Wifi Door Sensor

I started out by buying a NEO Wifi Door Sensor. They are fairly cheap and I had read online that they had a esp chip in them. So the theory was I could reprogram it to talk MQTT to my openhab server. The device was fairly small and runs off a cr2 battery.

So I tore it apart and saw the pads labeled vcc,gnd,tx,rx,and io_0. Thought it was a walk in the park, solder some wires and load code through the arduino ide. 

This is where everything fell apart... Couldn't get an code to load and I realized there was another mcu sharing the tx/rx lines. In the end I gave up and just took the magnet and reed switch, then built my own using a Wemos D1 Mini.

I used the schematic found from this website: http://www.whatimade.today/esp-8266-mailbox-notifier-using-deepsleep-and-blynk/. A single 18650 battery powers the unit, currently monitoring the battery to determine how long it will last. The device was then packaged up on a hand soldered pcb.

Then placed on my front door.

So now every time the door is opened, it sends an update to the openhab/Mqtt server, the server then turns on my foyer and living room lights. #nerdgoals

Code: https://github.com/kbittle/Esp8266_DoorSensor

RPI NAS

Started a new project over Christmas break. Using some old parts and newish ebay components I was able to setup a minimalist NAS, if that's a thing lol. 

Parts list:

- Raspberry pi 1 model b w/o ethernet, this might be the 256mb model aswell 

- enc28j60 ethernet module

- 4 port usb hub

- 2 usb hard drives

- 2 old usb thumb drives

- 12v power supply 

- 5v step down regulator

If you kind of understand what's going on with this project, then you're probably pretty perplexed. Why use a pi without a network interface for a project that needs ethernet? Why use a 12v power supply when everything requires 5v? Why didn't you use a powered usb hub? The simple answer is, this is what I had on me and I didn't want to spend the $$$. So there were many inefficiencies to get this to work. I used a $2 spi ethernet module that the latest Raspbian os supports, used a $1 voltage converter to step the 12v down to 5v, and spliced the non-powered usb hub to pull power from a separate source. 

After soldering it all together, making a wood case out of scrap wood, and setting up the pi with samba. It works! But it's slow as fuck. Pretty much can only store documents on this punny beast, pictures and large files take to long to transfer to be useful. Pretty sure the issue is the ebay ethernet adapter. If I switched out the pi with a rpi 3 or 4, I think this would function alot better. 

Adding Wifi to a Dumb RGB Light Bulb

Many years ago I had bought a RGB led bulb off amazon to try out, when there really wasnt a smart bulb market. After collecting dust more many years it has found a use! I moved into a new apartment and the foyer light was burnt out, i tried like 4 different LED and non-LED bulbs, and this cheapo RGB bulb was the only one that worked.

Problem with this bulb is when you turn it on, it comes on red and you have to use the IR remote to change it to white....  I really dont want to use a remote, so time for an upgrade. Luckily I had a ESP micro laying around, specifically a Wemos D1 mini. This is also a great opportunity to add another device to my home automation system. The plan is to have this device communicate using MQTT to a raspberry pi running Openhab.

Steps to put a new brain in the light bulb:

• Pull off plastic cap, pry original PCB from aluminum housing(just glued down with some sort of thermal glue).
• De-solder the original IC, oscillator, and IR receiver led.
• Wire the original DC power wires into the wemos and add new power wires between wemos and led board.
• Add 3 wires between wemos and led board for red, green, and blue control.
• Program custom code(Github link). I used the Arduino IDE and the following libraries:
• ESP Wifi
• MQTT
• OTA downloads

Board stack showing wemos under RGB led board.

Wires soldered onto the pads of the existing IC.

Update: In retrospect I should have just used the really nice tasmota software available for free and created a custom config.

Wild Berry IPA Recipe

Another experimental beer in the carboy. Today(10/13/19) brewed a wild berry IPA, using the wild berries(some people call them wine berries) from my parents property. After the pumpkin beer was a partial success, hoping this one will be better!

Recipe:
7 lb pale malt
1 lb 5oz 10 row barley
~2oz nugget fresh leaf hops
~0.5oz cascade fresh leaf hops
1oz chinook pellet hops
~6 cups reduced wild berrys
1 wirflock tablet
White labs Belgian strong ale yeast

60min: chinook, 1/4 cascade/nugget mix
45min: 1/4 cascade/nugget mix
30min: 1/4 cascade/nugget mix
15min: wirflock tablet, 1/4 cascade/nugget mix

Racked beer on top of wild berry juice.

Smart coffee table

I couldn't find any pictures of the before, but here is the outcome from restoring/updating my old ugly coffee table. It used to be all one color, a light brown stain. With the help from the girlfriend, we sanded the whole thing, then I painted the legs white and the stained the top with the leftover stain from the farmhouse table project.

Of course there had to be more to the project than that... I added a power strip, wireless phone charger, and some RGB lights under it. You may ask why does a coffee table need lights. It doesn't. But I recently discovered the blynk IOT app and I was looking for an excuse to control RGB led strip from my phone AND I already had power going to the table. For the power controller I used a nodeMcu that I bought off ebay for 2$ and some mosfets I had laying around. If I were to do it again I would just buy the RGB controller, lot of work for this useless feature(well its cool?)

Final product!

Built in outlet

NodeMcu and mosfet board

LED strip and all wiring

Brewpot water level sensor

Working on a new addition to the homebrewing setup. I want to be able to detect water/beer levels in the pot. This circuit will read multiple probes to detect which ones are in water and report the status back to the raspberry pi over the usb serial connection.

I started with a simple circuit I found online, then added my own twist. Had to relearn eagle cad, then sent the eagle project file to Oshpark to get some PCB's made.

Schematic

Board Layout

Final PCB assembled(mostly)

   

Next step will be to get my 3D printer working so I can print the following enclosure that I drew up in Fusion 360.

Shed finished!!

Last post on the shed. Staining is 99% done, doors finished, trim is mostly finished. But its usable and just waiting on the ATV to be fixed before it moves into it's new home.