6 ms·

Show HN: Automated blind control via an Amazon Echo Dot and Raspberry Pi

101 points by jwahawis 10y ago

TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
Thanks for posting thing. I've been thinking about how to go about doing this but didn't really know where to start with finding an appropriate motor and controller. Will come back to this as a winter project, busy building a coffee trailer this summer https://goo.gl/photos/9rrRAZy7xSprWVnA6 https://goo.gl/photos/9rrRAZy7xSprWVnA6
- jwahawis 10y ago
  No problem! The NEMA 17 form factor is quite ubiquitous so it's easy to find cheap hardware and compatible drivers. Be mindful that the same form factor has different windings and therefore different stall currents.
stevebmark 10y ago
I've wanted to do this too, since there's a lot of light pollution in my neighborhood but I also want to be woken up by the sun. Also FYI you should probably make those embedded youtube videos
- contingencies 10y ago
  Thanks for not making them embedded Youtube videos. Here in China, that would require a VPN just to see the unplayed still image, and lengthy buffering to see the video.
echelon 10y ago
How might someone with only software experience know what motor, encoder, power supply, etc. to buy? Would this be an easy enough project to step into, or should one start with something more basic for a first project? Btw, awesome work OP!
- mciancia 10y ago
  Most of this project is build using prebuild components/shields, so elementary electronics knowledge should be enough ;)
- contingencies 10y ago
  The time has never been better to learn electronics through experimentation. I would recommend using the fantastic resources within the Raspberry Pi or Arduino communities to get going. There are a lot of torrents.
- jwahawis 10y ago
  Thanks! You can follow Adafruit's guide[1] to get started. I think on this project the software requires more experience to get setup, especially if you are working with a headless Raspberry Pi. [1] https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-dc-and-stepper-motor-hat-for-raspberry-pi https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-dc-and-stepper-motor-hat...
- rickyc091 10y ago
  I managed to learn all this stuff by playing around with a breadboard and Arduino first. Sparkfun, AdaFruit + Arduino have a lot of beginner tutorials. The first tutorial with Arudino will teach you how to light up an LED. Then figure out switches. Then look into motors and play around with other things like temperature, buzzers, etc. Once you do a few of these tutorials everything just clicks together. It's really just sending 1s (current) and 0s (ground) through the wires. You'll learn that you can essentially break apart anything like a scale or a clock and just tap into the electrical connectors.
awjr 10y ago
I wonder if people are working with Alexa to automate houses for people with disabilities.
- netsharc 10y ago
  The article had the word "blind" and I thought OP meant home automation for the vision-impaired. Combine Alexa and the tech for the Amazon supermarket that tracks shoppers and they could have a talking, listening assistant that can be your pair of eyes at home.
- qq66 10y ago
  I'm about to start working on that.
kkielhofner 10y ago
I love seeing stuff like this but I have to wonder - why aren't esp8266/Arduino/etc considered more often for these applications? I understand the Raspberry Pi seems obvious (and often is) but these kinds of solutions seem much less awesome when you realize the latest OpenSSL (or whatever) update applies to the full blown Linux installation controlling your blinds. Sure Arduino and others almost certainly have plenty of issues with their software stack but the attack surface is substantially smaller and lower cost and reduced power usage are benefits as well.
- rickyc091 10y ago
  I'd imagine it comes down to accessibility. Many people probably have spare Raspberry Pis lying around as opposed to an Arduino with a wifi shield. Arduino would end up costing more and the processing capabilities isn't as powerful as the Pi. Not that the processing is important, but what if you wanted to tack on more functionality like adding a web cam, etc. The other part probably has to do with language. Being that it's running on linux, you can program with a variety of languages versus just arduino language.
  - kkielhofner 10y ago
    This is very true - at this point what self-respecting hacker doesn't have a Pi or two lying around to be re-purposed? That said one of my favorite side projects last year was eliminating all of the Pis I had doing stuff like this. I used a NodeMCU ($9 Amazon Prime) and the Arduino SDK to replace my Raspberry Pi garage door opener (integrated with Home Assistant). Complete with magnetic door switch and no prior experience, I'd replaced the Pi after about two hours of hacking. Not worrying about `apt-get upgrade` is nice but the real bonus was noticing how much more robust the esp8266 wifi was compared to the Pi. In my garage door use case the difference was night and day. Between this example and others around the house, I've noticed the Arduino ecosystem and community is actually much better for this kind of stuff. Once you really dig into things like GPIO, PWM, etc on the Pi it's clear they're second class citizens to community efforts surrounding video/HDMI (as one example). It's actually pretty incredible the same $35 board can control a stepper motor for your blinds or decode H.264 at 1080p while running Kodi in your living room!
ThatPlayer 10y ago
I've been looking into something similar. Are you not reading the state of the blinds in anyway? For example, in the case of a power failure or reset. It looks like your code just has a default.
- jwahawis 10y ago
  I could write the last state to a file, but long term I plan on adding an encoder to the output shaft. The motors are intentionally not locked to limit power draw and allow manual adjustment.
aceperry 10y ago
Totally love the cardboard "case" held together with some rubber bands. LOL, this is real hacking. I spent a bit of time learning 3D printing and printed a few cool looking raspberry pi cases but always looking out for cool case ideas.
LargeCompanies 10y ago
Is there an App Store yet for either Alexa or Google Home? I just got a google home and I want to program/add apps(games) or actions(movie times, order a pizza, call x friend on skype, call 911, record & playback my sleep talking recordings and many other ideas thought of). I can't see why such an App Store isn't available yet for programmers and either Google or Amazon to profit from!!! One that is run like Apple's App Store where things are reviewed and approved, as for me I think these AI speakers are the next big thing like the iPhone.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- mmelin 10y ago
  There is: https://developer.amazon.com/alexa https://developer.amazon.com/alexa
  - LargeCompanies 10y ago
    So you can charge a buck for each download? Also, I'm sorta partially to Google Home as I think it's AI is superior... though i could be mistaken.
bobf 10y ago
It's great to see a solution that works using some basic hardware and existing blinds. Not only does that make it incredibly cheap compared to commercial alternatives, but it also doesn't require implementation at time of construction (or a major renovation). I recently have been working on the technical aspects of building a new house for my aging parents. We went with Lutron's Serena shades, because we also used Lutron's light controls and they feature both Nest and Alexa integration. Construction hasn't been completed yet, so I can't fully report on the final result. But, my initial tests have gone well and setup was simple. For reference, the per-shade cost is around $600 installed. Basic shades of similar quality would likely be $150-200 each, so it's a fair bit more but not outrageous. I considered a DIY approach, but then thought about the primary users and realized an off-the-shelf solution would be best. Even in your own home, it's hard to overstate the importance of reliability and ease of use for your spouse, kids, guests, etc.
whyagaindavid 10y ago
I often wonder is it worth the _extra_ electrical energy spent on Alexa/Raspi/voice recognition automations. I am not a technophobe but if everyone moves to magic mirror, voice recognition everywhere what would the power needed to drive all these (comparing to your arm)!

101 points by jwahawis 10y ago

Thanks for posting thing. I've been thinking about how to go about doing this but didn't really know where to start with finding an appropriate motor and controller. Will come back to this as a winter project, busy building a coffee trailer this summer https://goo.gl/photos/9rrRAZy7xSprWVnA6 https://goo.gl/photos/9rrRAZy7xSprWVnA6

jwahawis 10y ago
No problem! The NEMA 17 form factor is quite ubiquitous so it's easy to find cheap hardware and compatible drivers. Be mindful that the same form factor has different windings and therefore different stall currents.

stevebmark 10y ago

I've wanted to do this too, since there's a lot of light pollution in my neighborhood but I also want to be woken up by the sun. Also FYI you should probably make those embedded youtube videos

contingencies 10y ago
Thanks for not making them embedded Youtube videos. Here in China, that would require a VPN just to see the unplayed still image, and lengthy buffering to see the video.

echelon 10y ago

How might someone with only software experience know what motor, encoder, power supply, etc. to buy? Would this be an easy enough project to step into, or should one start with something more basic for a first project? Btw, awesome work OP!

mciancia 10y ago
Most of this project is build using prebuild components/shields, so elementary electronics knowledge should be enough ;)
contingencies 10y ago
The time has never been better to learn electronics through experimentation. I would recommend using the fantastic resources within the Raspberry Pi or Arduino communities to get going. There are a lot of torrents.
jwahawis 10y ago
Thanks! You can follow Adafruit's guide[1] to get started. I think on this project the software requires more experience to get setup, especially if you are working with a headless Raspberry Pi. [1] https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-dc-and-stepper-motor-hat-for-raspberry-pi https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-dc-and-stepper-motor-hat...
rickyc091 10y ago
I managed to learn all this stuff by playing around with a breadboard and Arduino first. Sparkfun, AdaFruit + Arduino have a lot of beginner tutorials. The first tutorial with Arudino will teach you how to light up an LED. Then figure out switches. Then look into motors and play around with other things like temperature, buzzers, etc. Once you do a few of these tutorials everything just clicks together. It's really just sending 1s (current) and 0s (ground) through the wires. You'll learn that you can essentially break apart anything like a scale or a clock and just tap into the electrical connectors.

awjr 10y ago

I wonder if people are working with Alexa to automate houses for people with disabilities.

netsharc 10y ago
The article had the word "blind" and I thought OP meant home automation for the vision-impaired. Combine Alexa and the tech for the Amazon supermarket that tracks shoppers and they could have a talking, listening assistant that can be your pair of eyes at home.
qq66 10y ago
I'm about to start working on that.

kkielhofner 10y ago

I love seeing stuff like this but I have to wonder - why aren't esp8266/Arduino/etc considered more often for these applications? I understand the Raspberry Pi seems obvious (and often is) but these kinds of solutions seem much less awesome when you realize the latest OpenSSL (or whatever) update applies to the full blown Linux installation controlling your blinds. Sure Arduino and others almost certainly have plenty of issues with their software stack but the attack surface is substantially smaller and lower cost and reduced power usage are benefits as well.

rickyc091 10y ago
I'd imagine it comes down to accessibility. Many people probably have spare Raspberry Pis lying around as opposed to an Arduino with a wifi shield. Arduino would end up costing more and the processing capabilities isn't as powerful as the Pi. Not that the processing is important, but what if you wanted to tack on more functionality like adding a web cam, etc. The other part probably has to do with language. Being that it's running on linux, you can program with a variety of languages versus just arduino language.
- kkielhofner 10y ago
  This is very true - at this point what self-respecting hacker doesn't have a Pi or two lying around to be re-purposed? That said one of my favorite side projects last year was eliminating all of the Pis I had doing stuff like this. I used a NodeMCU ($9 Amazon Prime) and the Arduino SDK to replace my Raspberry Pi garage door opener (integrated with Home Assistant). Complete with magnetic door switch and no prior experience, I'd replaced the Pi after about two hours of hacking. Not worrying about `apt-get upgrade` is nice but the real bonus was noticing how much more robust the esp8266 wifi was compared to the Pi. In my garage door use case the difference was night and day. Between this example and others around the house, I've noticed the Arduino ecosystem and community is actually much better for this kind of stuff. Once you really dig into things like GPIO, PWM, etc on the Pi it's clear they're second class citizens to community efforts surrounding video/HDMI (as one example). It's actually pretty incredible the same $35 board can control a stepper motor for your blinds or decode H.264 at 1080p while running Kodi in your living room!

ThatPlayer 10y ago

I've been looking into something similar. Are you not reading the state of the blinds in anyway? For example, in the case of a power failure or reset. It looks like your code just has a default.

jwahawis 10y ago
I could write the last state to a file, but long term I plan on adding an encoder to the output shaft. The motors are intentionally not locked to limit power draw and allow manual adjustment.

aceperry 10y ago

Totally love the cardboard "case" held together with some rubber bands. LOL, this is real hacking. I spent a bit of time learning 3D printing and printed a few cool looking raspberry pi cases but always looking out for cool case ideas.

LargeCompanies 10y ago

Is there an App Store yet for either Alexa or Google Home? I just got a google home and I want to program/add apps(games) or actions(movie times, order a pizza, call x friend on skype, call 911, record & playback my sleep talking recordings and many other ideas thought of). I can't see why such an App Store isn't available yet for programmers and either Google or Amazon to profit from!!! One that is run like Apple's App Store where things are reviewed and approved, as for me I think these AI speakers are the next big thing like the iPhone.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
mmelin 10y ago
There is: https://developer.amazon.com/alexa https://developer.amazon.com/alexa
- LargeCompanies 10y ago
  So you can charge a buck for each download? Also, I'm sorta partially to Google Home as I think it's AI is superior... though i could be mistaken.

bobf 10y ago

It's great to see a solution that works using some basic hardware and existing blinds. Not only does that make it incredibly cheap compared to commercial alternatives, but it also doesn't require implementation at time of construction (or a major renovation). I recently have been working on the technical aspects of building a new house for my aging parents. We went with Lutron's Serena shades, because we also used Lutron's light controls and they feature both Nest and Alexa integration. Construction hasn't been completed yet, so I can't fully report on the final result. But, my initial tests have gone well and setup was simple. For reference, the per-shade cost is around $600 installed. Basic shades of similar quality would likely be $150-200 each, so it's a fair bit more but not outrageous. I considered a DIY approach, but then thought about the primary users and realized an off-the-shelf solution would be best. Even in your own home, it's hard to overstate the importance of reliability and ease of use for your spouse, kids, guests, etc.

whyagaindavid 10y ago

I often wonder is it worth the _extra_ electrical energy spent on Alexa/Raspi/voice recognition automations. I am not a technophobe but if everyone moves to magic mirror, voice recognition everywhere what would the power needed to drive all these (comparing to your arm)!