14 ms·

Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth

175 points by ltratt 3y ago

readthenotes1 3y ago
My 33 year old Kenmore washing machine works well and is easily repaired (proof: i have done so, twice). It would be nice to get one of these newer contraptions, but I really have no desire to join the planned obsolescence treadmill.
mekazu 3y ago
I wonder if the author knows about `watch`. It seems like it might’ve saved some effort with a better outcome.
jmbwell 3y ago
This is great. I think the next step is to re-implement the Miele API and redirect the machine's requests to an internal server you control!
noisy_boy 3y ago
Missed writing it in rust and calling it wasm :)
mleo 3y ago
I have LG ThinQ washer and dryer. A version of ThinQ API uses AWS MQTT for communication. I find it helpful to send TTS notifications and followup reminders to Sonos when the washer is complete, until the door has been opened. The appliance knows when the door is opened/closed yet the API does not include this detail. Had to add separate contact sensors for that purpose.
- dave78 3y ago
  Did you successfully somehow hook into the MQTT comms? I also have an LG washer/dryer and spent some time trying to do this but never finished.
fanatic2pope 3y ago
A simpler solution might be to use a smart plug to monitor the current being drawn by the appliance and then just notify and turn off when it is done. I do variations of this kind of thing (using sonoff S31's flashed with tasmota) and it works quite well.
1970-01-01 3y ago
>Putting aside any worries about connecting a high-speed rotating device to the internet We should beware of these dangers, not brush them off. A nation-state could easily destroy millions of homes if/when these Internet-facing APIs are plentiful.
MisterTea 3y ago
My old early/mid 90's washer Maytag dryer set was starting to fall apart few years ago so they were replaced with an LG washer and dryer set with WiFi. The only use I can ever envision a washer needing WiFi for is telling me the remaining time and when the cycle is done. Before I even connected the WiFi I did some research to see if the washer/dryer could be monitored from a 3rd party app. Nope. The washer has to talk to an LG server. So I poke around some more and find that there is an API for LG appliances, cool right? Nope. You need to be a "valued partner." Apparently paying $2000 for the two machines is not valued by LG. In the end the washer and dryer remain dumb appliances because I control MY appliances. Go die in a fire LG. And that goes for every other IoT e-waste manufacturer.
quijoteuniv 3y ago
I can wait to buy an open source machine where i can customise. I find the interface with all my last couple of AEG machines ridicolous. The only way to get the machine to work the way you want is turn it off and start again. I really find myself wishing to have a chat with the engineer that programmed this. Very frustrating to have to change machines because they do not have service manuals available. (Wife could not wait me figuring it out). CLI TO MY WASCHINE NOW!!
storyinmemo 3y ago
I wish my appliances would just implement Zigbee or MQTT in open way.
realworldperson 3y ago
[dead]
szszrk 3y ago
To be clear, this is using manufacturer's developer API to interact with their online services and not with the washing machine. Also something often managed by Home Assistant and alike.
styxit 3y ago
I had the same issue, unfortunately my washing machine does not have an API. I used a raspberry Pi with a camera, using OCR i was able to detect the remaining time from the display. Having an API like this would have been so much easier. I did create an opensource web app so you are able to see your remaining time, laundry history, and get (push/mail) notifications. Since you only need to push the remaining seconds to an http endpoint it probably is easy to use with the solution described in the article. https://github.com/styxit/laundry-admin https://github.com/styxit/laundry-admin
- mft_ 3y ago
  Tangent, but how did you handle lighting for the camera? I'm intermittently working on something similar to read a gas meter, but am struggling to find a way of lighting the digits sufficiently, while not leaving reflections on plastic over the digits. I've tried Pi-controlled LEDs and a smart bulb, with little success, so far.
  - zombielinux 3y ago
    Try switching your spectrum. I bet that plastic is transparent in UV or Infrared and with some minor camera surgery, you could get some visible light filter in there. Alternately, try some polarizing filters instead.
  - michaelt 3y ago
    Try diffuse lighting - the classic option is a light pointing at a white shower curtain. That should cut down on the specular reflections. Alternately, get yourself a movable light, a live view through the camera, and move the light around until you find a position that gives you a good image.
- jve 3y ago
  For "I'm done" notification, I use relay with power metering - looking at the power pattern, home assistant can be set up for notification after x time when that graph drops to floor.
  - 3y ago
FredPret 3y ago
When I first moved to Canada, I had no money. I lived in an apartment block with a coin-operated washer and drier. But I always had to go down the hall to check if my laundry was done. So I had the idea to wind some wires around the power cable to detect the electromagnetic field changes when the machine turns on and off. Then this could send a message to a Raspberry Pi which could ping me somehow. I didn't want to leave my Raspberry Pi hanging around in that semi-public area though. Also, I couldn't afford one at the time anyway!
- eimrine 3y ago
  Raspberry is an overkill for this task. A few transistors and the cheapest FM transmitter might solve this.
  - FredPret 3y ago
    But I want a bit to be flipped somewhere, so I can check at my leisure. If I miss the FM transmission I have to go down the hall to check again (Over the past ten years I've missed the last 100% of all FM transmissions passing through my local area)
    - eimrine 3y ago
      If washing is not ready (currency is high) do nothing except of maybe accumulating energy. Else send an endless beep on any frequency you like before you manage to take your laundry and disactivate your FM beeper. It still can be implemented using a few transistors. Bonus points if implementation of this will be done in such a way that other folks can have a good use of the device.
      - FredPret 3y ago
        That's smart. You could probably cram that into a official-looking nondescript plastic box with a backup battery that slots over the wire. Now you'd just need to keep the transmission power low
londons_explore 3y ago
It is notable that washing machines lie about remaining time. Specifically, there are parts of the wash cycle that are indeterminate. How long will it take to get all the clothes wet with water - well that will depend on the water pressure and how many clothes are inside. How long will it take for the water to heat - Well that will depend on how hot it was when it came in and the grid AC voltage variation. How long will it take to spin - well that will depend how many times it needs to accelerate and decelerate to redistribute clothes to find an arrangement to get sufficiently low vibration. So... With all these unknowns, the machine simply gives a kinda long estimate, and shortens or lengthens other parts of the washing cycle to 'catch up' with the claim. And if some process takes far too long, it will just overrun. And if you only put one pair of pants in, then it may cut the time back a bit when it weighs it and notices. Washing machine software is now pretty complex!
- avianlyric 3y ago
  I have done something similar to OP with my Miele washer. Once you start a cycle it begin filling the drum, and analysing how much water your clothes absorb, at which point it re-estimates the wash duration based on the measured load size. Based on the stats I’ve collected, once it done that re-estimate (which is usually reducing the cycle length slightly), the new duration will be spot on nine times out of ten. Occasionally it take longer than normal to balance the drum for the spin cycle, and I can see the machine adjusting it wash duration in my stats. I’ve also noticed the Miele machine seems I incorporate info from previous wash cycles. So the initial estimate it provides before you hit start, will slowly adjust to match wash duration of your typical load. As a consequence, if the machine says it gonna be done in 1:40, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be done in 1:40, and probably completed in 1:20-1:30. So more than accurate enough to plan around.
  - salmonlogs 3y ago
    Also own some newer Miele washer/dryer and found the estimated time is almost perfectly accurate I connected the Wi-fi for the app and I get a push notification to tell me the actual time remaining once its done the measurements
belugacat 3y ago
Great hack, but I’m sure any engineer worth their salt winces at the thought of a machine in their home roundtripping through far away 3rd party servers (I guess they’re the manufacturer’s, but if it’s hardware I own in my house those servers are 3rd party to me) just to notify them of a numerical value when they’re sitting literally 10 meters away (I live in the countryside and experience internet interruptions not infrequently, things running locally matter a lot to me). I was thinking the other day as I was remodeling my kitchen that I would happily pay several times the price of regular appliances (fridge, clothes washer, dish washer) if they were built with a tasteful, minimalist design (eg 1960s Braun style), quality materials, and fully open source PCB/firmware/schematics/etc. I’m probably not the only one. It’d be a weird niche market but perhaps there’s something there. If you tie it with the building consumer awareness of right to repair, anti consumerism, planned obsolescence, etc, the marketing just writes itself. Maybe that’s a kind of company I want to start myself, having worked in consumer hardware for a long time and thinking about my next step, but if anyone wants to take the idea go ahead.
- throwaway290 3y ago
  Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=migRN4P1wGI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=migRN4P1wGI. Tape on a thing that gets activated by dumb washing machine LEDs and notifies your phone without any third-party server. Really cool stuff! I thought this article would be along those lines except more sophisticated (OCR to read remaining time? sure why not!) and was slightly disappointed
- foobarbecue 3y ago
  Me too, and I believe our society could have taken a different trajectory, in which the values you have are norms. It's normal to want to have control over every detail of where your furniture goes and how your home is decorated, and plants in your garden, without consulting some external source of control. Why isn't it normal to have the same level of control of your appliances and your digital life?
- dochtman 3y ago
  I wonder if the Thread/Matter standards will be able to improve on this once adopted. At least they provide open standards and don't require cloud components for supported devices to communicate with your (pocket and otherwise) computers.
ubergesundheit 3y ago
I've done a similar thing with a "dumb" washing machine using a Arduino with an attached LDR (light-dependent resistor) taped to the "door open" LED. The Arduino sends the value of the LDR over serial port to a laptop which sends changes to the "door open" over Signal to my phone
- aabdelhafez 3y ago
  Side question: you can use Signal programmatically?
  - ubergesundheit 3y ago
    I’m using https://github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api https://github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api which exposes a REST Api
xxs 3y ago
With an old (10+) washing machine accessing the seven segment output does the same, yet not a worthy HN topic (and quite trivial - some soldering and repotting the silicone dip).
zeristor 3y ago
I've just had a "Smart" Samsung washing machine installed. It says it is Internet ready. I am not sure what they mean by internet ready, it seems I have to change the name of the WiFi point to have no crazy characters, and just have 2.4 Ghz, turning 5GHz off in order to connect it. But this means my smart scales now need to be set up since the WiFi name has changed. Am I missing a trick, I guess it is possible to set up, but it is a bit gruelling.
- dicknuckle 3y ago
  You might be able to set up a virtual access point or "guest network" with a different name.
- mike50 3y ago
  Ahh 10 year old wifi problems. Did you try the hex key instead of ASCII?
- aivisol 3y ago
  I am curious what is the smart thing about washing clothes while being connected to Internet? Manufacturer approved only washing powder/tablets?
  - heartbreak 3y ago
    I used to have my laundry machines in my attached garage, outside of the living space and separated by sufficient insulation that I couldn’t hear the buzzer go off. Those machines had WiFi, and I’d get a push notification when the cycle was done. I never used any other “connected” feature, but that one was nice.
nemo44x 3y ago
I own a Speed Queen washing machine. The best part is it has no digital components and it will last 25 years while also doing a superior job in cleaning clothing. I highly recommend it. Every other brand is crap compared to it.
matthew-wegner 3y ago
I use a zigbee smart outlet with power monitoring for this. If it's using power for awhile, set to washing. If power has been zero for awhile, and it's washing, set to done (and send text-to-speech event that goes out on all house speakers). This is a little Node-RED flow on top of Home Assistant.
- hcaz 3y ago
  This is a clever way to make non smart appliances smart, it works for washers, dryers, dishwashers etc. You could even use this to detect when a dehumidifier fills its tank and stops itself.
- iengae 3y ago
  This! I am doing a similar thing with only Home Assistant, i.e. without Node RED. No need for „smart“ appliances and reverse engineering their protocols if all you want is to be notified when the washing cycle is over.
- idatum 3y ago
  I use CT (current) sensors on the circuits for both washer and dryer and a small XBee ZigBee device using its ADC pins to transmit the current readings. On the server with an XBee coordinator, I use a moving average window to cover points where the washer or dryer use very little current. It's then pretty easy to detect on/off, and even where the current cycle is. The obligatory Home Assistant integration notifies household members. Plotting the dryer data, you can see how it works. The heating element turns on for a period, then turns off and the humidity is most likely read at that point. The gap between periods of the heating element on increases, and the heating length of time decreases, until if stops spinning. Cool DIY project.
eur0pa 3y ago
Why is your washing machine connected to the internet?
- 4ggr0 3y ago
  Notifications when a cycle is done, time-based starting of cycles (put the clothes in the machine when you leave, but only start the cycle so that it's done when you're back, or just manually start a cycle from your phone while you're away), control your washing machine with voice assistants, maybe a few more things.
  - eur0pa 3y ago
    That sounds like something a simple timer would be able to achieve. To each their own, but the only thing that is connected to the internet in my home is the phone, and the PCs.
    - mavhc 3y ago
      now connect the timer to the network so it can be activated with certain conditions, eg: I'm leaving work, the live traffic estimates 87 mins until I arrive, start the machine so it finishes when I get home. Or: Energy will be cheapest to buy at 2:30am, start then. Or: There is currently enough excess solar power to run the machine only using solar (bonus points for checking weather forcasts)
    - 4ggr0 3y ago
      Yeah my washing machine is not smart either and I don't mind that it's dumb, but I get why people like them. If I had one I would of course add it to a secured VLAN, and not my regular network :D
shautvast 3y ago
>Putting aside any worries about connecting a high-speed rotating device to the internet lol, stuxnet reference? Although I believe the Iranian uranium centrifuges weren't actually connected
- mavhc 3y ago
  Correct, that's why it used a Windows USB auto prompt flaw, it spread via usb flash drives, but only activated if the conditions found in the uranium facility were present

175 points by ltratt 3y ago

My 33 year old Kenmore washing machine works well and is easily repaired (proof: i have done so, twice). It would be nice to get one of these newer contraptions, but I really have no desire to join the planned obsolescence treadmill.

mekazu 3y ago

I wonder if the author knows about `watch`. It seems like it might’ve saved some effort with a better outcome.

jmbwell 3y ago

This is great. I think the next step is to re-implement the Miele API and redirect the machine's requests to an internal server you control!

noisy_boy 3y ago

Missed writing it in rust and calling it wasm :)

mleo 3y ago

I have LG ThinQ washer and dryer. A version of ThinQ API uses AWS MQTT for communication. I find it helpful to send TTS notifications and followup reminders to Sonos when the washer is complete, until the door has been opened. The appliance knows when the door is opened/closed yet the API does not include this detail. Had to add separate contact sensors for that purpose.

dave78 3y ago
Did you successfully somehow hook into the MQTT comms? I also have an LG washer/dryer and spent some time trying to do this but never finished.

fanatic2pope 3y ago

A simpler solution might be to use a smart plug to monitor the current being drawn by the appliance and then just notify and turn off when it is done. I do variations of this kind of thing (using sonoff S31's flashed with tasmota) and it works quite well.

1970-01-01 3y ago

>Putting aside any worries about connecting a high-speed rotating device to the internet We should beware of these dangers, not brush them off. A nation-state could easily destroy millions of homes if/when these Internet-facing APIs are plentiful.

MisterTea 3y ago

My old early/mid 90's washer Maytag dryer set was starting to fall apart few years ago so they were replaced with an LG washer and dryer set with WiFi. The only use I can ever envision a washer needing WiFi for is telling me the remaining time and when the cycle is done. Before I even connected the WiFi I did some research to see if the washer/dryer could be monitored from a 3rd party app. Nope. The washer has to talk to an LG server. So I poke around some more and find that there is an API for LG appliances, cool right? Nope. You need to be a "valued partner." Apparently paying $2000 for the two machines is not valued by LG. In the end the washer and dryer remain dumb appliances because I control MY appliances. Go die in a fire LG. And that goes for every other IoT e-waste manufacturer.

quijoteuniv 3y ago

I can wait to buy an open source machine where i can customise. I find the interface with all my last couple of AEG machines ridicolous. The only way to get the machine to work the way you want is turn it off and start again. I really find myself wishing to have a chat with the engineer that programmed this. Very frustrating to have to change machines because they do not have service manuals available. (Wife could not wait me figuring it out). CLI TO MY WASCHINE NOW!!

storyinmemo 3y ago

I wish my appliances would just implement Zigbee or MQTT in open way.

realworldperson 3y ago

[dead]

szszrk 3y ago

To be clear, this is using manufacturer's developer API to interact with their online services and not with the washing machine. Also something often managed by Home Assistant and alike.

styxit 3y ago

I had the same issue, unfortunately my washing machine does not have an API. I used a raspberry Pi with a camera, using OCR i was able to detect the remaining time from the display. Having an API like this would have been so much easier. I did create an opensource web app so you are able to see your remaining time, laundry history, and get (push/mail) notifications. Since you only need to push the remaining seconds to an http endpoint it probably is easy to use with the solution described in the article. https://github.com/styxit/laundry-admin https://github.com/styxit/laundry-admin

mft_ 3y ago
Tangent, but how did you handle lighting for the camera? I'm intermittently working on something similar to read a gas meter, but am struggling to find a way of lighting the digits sufficiently, while not leaving reflections on plastic over the digits. I've tried Pi-controlled LEDs and a smart bulb, with little success, so far.
- zombielinux 3y ago
  Try switching your spectrum. I bet that plastic is transparent in UV or Infrared and with some minor camera surgery, you could get some visible light filter in there. Alternately, try some polarizing filters instead.
- michaelt 3y ago
  Try diffuse lighting - the classic option is a light pointing at a white shower curtain. That should cut down on the specular reflections. Alternately, get yourself a movable light, a live view through the camera, and move the light around until you find a position that gives you a good image.
jve 3y ago
For "I'm done" notification, I use relay with power metering - looking at the power pattern, home assistant can be set up for notification after x time when that graph drops to floor.
- 3y ago

FredPret 3y ago

When I first moved to Canada, I had no money. I lived in an apartment block with a coin-operated washer and drier. But I always had to go down the hall to check if my laundry was done. So I had the idea to wind some wires around the power cable to detect the electromagnetic field changes when the machine turns on and off. Then this could send a message to a Raspberry Pi which could ping me somehow. I didn't want to leave my Raspberry Pi hanging around in that semi-public area though. Also, I couldn't afford one at the time anyway!

eimrine 3y ago
Raspberry is an overkill for this task. A few transistors and the cheapest FM transmitter might solve this.
- FredPret 3y ago
  But I want a bit to be flipped somewhere, so I can check at my leisure. If I miss the FM transmission I have to go down the hall to check again (Over the past ten years I've missed the last 100% of all FM transmissions passing through my local area)
  - eimrine 3y ago
    If washing is not ready (currency is high) do nothing except of maybe accumulating energy. Else send an endless beep on any frequency you like before you manage to take your laundry and disactivate your FM beeper. It still can be implemented using a few transistors. Bonus points if implementation of this will be done in such a way that other folks can have a good use of the device.
    - FredPret 3y ago
      That's smart. You could probably cram that into a official-looking nondescript plastic box with a backup battery that slots over the wire. Now you'd just need to keep the transmission power low

londons_explore 3y ago

It is notable that washing machines lie about remaining time. Specifically, there are parts of the wash cycle that are indeterminate. How long will it take to get all the clothes wet with water - well that will depend on the water pressure and how many clothes are inside. How long will it take for the water to heat - Well that will depend on how hot it was when it came in and the grid AC voltage variation. How long will it take to spin - well that will depend how many times it needs to accelerate and decelerate to redistribute clothes to find an arrangement to get sufficiently low vibration. So... With all these unknowns, the machine simply gives a kinda long estimate, and shortens or lengthens other parts of the washing cycle to 'catch up' with the claim. And if some process takes far too long, it will just overrun. And if you only put one pair of pants in, then it may cut the time back a bit when it weighs it and notices. Washing machine software is now pretty complex!

avianlyric 3y ago
I have done something similar to OP with my Miele washer. Once you start a cycle it begin filling the drum, and analysing how much water your clothes absorb, at which point it re-estimates the wash duration based on the measured load size. Based on the stats I’ve collected, once it done that re-estimate (which is usually reducing the cycle length slightly), the new duration will be spot on nine times out of ten. Occasionally it take longer than normal to balance the drum for the spin cycle, and I can see the machine adjusting it wash duration in my stats. I’ve also noticed the Miele machine seems I incorporate info from previous wash cycles. So the initial estimate it provides before you hit start, will slowly adjust to match wash duration of your typical load. As a consequence, if the machine says it gonna be done in 1:40, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be done in 1:40, and probably completed in 1:20-1:30. So more than accurate enough to plan around.
- salmonlogs 3y ago
  Also own some newer Miele washer/dryer and found the estimated time is almost perfectly accurate I connected the Wi-fi for the app and I get a push notification to tell me the actual time remaining once its done the measurements

belugacat 3y ago

Great hack, but I’m sure any engineer worth their salt winces at the thought of a machine in their home roundtripping through far away 3rd party servers (I guess they’re the manufacturer’s, but if it’s hardware I own in my house those servers are 3rd party to me) just to notify them of a numerical value when they’re sitting literally 10 meters away (I live in the countryside and experience internet interruptions not infrequently, things running locally matter a lot to me). I was thinking the other day as I was remodeling my kitchen that I would happily pay several times the price of regular appliances (fridge, clothes washer, dish washer) if they were built with a tasteful, minimalist design (eg 1960s Braun style), quality materials, and fully open source PCB/firmware/schematics/etc. I’m probably not the only one. It’d be a weird niche market but perhaps there’s something there. If you tie it with the building consumer awareness of right to repair, anti consumerism, planned obsolescence, etc, the marketing just writes itself. Maybe that’s a kind of company I want to start myself, having worked in consumer hardware for a long time and thinking about my next step, but if anyone wants to take the idea go ahead.

throwaway290 3y ago
Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=migRN4P1wGI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=migRN4P1wGI. Tape on a thing that gets activated by dumb washing machine LEDs and notifies your phone without any third-party server. Really cool stuff! I thought this article would be along those lines except more sophisticated (OCR to read remaining time? sure why not!) and was slightly disappointed
foobarbecue 3y ago
Me too, and I believe our society could have taken a different trajectory, in which the values you have are norms. It's normal to want to have control over every detail of where your furniture goes and how your home is decorated, and plants in your garden, without consulting some external source of control. Why isn't it normal to have the same level of control of your appliances and your digital life?
dochtman 3y ago
I wonder if the Thread/Matter standards will be able to improve on this once adopted. At least they provide open standards and don't require cloud components for supported devices to communicate with your (pocket and otherwise) computers.

ubergesundheit 3y ago

I've done a similar thing with a "dumb" washing machine using a Arduino with an attached LDR (light-dependent resistor) taped to the "door open" LED. The Arduino sends the value of the LDR over serial port to a laptop which sends changes to the "door open" over Signal to my phone

aabdelhafez 3y ago
Side question: you can use Signal programmatically?
- ubergesundheit 3y ago
  I’m using https://github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api https://github.com/bbernhard/signal-cli-rest-api which exposes a REST Api

xxs 3y ago

With an old (10+) washing machine accessing the seven segment output does the same, yet not a worthy HN topic (and quite trivial - some soldering and repotting the silicone dip).

zeristor 3y ago

I've just had a "Smart" Samsung washing machine installed. It says it is Internet ready. I am not sure what they mean by internet ready, it seems I have to change the name of the WiFi point to have no crazy characters, and just have 2.4 Ghz, turning 5GHz off in order to connect it. But this means my smart scales now need to be set up since the WiFi name has changed. Am I missing a trick, I guess it is possible to set up, but it is a bit gruelling.

dicknuckle 3y ago
You might be able to set up a virtual access point or "guest network" with a different name.
mike50 3y ago
Ahh 10 year old wifi problems. Did you try the hex key instead of ASCII?
aivisol 3y ago
I am curious what is the smart thing about washing clothes while being connected to Internet? Manufacturer approved only washing powder/tablets?
- heartbreak 3y ago
  I used to have my laundry machines in my attached garage, outside of the living space and separated by sufficient insulation that I couldn’t hear the buzzer go off. Those machines had WiFi, and I’d get a push notification when the cycle was done. I never used any other “connected” feature, but that one was nice.

nemo44x 3y ago

I own a Speed Queen washing machine. The best part is it has no digital components and it will last 25 years while also doing a superior job in cleaning clothing. I highly recommend it. Every other brand is crap compared to it.

matthew-wegner 3y ago

I use a zigbee smart outlet with power monitoring for this. If it's using power for awhile, set to washing. If power has been zero for awhile, and it's washing, set to done (and send text-to-speech event that goes out on all house speakers). This is a little Node-RED flow on top of Home Assistant.

hcaz 3y ago
This is a clever way to make non smart appliances smart, it works for washers, dryers, dishwashers etc. You could even use this to detect when a dehumidifier fills its tank and stops itself.
iengae 3y ago
This! I am doing a similar thing with only Home Assistant, i.e. without Node RED. No need for „smart“ appliances and reverse engineering their protocols if all you want is to be notified when the washing cycle is over.
idatum 3y ago
I use CT (current) sensors on the circuits for both washer and dryer and a small XBee ZigBee device using its ADC pins to transmit the current readings. On the server with an XBee coordinator, I use a moving average window to cover points where the washer or dryer use very little current. It's then pretty easy to detect on/off, and even where the current cycle is. The obligatory Home Assistant integration notifies household members. Plotting the dryer data, you can see how it works. The heating element turns on for a period, then turns off and the humidity is most likely read at that point. The gap between periods of the heating element on increases, and the heating length of time decreases, until if stops spinning. Cool DIY project.

eur0pa 3y ago

Why is your washing machine connected to the internet?

4ggr0 3y ago
Notifications when a cycle is done, time-based starting of cycles (put the clothes in the machine when you leave, but only start the cycle so that it's done when you're back, or just manually start a cycle from your phone while you're away), control your washing machine with voice assistants, maybe a few more things.
- eur0pa 3y ago
  That sounds like something a simple timer would be able to achieve. To each their own, but the only thing that is connected to the internet in my home is the phone, and the PCs.
  - mavhc 3y ago
    now connect the timer to the network so it can be activated with certain conditions, eg: I'm leaving work, the live traffic estimates 87 mins until I arrive, start the machine so it finishes when I get home. Or: Energy will be cheapest to buy at 2:30am, start then. Or: There is currently enough excess solar power to run the machine only using solar (bonus points for checking weather forcasts)
  - 4ggr0 3y ago
    Yeah my washing machine is not smart either and I don't mind that it's dumb, but I get why people like them. If I had one I would of course add it to a secured VLAN, and not my regular network :D

shautvast 3y ago

>Putting aside any worries about connecting a high-speed rotating device to the internet lol, stuxnet reference? Although I believe the Iranian uranium centrifuges weren't actually connected

mavhc 3y ago
Correct, that's why it used a Windows USB auto prompt flaw, it spread via usb flash drives, but only activated if the conditions found in the uranium facility were present