Summary

There is not much of a technical update but more of a few points I wanted to put up as a consequence of extra thinking I did the entire week. Last week was hectic due to personal reasons and due to the heavy rainfall around here.(It's in the news).

The design challenge decision

So I got to hear a podcast featuring Dr. C. Defeo and talking about the Challenge. For what I understand, the motivation is to bring out the ideas and creativity of at-home inventors and to bring out new ideas for solving different problems in our live. This really struck the right note and I started to wonder about what I was doing. In teaching, we usually try to assimilate a large amount of information, process it and pass on the correct amount to the students. This is what I do and the result is my student projects now have an IOT focus and one has the Raspberry Pi as a focus. But as a designer I have been spending less time trying to analyze the problem. Recently I have been obsessed with technology and things rather than solving a problem. Hence I decided to revisit my Project Design Problem with the focus of why I am doing what I am doing. Here is a very brief description of the design.

The technology aspect will always be there but I will discuss the function of each module in the given diagram.

Problem 1. A household problem of leaving things out of the fridge.

I have faced this problem a lot of times that hot foods are left out to cool and then we forget about them. To remedy this, I have a waiting platform so that we leave food utensil on a waiting platform which has the EnOcean Contact sensor. As soon as something is placed on the platform, OpenHAB starts a timer of preset value. When the timer expires, we get an audio visual notification. We can "snooze" this alarm using the EnOcean Rocker Switch and when the utensil is taken off, the alarms are canceled.

The same can be done for other stuff like letting the dog out or medicines for the night or even the garbage to be taken out.

Status:

Ive written the code and tested. The only thing left is the physical platform which I will make out of wood probably.

The relevant post is IP Post 10: My Story Of Persistence with persistence on OpenHAB. AND a tutorial on Rule and Timers

Problem 2: A problem of re-ordering gas cylinders

This problem is a bit unique to our country where cooking gas is supplied in cylinders. The gas is by weight which is roughly 30Kg when full and 12Kg when empty. The task is to make sense the weight and plot it for two functions.

1. Generate alerts if we are about to run out- It takes a week to get a refill.

2. See how long it lasts and find trends and see if we can optimize usage.

Status:

I got the weight sensor from a Chinese website for a weighing machine for 50Kg limit. I got Instrumentation Amplifiers from element14 and tested the circuit I have to build up the mount for the cylinder and cell.

Another thing I have to do is to make an RF connection. Things are tied between the EnOcean temperature sensor I hacked, elCheepo AM RF modules or TCM330 or the TI EZ430-RF2500 low power module. Tested them all but not sure which I want to use. The Load cell will need extra power source anyways so EnOcean temp sensor seems like not of much use. Lets see.

I have a video for the tests but its preliminary

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Problem 3: The Power Meter.

We sometimes leave appliances like AC or heaters or irons left on when we leave the home. Having individual appliance control is neither cost effective nor required. The solution is to use a single 50Amp Current Transformer sensor which I will attach to the main line coming to the floor via circuit breaker and connect it to OpenHab thereby making it and IOT device. This will give me the sum of all currents and I can estimate if something was left ON.

Status:

Nothing done here yet. I got the sensor from E14 and thats about it. Will prolly use the TCM330 here or the TI module. Might use an XBEE here but not thinking about it much.

Relevant post is IP post 9: EnOcean Programming: Blinking LED on the TCM330 : For minion Dave!

Problem 4:IOT MET system

We dry our clothes outside and sudden winds or rain will cause a lot of problems- use your imagination. The solution is to automate the retrieval of clothes by means of a mechanical pulley system. (I have put this as a part of the Backyard challenge as well but this is the most delayed part throughout). There are actually two parts to this module.

1. The first is the MET which measures the rain and wind speeds.

Status:

This is a custom build and I have the wind speed meter made from scrap bike and pulley. The circuit is still under construction and I will post more soon. It interfaces with the CC3200 launchpad which I am expecting next week. The connectivity is WiFi and MQTT

2. The second is the drive system for getting the clothes inside automatically.

Status:

The design is ready and parts were tested but it is a 35 Foot pipe rail which is setup on top of a concrete base. Rains have caused work to stop and now there are some financial problems which will cause this part to be delayed. Worst case scenario I will demo the motor working according to conditions.

Problem 5: Window monitor

When raining, we need to close the windows. The above mentioned met system tell us about wind and rain and OpenHAB generates alerts on the basis of whether the windows are open or not. Not much to do here. I used enOcean contacts and works out of the box

Problem 6: Controlling the AC remotely

So we already left the house and our system is telling us that we left the AC on. Now what? The simple thing would be to use RF based power sockets but for something that draws upto 8Amps this is not a good option. The alternative solution is to use the IR remote and connect it to openhab and make it an IOT device. An IOT IR Remote

Status:

I already posted about this last week. I used Arduino with an ethernet shield that I got from E14 and connected it to OpenHAB via MQTT. I also used the Tek Scope to capture the IR signal and convert it into a lookup table via Excel sheets. I am now able to replay the signals via OpenHAB. The casing remains.

The post is MQTT+Arduino+(Tektronix Scope and IR Remote + A little brain power)

Problem 7: The RPi Rover

There are times when sensors won't do and we need to 'look' at whats going on. My grandpa is a 92 yr old man with no memory who does not sleep much so I need to have a way to peek into his room at night without disturbing him. I may also feel like looking around to see if his water and other things are in place or not. I use the RPi and an RPi CAm as a remote camera but thought it would be nice to convert that into a rover so it can move around. The robot will be able to charge wireless - ly using the kit I already have.

Status:

I have the RPi and Cam working but need to connect it to OpenHAB. Its not the most beautiful thing but the Motors are on a box and I have wheels. I am waiting for the RPiSOC which will expand capabilities.

The relevant post is IP Post 7: The Raspberry Pi Power Analysis featuring the Tektronix Scope

Overall Status:

I am running behind schedule and will try to make up. The major problem I am facing is the enclosures and aesthetics. I am doing my best but woodwork is not something I do a lot so might have to outsource it. In that respect, again budget constraints. Will invest in a 3D printer ASAP.

Things going wrong

I teach my students to do what you enjoy. I understand that no one likes exams but my students actually look forward to them... well most of em. I think I forgot what I was teaching and was more focused on collecting data and posting it. I will continue to do that but I want to work a lot more. I understand that E14 wants us to document this stuff for future use but I think for me a video blog or google hangout is a quicker way of getting things out. The drawback is that a spider can't search it. So pros and Cons. Sometimes I feel like i "have to" post and then I don't want to. I do what I do because I like to not because I have to. Thats why I have moved to a single post per week. Lesson learned I guess.

Things going right

In the context of things going right, I have a better plan for the weeks ahead. Will be getting more work done as a consequence of lessons learned. I will also be writing stuff down on a notepad and type it up over the weekend. I am going out to buy a lego set from a friend's store and will make enclosures out of them. Just making things fun again. Lets home I produce something useful.

Cheers,

IP