In a lot of my IOT projects I have been using the ESP8266 microcontroller, more specifically the Wemos D1 mini version of this board. While flicking over the pages of the banggood website I found the ESP8266’s big brother the ESP32 on sale in a version that was compatible with the Wemos D1 mini Shields so I instantly added to my cart without much thought on what I would us it for. Continue reading “Geekcreit Wemos Mini32 (aka MH-ET LIVE MiniKit) Review”
Author: Gary
ESP8266 controlled blinds with Tasmota
One of the fanciest things with home automation is to install motorized blinds. Unfortunately it is also one of the most expensive bits of automation kit you can buy, that is unless you take a DIY approach to it. Continue reading “ESP8266 controlled blinds with Tasmota”
Tile Mate (Gen 1) Battery Replacement
Until recently Tile trackers only came with non-replaceable batteries, which means every 12 months or so you have to pony up another 25 US bux to replace the whole tile instead of just the battery which can be purchased for only a few dollars. With the help of a 3D printer, a battery holder and a few tools I have been cracking open my old tiles and repurposing them with a new case that has a replaceable battery. My new chunky tile only costs a few dollars and is perfect to thrown in a suit case or laptop bag.
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Improving your ZigBee network with zigbee2mqtt
If you have done anything with home automation before you would have heard of ZigBee. ZigBee is a protocol many smart devices use to communicate with. One of the most well known products is Philips Hue where their range of smart lamps, sensors and switch’s communicate back to their hue bridge that is attached to your network. A benefit of ZigBee is the ability of powered devices like lamps to act as a mesh router so if you lamp at the other end of the house can’t reach your hue bridge its data can hop across a closer lamp that is nearer to your bridge. Continue reading “Improving your ZigBee network with zigbee2mqtt”
Wemos D1 Mini garage door opener with Home Assistant
A mate asked me to connect up his garage door so he could control it from his iPhone, when we did the front garage door we used a Wemo Maker that could be controlled from the Wemo app or via Home Assistant. It worked so well that he decided to add a motor to his rear garage door. By the time he did this not only had Wemo pulled out of Australia but the Wemo Maker was out of production worldwide. So it was up to me to come up with a new solution to which I replied Wemos D1 Mini (no relation to Wemo),a Relay Shield and Tasmota firmware.
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Google Assistant morning announcement with Home Assistant
I have been using both Home Assistant and several Google Home devices for a few years now and a while back I decided to get them to be a bit more talkative to me. If you have seen my previous washer and dryer notification projects you may have noticed I am using Home Assistant’s Google TTS (text to speech) service to tell me when either machine is done. Below I am taking this TTS service further to give me a Good Morning weather announcement when I enter my kitchen.
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Wemo Maker garage door opener with Home Assistant
A while back a mate asked me to connect his garage door to his phone. Seeing most garage doors have terminals on them to connect up a push button switch, it is pretty easy to connect up a smart device that can trigger the door, when we did this the only option in our region was using a Wemo Maker. Continue reading “Wemo Maker garage door opener with Home Assistant”
ESP8266 Washing Machine Notifier version 2
One of my first esp82266 projects was my washing machine notifier that connected to ifttt to send me an email when my wash was done. I published this project to hackster.io back in December 2016 and it can also be found on my blog here. Since then I have found Home Assistant and my IOT devices around the home has grown with all of them connecting back to Home Assistant, so it was time I converted my washing machine notifier over from ifttt.
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3D printed Philips Hue architrave mount
A quick post to show off my latest 3D Printed design that I have just uploaded to Thingiverse, so head there if you you want the design files to make your own. The backstory is below. Continue reading “3D printed Philips Hue architrave mount”
Upgrading my Otto Robot part 1
Recently I built my first Otto Robot that you will see in my blog post here. I decided I wanted him to do a bit more than just dance all day long as well as make use of his sensors and buzzer. The first steps are to add a hc-05 bluetooth module and a TTP223 touch sensor to him to bring him closer to the Otto Plus design outlined here. Continue reading “Upgrading my Otto Robot part 1”