Testing a 4-line OneWire library change that lets the DS18B20 run off internal pull-ups – no more pesky external 4.7K resistor on SMD boards.
Using DS18B20/DHT22 temperature sensor with internal pull-up resistors rather than external ones
Using RFM69CW instead of RFM12B
Swapping the RFM12B for the pin-compatible RFM69CW – +30% range and better sensitivity for roughly the same price.
Speech generation with Node-RED
Speech generation with Node-RED: the house reads notifications aloud so I stop picking up my phone 50+ times a day.
Making a dumb humidifier smart: a Wi-Fi humidistat with an ESP8266
Fan-coil heating kept the house under 30% RH, so a cheap ultrasonic humidifier became a Wi-Fi humidistat: ESP8266 relay, DHT22, setpoint and schedule.
Making IFTTT (If This Then That) talk to Node-RED
IFTTT is missing WebHooks, so here is how I made it talk to Node-RED and trigger my flows from any IFTTT event.
WiFi Thermostat with weekly scheduler
My WiFi thermostat with a weekly scheduler – why I swapped the SSRs for classical 8A relays and what changed on the board.
IoT tech talk recording
Recording of yesterday’s IoT tech talk hangout – and the next session’s topic looks set to be the ESP8266.
Google video tech-talk hangout anyone?
Proposing a monthly IoT video hangout: 35 min community tech talk, Q&A and open discussion – anyone in?
WiFi IoT 3 channel relay board with MQTT and HTTP API using ESP8266
My ESP8266 relay board: three solid state relays, MQTT + HTTP API, DHT22/DS18B20 sensor support – an open WiFi IoT switching platform.
ESP8266 powered web server + LED control + DHT22 temperature/humidity sensor reading
An early ESP8266 experiment: web server, LED control and DHT22 temperature/humidity readings on the $4.50 Wi-Fi chip that shook up DIY IoT.
Exposing Raspberry Pi’s network setting files to /boot so that they are visible on a PC
Exposing the Raspberry Pi’s network settings to /boot so they can be edited from a PC – handy when cloning SD cards for other networks.
MQTT topic tree structure improvements
Redesigning my MQTT topic tree structure – research, Tinkerman’s article, and the layout I settled on for my home automation.
Monitoring my home automation system uptime
Free uptime monitoring for my home automation system with UptimeRobot – a notification when the house goes dark, whatever the reason.
Duck DNS updater in Node-RED
Dyn and No-IP got too commercial, so I moved my dynamic DNS to DuckDNS with a small Node-RED updater flow.
Improving my home automation system’s Data Quality
Improving my home automation system’s data quality – filtering the garbage readings that quietly break downstream logic.
DIY Internet of Things Fire Alarm
Wiring a 9V smoke alarm into my home automation system with a Funky – SMS, Pushbullet and email alerts when it goes off.
Interfacing with Paradox home security system attempt 2
Second attempt at decoding the Paradox alarm keypad bus – reading alarm state, PIRs and door/window sensors for home automation use.
You watch too much TV
Measuring my son’s actual TV time by logging the TV’s power draw to emonCMS – house rules are easier to enforce with data.
Live streaming to USTREAM.TV using Raspberry Pi
Live streaming the house martin nest to USTREAM.TV from a Raspberry Pi – motion-triggered stills were not enough.
House martin cam
House martins are nesting in my unfinished tool shack, so the kids and I put up a nest camera instead of peeking in.
Presence detection using phone’s WiFi and Node-RED
Detecting who’s home by pinging the phones’ static DHCP leases from Node-RED – 15 minutes of work and pretty reliable presence detection.
NodeRED RFM2Pi to emonCMS gateway
Replacing my python gateway script with Node-RED: RFM2Pi packets decoded and forwarded to emonCMS in a visual, easy to extend flow.
Detecting AC
Detecting AC presence with a NE2 neon lamp and an LDR – a low power alternative to my non-contact detection experiments.
Voice controlling things with a smartphone and Raspberry Pi
Voice controlling the TV and heat pump with a smartphone and a Raspberry Pi – I’m no voice control fan, but this one earns its keep.
Funky v3 and YAPM project files now on github
Funky v3 and YAPM Eagle design files are now on github – a tiny low power wireless Leonardo and a cheap power monitor, free to build.
My dog as smart wireless DVR sensor
My dog turns out to be an excellent motion sensor – correlating her barking on the DVR with alarm events, 25km from Sofia.
In-memory SQL analysis of emonCMS feed
In-memory SQL over emonCMS feeds – min/max/avg analysis without touching the underlying database directly.
Control LG smart TV over the Internet using a Raspberry Pi
Controlling an LG smart TV from the shell with a Raspberry Pi and a stripped-down Python script – a 5 minute home automation project.
Tweeting my house’s power usage as sparkblocks
Tweeting my house’s power usage as sparkblocks – unicode sparklines squeeze a full day’s trend into a single tweet.
Keypad as USB keyboard
Turning a matrix keypad into a USB keyboard with the Funky v2 – convenient numeric entry for a few projects in the pipeline.
I am a @quantifiedself
Turns out I’ve been quantified-self-ing for years: commutes, weight, hot water, coffee, power usage – all logged to emonCMS.
Home voltage analysis
405835 AC mains voltage measurements later – analyzing six months of logging the unusually high voltage at my house.