4 ms·

I built an accelerometer-based washing machine sensor which sends a notification to my phone when the washing is done. This is useful because the machine itself

by spuz 8y ago

I built an accelerometer-based washing machine sensor which sends a notification to my phone when the washing is done. This is useful because the machine itself has no indication when it's done: http://www.instructables.com/id/Washing-Machine-Notification-Sensor/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Washing-Machine-Notification...

minhazm423 8y ago
im getting a server error
stevekemp 8y ago
I did a similar thing, via an esp8266 device and a vibration sensor! I also automated the display of tram-departures from the tram-stop next to my house with similar hardware. Otherwise I setup some "wireless buttons" to trigger alerts/actions on my Linux desktop system, and record local temperature/humidity into a time-series database for tracking purposes.
- BrandoElFollito 8y ago
  Which buttons did you use? I was wondering about that as well but I only found the Amazon ones, which either need tricky operations to be usable (the brand-oriented dash ones) or expensive (the Amazon IoT (eom dash button) for 25 eur). Surprisingly I did not find one on AliExpress
  - stevekemp 8y ago
    For the buttons I first of all wired a button to an ESP8266 device, made it connect to wifi and publish to MQTT and handled it that way. But when it came to time to setup a lot more of them I realized that would get expensive quickly. SO I cheated. I bought a bunch of 433Mhz-based radio-buttons: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/OWSOO-433MHz-Wireless-SOS-Button-Emergency-Button-Switch-Alarm-Accessories-For-Home-House-GSM-Security-Alarm/32828309110.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/OWSOO-433MHz-Wireless-SOS-Bu... Then I hooked up an SDR receiver to my PC, and handle it that way. I have a 433Mhz receiver for the arduino, which could also decode those transmissions, but I never used it for anything except to prove I could. There's a pointer to the software and some overview here: https://blog.steve.fi/decoding_433mhz_transmissions_with_software_defined_radio.html https://blog.steve.fi/decoding_433mhz_transmissions_with_sof...
    - BrandoElFollito 8y ago
      Thank you. I was also considering the 433 MHz way and now that I think about it even bought a sonoff bridge :) I will spend more time on that during summer when the kids are away
- spuz 8y ago
  What kind of display did you use for the tram-stop times? I wanted to do something similar but worked out that the cost to update the display every minute was too much in terms of battery life even with an epaper display. Also, it was too inconvenient / ugly to use mains power.
  - stevekemp 8y ago
    A 4x20 LCD, which works because I'm running on mains-power: https://steve.fi/Hardware/helsinki-tram-times/ https://steve.fi/Hardware/helsinki-tram-times/ I do have a couple of epaper devices, and they would be ideal but for their terribly slow update-time. I like the clock showing Time & Date (or Time & Temperature), and having epaper update every second just isn't possible. Even if it were then I suspect updating so frequently would negate the potential power-saving of using epaper in the first place. I do have a nice epaper device for showing weather & weather-forecasts, that works on batteries and updates every 20 minutes. But for trams I update departures every 2 minutes.
  - staz 8y ago
    Not OP but did a similar project, the display method I used was simply to use 9 led lined up, each representing a stop before mine, to show the current position of the tram. My idea was based on the top part of this display https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXGxPtlXkAA0inj.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXGxPtlXkAA0inj.jpg
    - spuz 8y ago
      Interesting! That sounds like a really nice low-tech solution. I like it.
roryisok 8y ago
My machine has a time remaining feature which is great in theory but it's completely inaccurate. It might tell you there's 45 minutes left in a cycle, you'll come back an hour later and it'll say 17 minutes. I guess I know where the windows file-copy dialog author went to work after Microsoft
- tgb 8y ago
  I think modern washers weigh the clothes and change their cycles based off that and other information. Mine is similar but seems to always overestimate the time instead, which is probably the better failure state.
  - mdorazio 8y ago
    From what I understand, it has to do with 1) the time displayed is for an "optimal" load (not too full, normal soilage, balanced, etc.) instead of the actual load, and 2) the machines may pause and restart or lengthen parts of the cycle if the weight and/or balance are slightly off. In any case, the washers at my apartment complex are always off, but it's at least consistent so that I can add about 6 minutes to whatever it shows at the beginning and plan around that.
  - bytematic 8y ago
    The semi-old one in my building weighs it when you start the load and gives an accurate minute timer. The odd thing is it is always different, almost no correlation to weight, sometimes 50, sometimes 70.
  - kw71 8y ago
    Some industrial laundries do this, but I have heard this over and over again to describe residential HE laundry machines but never actually seen one with a way to measure this. The usual method is to tumble the clothes until the water level in the tub stops dropping. Now they're saturated with water. What you are probably getting when you start your washer is an estimate considering the steps of the cycle and loaded to capacity. Some machines have turbidity sensors - mine doesn't - this could deliver information that might shorten the cycle. Also the time may go up if it has to deal with suds or stops spinning to rearrange the load if it shakes.
sygma 8y ago
Pretty cool project! If you want to go further, check out the CloudWash [0] project by Berg London. [0]: https://vimeo.com/87522764 https://vimeo.com/87522764
pbhjpbhj 8y ago
A plug-through device (or cable mounted) could probably do this based on current draw, similar to the killawatt but with different purpose. Might be able to also do error messaging, or warnings of exceptional current draw.
tga 8y ago
My solution for this was an ESP8266-based Sonoff POW (wireless smart switch and power monitor), running Tasmota, sending data through MQTT to Home Assistant, scripted to send notifications through Telegram. https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-pow.html https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-pow.html https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota https://www.home-assistant.io https://www.home-assistant.io
- spuz 8y ago
  Interesting, I didn't know that Sonoff did a power consumption monitor. That makes sense for something like a washing machine. Presumably though you never actually use the relay/off-switch capability of the Sonoff, right?
  - tga 8y ago
    For the washer I don't use the switch at all. The only time so far I used both the switch and the power monitor was on the Christmas tree, because I was curious how much it cost to run ($3 or so overall iirc).
krrrh 8y ago
My trick is to set a timer on my phone when I start a load. Even if the machine doesn't tell you how long it's going to take on a display, these things tend to be pretty consistent. Low tech but it works.

by spuz 8y ago

minhazm423 8y ago

im getting a server error

stevekemp 8y ago

I did a similar thing, via an esp8266 device and a vibration sensor! I also automated the display of tram-departures from the tram-stop next to my house with similar hardware. Otherwise I setup some "wireless buttons" to trigger alerts/actions on my Linux desktop system, and record local temperature/humidity into a time-series database for tracking purposes.

BrandoElFollito 8y ago
Which buttons did you use? I was wondering about that as well but I only found the Amazon ones, which either need tricky operations to be usable (the brand-oriented dash ones) or expensive (the Amazon IoT (eom dash button) for 25 eur). Surprisingly I did not find one on AliExpress
- stevekemp 8y ago
  For the buttons I first of all wired a button to an ESP8266 device, made it connect to wifi and publish to MQTT and handled it that way. But when it came to time to setup a lot more of them I realized that would get expensive quickly. SO I cheated. I bought a bunch of 433Mhz-based radio-buttons: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/OWSOO-433MHz-Wireless-SOS-Button-Emergency-Button-Switch-Alarm-Accessories-For-Home-House-GSM-Security-Alarm/32828309110.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/OWSOO-433MHz-Wireless-SOS-Bu... Then I hooked up an SDR receiver to my PC, and handle it that way. I have a 433Mhz receiver for the arduino, which could also decode those transmissions, but I never used it for anything except to prove I could. There's a pointer to the software and some overview here: https://blog.steve.fi/decoding_433mhz_transmissions_with_software_defined_radio.html https://blog.steve.fi/decoding_433mhz_transmissions_with_sof...
  - BrandoElFollito 8y ago
    Thank you. I was also considering the 433 MHz way and now that I think about it even bought a sonoff bridge :) I will spend more time on that during summer when the kids are away
spuz 8y ago
What kind of display did you use for the tram-stop times? I wanted to do something similar but worked out that the cost to update the display every minute was too much in terms of battery life even with an epaper display. Also, it was too inconvenient / ugly to use mains power.
- stevekemp 8y ago
  A 4x20 LCD, which works because I'm running on mains-power: https://steve.fi/Hardware/helsinki-tram-times/ https://steve.fi/Hardware/helsinki-tram-times/ I do have a couple of epaper devices, and they would be ideal but for their terribly slow update-time. I like the clock showing Time & Date (or Time & Temperature), and having epaper update every second just isn't possible. Even if it were then I suspect updating so frequently would negate the potential power-saving of using epaper in the first place. I do have a nice epaper device for showing weather & weather-forecasts, that works on batteries and updates every 20 minutes. But for trams I update departures every 2 minutes.
- staz 8y ago
  Not OP but did a similar project, the display method I used was simply to use 9 led lined up, each representing a stop before mine, to show the current position of the tram. My idea was based on the top part of this display https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXGxPtlXkAA0inj.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DXGxPtlXkAA0inj.jpg
  - spuz 8y ago
    Interesting! That sounds like a really nice low-tech solution. I like it.

roryisok 8y ago

My machine has a time remaining feature which is great in theory but it's completely inaccurate. It might tell you there's 45 minutes left in a cycle, you'll come back an hour later and it'll say 17 minutes. I guess I know where the windows file-copy dialog author went to work after Microsoft

tgb 8y ago
I think modern washers weigh the clothes and change their cycles based off that and other information. Mine is similar but seems to always overestimate the time instead, which is probably the better failure state.
- mdorazio 8y ago
  From what I understand, it has to do with 1) the time displayed is for an "optimal" load (not too full, normal soilage, balanced, etc.) instead of the actual load, and 2) the machines may pause and restart or lengthen parts of the cycle if the weight and/or balance are slightly off. In any case, the washers at my apartment complex are always off, but it's at least consistent so that I can add about 6 minutes to whatever it shows at the beginning and plan around that.
- bytematic 8y ago
  The semi-old one in my building weighs it when you start the load and gives an accurate minute timer. The odd thing is it is always different, almost no correlation to weight, sometimes 50, sometimes 70.
- kw71 8y ago
  Some industrial laundries do this, but I have heard this over and over again to describe residential HE laundry machines but never actually seen one with a way to measure this. The usual method is to tumble the clothes until the water level in the tub stops dropping. Now they're saturated with water. What you are probably getting when you start your washer is an estimate considering the steps of the cycle and loaded to capacity. Some machines have turbidity sensors - mine doesn't - this could deliver information that might shorten the cycle. Also the time may go up if it has to deal with suds or stops spinning to rearrange the load if it shakes.

sygma 8y ago

Pretty cool project! If you want to go further, check out the CloudWash [0] project by Berg London. [0]: https://vimeo.com/87522764 https://vimeo.com/87522764

pbhjpbhj 8y ago

A plug-through device (or cable mounted) could probably do this based on current draw, similar to the killawatt but with different purpose. Might be able to also do error messaging, or warnings of exceptional current draw.

tga 8y ago

My solution for this was an ESP8266-based Sonoff POW (wireless smart switch and power monitor), running Tasmota, sending data through MQTT to Home Assistant, scripted to send notifications through Telegram. https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-pow.html https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-pow.html https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota https://www.home-assistant.io https://www.home-assistant.io

spuz 8y ago
Interesting, I didn't know that Sonoff did a power consumption monitor. That makes sense for something like a washing machine. Presumably though you never actually use the relay/off-switch capability of the Sonoff, right?
- tga 8y ago
  For the washer I don't use the switch at all. The only time so far I used both the switch and the power monitor was on the Christmas tree, because I was curious how much it cost to run ($3 or so overall iirc).

krrrh 8y ago

My trick is to set a timer on my phone when I start a load. Even if the machine doesn't tell you how long it's going to take on a display, these things tend to be pretty consistent. Low tech but it works.