Automated blinds and sensors with Domoticz and ESP8266
This project was designed as part of the #HackyourClassroom educational program of Stegi Onassis Cultural Foundation and in partnership with GFOSS.
Description
The project is about controlling the blinds in the classroom in an easy and automated way. The components, software and hardware, that were used have been open source solutions where possible. The hardware components used are:
- Raspberry Pi 3
- Raspberry Pi 3 Official Power Supply
- nodeMCU ESP8266 development board
- 2 relay module
- DHT11 module
- Somfy LT50 electric roler
Software used:
- Domoticz
- ESPeasy
Educational material
What is a "smart" or automation system?
A "smart" or a home automation system is a device that gets inputs, usually from the physical worlds through sensors, like temperature, light, sound etc and processes them in a digital controller or computer using logic programmed into it to provide some outputs like a message, switch on a light, move a motor etc.
How does a computer or microcontroller interacts with the world?
This happens as input or output. A microcontrolles, like Arduino, connects to sensors as inputs and reads their data (temperature, humidity, light, distance etc.). Many times in order to connect those sensors and read the values correctly we need to create a circuit and use various components like resistors, capacitors etc. Same goes for the outputs we use in a circuit with Arduino, in order for them to work we need to connect them and power them according to their specifications. Same example of outputs that interact with the world are motors that make things move like stepper motors, servo motors or DC motors, lights, speakers and often relays. Relays are basically switches who turn on/off by applying to them usually 5V, when using them with Arduino, and on the other end switch 220V to allow a lamp or any home device to turn on and off.
Home automation Server
The Raspberry Pi
Domoticz Server
Control & Sensor modules
nodeMCU
Relays & DHT11
ESPeasy
User Manual
To control the blinds and see the temperature/ humidity values follow these steps:
- Connect to the "Domoticz" Wifi network with the password supplied.
- Open a web browser and type "192.168.42.1:8080" to the adress bar.
- Once the Domoticz site loads, you can view the controls under the "Switches" menu and the temperature/ humidity under the "Temperature" menu.
You can also use the Domoticz Android App to control the system.