Published March 12, 2018

Lane Tech HS - PCL - Home Power Button!

Too lazy to walk and turn something on Want to cheaply control your home power usage while out Well here's a button (and app) to solve it!

BeginnerShowcase (no instructions)1 hour574

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Photon

Breadboard (generic)

or a custom PCB to save space

Jumper wires (generic)

RobotGeek Relay

or any power relay

Adafruit Large Arcade Button with LED - 60mm Red

Buzzer

Software apps and online services

Blynk

Story

This project was part of the Lane Tech HS Physical Computing Lab course. I created this project as part of the Home Automation / LoT project.

While laying on the top bunk of my bed, I stared at the lit ceiling, slowly overheating. I was too lazy to move, and too tired to turn on the fan. During that internal struggle to force myself up and climb all the way down my bed, an idea hit me -- why don't I just make a BIG RED BUTTON to do such hassling tasks!

My project is a fairly simple one, but useful to me (and hopefully others)! I wired a button to my Particle Photon, and by slapping it, my lights, fans, chargers, and more would be toggled on or off! This was made since I slept on a bunkbed, and by making a button and placing it on the wall next to me, the need for having to climb all the way down everytime I needed a light or ventilation would be voided!

When slapping the button (which lights up for vision at night!), a rhythm is played from a buzzer, confirming the button functioning!

After making the initial button and wiring it to a Particle Photon and connecting a power relay, I sought to fulfill the original goal of this project, which was to make home tasks easier and make use of one of the Photon's key features: internet connectivity!

For this, I asked around and found the Blynk app, which easily organizes and allows a "tap-and-add" function to add tools commonly used in engineering! The app allowed me to quickly create virtual buttons and switches, which in turn allowed for control of my project through the internet.

With Blynk, I added additional handy features to expand the use of my project. By taking advantage of its virtual pins, I created buttons which:

Toggled my project wirelessly

Set a sleep timer

Set a power schedule

With this, my project became able to also help others control their home power usage while away, saving time and money!

That's about all there is to my simple project, I hope it has some use to others!

Blynk App

Most pin #s for wiring are listed in the code, the ones left out are:

power relay - use 3v3 due to issues with VIN

arcade button light - power with VIN (5V) or external source)

Code

Code!

// This #include statement was automatically added by the Particle IDE.
#define BLYNK_PRINT Serial
#include <blynk.h>
#include <SPI.h>

int pinButton = D6;
int pinLED = D4;
int pinRelay = D5;
//for tunes {
const int pinSpeaker = D3;
const int songLength = 3;
char notes[] = "azbC";
char beats[] = {2,3,3,16};
int tempo = 75/4;
//}
//for Blynk {
char auth[] = "your_photon";
//}

void setup() {
    
  pinMode(pinButton, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(pinLED, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(pinRelay, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(pinSpeaker, OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Blynk.begin(auth);

}

void loop() {
    Blynk.run();
    WidgetLED led1(V4);
    if(digitalRead(pinButton) == LOW) {
        delay(100);
        digitalWrite(pinLED, !(digitalRead(pinLED)));
        digitalWrite(pinRelay, !(digitalRead(pinRelay)));
        
        //beeper tunes borrowed
        int i, duration;
        for (i = 0; i < songLength; i++) {
            duration = beats[i] * tempo; //in milliseconds

            if (notes[i] == ' ') {
                delay(duration);
            } else {
                tone(pinSpeaker, frequency(notes[i]), duration);
                delay(duration);           
            }
            delay(tempo/10);
        }
        //
    }
    if(digitalRead(pinRelay) == LOW) {
        led1.on();
    } else if(digitalRead(pinRelay) == HIGH) {
        led1.off();
    }
  delay(100);
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V1) { //digital button
    if (param.asInt() == 1) {
        delay(100);
        digitalWrite(pinLED, !(digitalRead(pinLED)));
        digitalWrite(pinRelay, !(digitalRead(pinRelay)));
        int i, duration;
        for (i = 0; i < songLength; i++) {
            duration = beats[i] * tempo; //in milliseconds

            if (notes[i] == ' ') {
                delay(duration);
            } else {
                tone(pinSpeaker, frequency(notes[i]), duration);
                delay(duration);           
            }
            delay(tempo/10);
        }
    }
    delay(100);
    Blynk.notify("PUBLISHED");
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V2) { //timed toggle
    if (param.asInt() == 1) {
        Blynk.notify("Timer Start");
        delay(100);
        //digitalWrite(pinLED, !(digitalRead(pinLED)));
        digitalWrite(pinRelay, !(digitalRead(pinRelay)));
        int i, duration;
        for (i = 0; i < songLength; i++) {
            duration = beats[i] * tempo; //in milliseconds

            if (notes[i] == ' ') {
                delay(duration);
            } else {
                tone(pinSpeaker, frequency(notes[i]), duration);
                delay(duration);           
            }
            delay(tempo/10);
        }
    }
    delay(100);
    Blynk.notify("Timer End");
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V3) { //digital sleep timer
    Blynk.notify("Timer Set");
    if(param.asInt() != 0) {
        digitalWrite(pinRelay, LOW);
        delay(param.asInt()*60000);//delay(param.asInt()*60000); //1 min = 60 sec = 60000 ms
        digitalWrite(pinRelay, HIGH);
    }
    Blynk.virtualWrite(V3, 0);
    Blynk.notify("Timer Done");
}
/*
BLYNK_WRITE(V4) {
    WidgetLED led1(V4);
    if(digitalRead(pinRelay) == LOW) {
        led1.on();
    } else {
        led1.off();
    }
}
*/
BLYNK_WRITE(V5) { //ABORT 
    if(param.asInt() == 1) {
        digitalWrite(pinRelay, HIGH);
        Blynk.notify("ABORTED");
    }
}

int frequency(char note) 
{
  int i;
  const int numNotes = 1000;
  /*
  char names[] = { 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'a', 'b', 'C' };
  int frequencies[] = {262, 294, 330, 349, 392, 440, 494, 523};
  */
  char names[] = { 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'x', 'a', 'z', 'b', 'C', 'y', 'D', 'w', 'E', 'F', 'q', 'G', 'i' };
  // c=C4, C = C5. These values have been tuned
  int frequencies[] = { 1898, 1690, 1500, 1420, 1265, 1194, 1126, 1063, 1001, 947, 893, 843, 795, 749, 710, 668, 630, 594 };
  for (i = 0; i < numNotes; i++)
  {
    if (names[i] == note)
    {
      return(frequencies[i]);
    }
  }
  return(0);
}

Credits

Nathan Nguyen

1 project • 1 follower

Just a highschool student exploring engineering!

Thanks to ianklatzco.

Lane Tech HS - PCL - Home Power Button!

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Custom parts and enclosures

PCB + Photon

Arcade Button + Case

Project

Code

Code!

Credits

Nathan Nguyen

Comments

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Lane Tech HS - PCL - Home Power Button!

Lane Tech HS - PCL - Home Power Button!

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Custom parts and enclosures

PCB + Photon

Arcade Button + Case

Project

Code

Code!

Credits

Nathan Nguyen

Comments

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