighting...etc.



Sent from my SM-P550 using Tapatalk
 
The nodeMCU devices do support working as a wifi hotspot, so you could totally set it up that way. It's just easier if you have your phone connect to your home network automatically that would would not have to switch wifi networks to open the door.
 
The nodeMCU is kind of a game changer. Remember that little board I was making circuit boards for with my laser? Basically the same chip but with more pins exposed. The little boards I was working with had two 2gpio connections.

I've gotten about 75% done with the code and layout for a fermentation controller using one of the nodeMCU's. It controls two relays, reads from N number of temp sensors, has an LCD readout, and is all controlled via a web page.
 
Any reason the server could not have its own WiFi nettwork and have the node mdu hook up to that. It would then be stand alone and not require the router. Then u could put a battery backup on the arduino and voila no issues.

Yes it can run as a station/access point, but to explain to family how to switch their wifi connection would pretty much make the idea pointless. :rolleyes: :) Also wouldn't allow me to operate it remotely if need be. I've found my router to be pretty stable over the last year, but this is a trial of the nodemcu to see how reliable it is and if I want to use it for other projects, you may be correct in that it will have issues. The code has a built in check to see if it's lost it's network connection, so hopefully that will take care of any issues.

These devices also support OTA (over the air) updates, so no need to take it down or plugin to update the code, I can connect to it from the Arduino IDE and send the code to it directly over the network.

There are quite a few projects out there, google for "Internet of Things" or MQTT protocol for a lot of home automation projects/software. This site has quite a few basic projects to build: https://www.mysensors.org/build/
 
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