4 ms·

Alternative implementation idea: pi with a mike feeding audio signals to a detector. If waveform matches Twinkle Little Star (aka sound of rice cooker), send no

Alternative implementation idea: pi with a mike feeding audio signals to a detector. If waveform matches Twinkle Little Star (aka sound of rice cooker), send notif("rice is done"). Extensible to other important sounds like smoke alarm, oven timer beeping, and a catch-all that sends notif("weird sound in kitchen, best investigate"). Plugin architecture to allow other contributions for waveforms to recognise different brand gear, eg the beeps from GE being different from Zojirushi.

mjdiloreto 3y ago
Energy use for constant audio monitoring would make that implementation impractical compared to simply monitoring the energy draw from the device.
- tnmom 3y ago
  A Pi draws somewhere under 10W at peak, probably significantly under that most of the time. That’s about 87kWh per year, worst case. Something like $8-16 dollars depending on how incompetent your power company is - well under the threshold for anyone who knows how to do this kind of work to worry about. Again, worst case; I’d bet you can do constant listening half that.
- Void_Kitty 3y ago
  You could probably run this on a 32bit micro controller doing less than a watt
01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago
Yeah I want that for detecting when my furnace cycles. One mic could probably cover everything in the utility room. With multiple outdoor microphones I'd love to build a ShotSpotter, but I'm not good enough at audio to know how practical that is.
- madphilosopher 3y ago
  For a forced-air furnace, I put a hinged piece of cardboard over a room vent with a paperclip switch. When the furnace blew, the cardboard would rise and the switch would open. Simple and effective. It doesn't measure the burn cycle of the furnace exactly, but it was close enough for me.
  - jpc0 3y ago
    Sounds like a story I've heard about a conveyer belt and a large fan. I like simple solutions to simple problems
ssl-3 3y ago
This wheel has already been invented. Amazon Echo devices can detect (and respond to) beeping appliances. I have one in the kitchen (which is near the laundry), and another one in my office (where I cannot hear the things in the kitchen). When things beep, the one in the office says "beep beep". And if things beep for a long time -- I think it's 2 minutes or something -- it also notifies my phone.
- a_gnostic 3y ago
  My pi won't phone home, Echo constantly does.
  - ssl-3 3y ago
    That's absolutely correct. My Echo devices go further, and can even provide a slice of Internet for the Alexa-enabled TVs that my neighbors may think have no network connection. ...and I'm OK with all of this. :)
- mikepurvis 3y ago
  Large appliances can also be monitored via energy use back at the panel with a device like Sense: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/sense/ https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/sense/ This can detect an inductive load like an AC/fridge/freezer compressor or washing machine motor. Something small and purely resistive like a rice cooker might be more challenging, but certainly a Sense does get you a long way.
  - ssl-3 3y ago
    That's a cromulent method. It does involve buying single-task hardware, but it's tidy. I'd expect that it would work the same for either resistive or inductive loads -- after all, AC current on a wire is AC current on a wire, however it came to be present.
    - mikepurvis 3y ago
      Sort of. Inductive loads tend to have a much more distinct "signature" in terms of how they draw current— both the obvious business of causing idealized current lag [1] but also the choppiness of how the magnets energize and de-energize as it spins. My understanding of Sense is that it measures the top-level current consumption somewhat blindly and then uses the inductive monitoring and other inference to attribute that consumption to different known devices— like oh here's 4kW of resistive heating going on, I can tell whether that's your dryer or your hot tub based on whether I see the drum or circulation pump running. Whereas if it can't find an inductor then it will basically just assume it's your kettle, toaster, or a fanless space heater, with more emphasis on the device doing unique things as it starts up, see [2]. [1]: https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Electrical_Engineering/Electronics/AC_Electrical_Circuit_Analysis%3A_A_Practical_Approach_(Fiore)/07%3A_AC_Power/7.2%3A_Power_Waveforms https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Electrical_Engineerin... [2]: https://blog.sense.com/articles/how-does-sense-detect-my-devices/ https://blog.sense.com/articles/how-does-sense-detect-my-dev...

mjdiloreto 3y ago

Energy use for constant audio monitoring would make that implementation impractical compared to simply monitoring the energy draw from the device.

tnmom 3y ago
A Pi draws somewhere under 10W at peak, probably significantly under that most of the time. That’s about 87kWh per year, worst case. Something like $8-16 dollars depending on how incompetent your power company is - well under the threshold for anyone who knows how to do this kind of work to worry about. Again, worst case; I’d bet you can do constant listening half that.
Void_Kitty 3y ago
You could probably run this on a 32bit micro controller doing less than a watt

01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y ago

Yeah I want that for detecting when my furnace cycles. One mic could probably cover everything in the utility room. With multiple outdoor microphones I'd love to build a ShotSpotter, but I'm not good enough at audio to know how practical that is.

madphilosopher 3y ago
For a forced-air furnace, I put a hinged piece of cardboard over a room vent with a paperclip switch. When the furnace blew, the cardboard would rise and the switch would open. Simple and effective. It doesn't measure the burn cycle of the furnace exactly, but it was close enough for me.
- jpc0 3y ago
  Sounds like a story I've heard about a conveyer belt and a large fan. I like simple solutions to simple problems

ssl-3 3y ago

This wheel has already been invented. Amazon Echo devices can detect (and respond to) beeping appliances. I have one in the kitchen (which is near the laundry), and another one in my office (where I cannot hear the things in the kitchen). When things beep, the one in the office says "beep beep". And if things beep for a long time -- I think it's 2 minutes or something -- it also notifies my phone.

a_gnostic 3y ago
My pi won't phone home, Echo constantly does.
- ssl-3 3y ago
  That's absolutely correct. My Echo devices go further, and can even provide a slice of Internet for the Alexa-enabled TVs that my neighbors may think have no network connection. ...and I'm OK with all of this. :)
mikepurvis 3y ago
Large appliances can also be monitored via energy use back at the panel with a device like Sense: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/sense/ https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/sense/ This can detect an inductive load like an AC/fridge/freezer compressor or washing machine motor. Something small and purely resistive like a rice cooker might be more challenging, but certainly a Sense does get you a long way.
- ssl-3 3y ago
  That's a cromulent method. It does involve buying single-task hardware, but it's tidy. I'd expect that it would work the same for either resistive or inductive loads -- after all, AC current on a wire is AC current on a wire, however it came to be present.
  - mikepurvis 3y ago
    Sort of. Inductive loads tend to have a much more distinct "signature" in terms of how they draw current— both the obvious business of causing idealized current lag [1] but also the choppiness of how the magnets energize and de-energize as it spins. My understanding of Sense is that it measures the top-level current consumption somewhat blindly and then uses the inductive monitoring and other inference to attribute that consumption to different known devices— like oh here's 4kW of resistive heating going on, I can tell whether that's your dryer or your hot tub based on whether I see the drum or circulation pump running. Whereas if it can't find an inductor then it will basically just assume it's your kettle, toaster, or a fanless space heater, with more emphasis on the device doing unique things as it starts up, see [2]. [1]: https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Electrical_Engineering/Electronics/AC_Electrical_Circuit_Analysis%3A_A_Practical_Approach_(Fiore)/07%3A_AC_Power/7.2%3A_Power_Waveforms https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Electrical_Engineerin... [2]: https://blog.sense.com/articles/how-does-sense-detect-my-devices/ https://blog.sense.com/articles/how-does-sense-detect-my-dev...