This project was part of the Lane Tech HS Physical Computing Lab course. I created this project as part of the Home Automation / IoT project.
IdeaI was tasked with creating a project that falls under home automation and IOT. The house I live in is rather old, so over head lights controlled by one switch aren't in every room. If I want to turn in on the lights in my living room I have to walk around and turn on each lamp. The solution I came to was to use an app called Blynk to control relays that turn on the lamps without having to get up from the couch.
PlanningA few things I had to consider for this project was where I could place the enclosure so that it wouldn't be an eye sore, and where could I place the enclosure so that the extension cords reach the most lamps. After sketching a few different placements for the enclosure I decided to put it behind my couch so it was out of sight, and close enough to each lamp.
BlynkThe main challenge for this project was using an app I've never used before called Blynk. Blynk can control different pins on your Photon from anywhere as long as your phone and Photon are both connected to the internet. After doing some research I learned that Blynk is very easy to use. All you have to do is set buttons within the app to different pins and they will control them. For this project I have two buttons, one for lamps 1&2 and another for lamps 3&4.
It's important that you set your buttons to switch instead of push so that the relay will stay activated.
It's important that you set your buttons to switch instead of push so that the relay will stay activated.
The program I used to diagram the wiring didn't have Photons or the relays that were used in this project. Instead of using a 5 volt pin, both relays are plugged into the 3V3 pin on the Photon. The relays that I used have 3 pins on them; VCC, GND, and IN. VCC connects to the 3V3 pin, GND connects to ground, and IN is connected to the pin that Blynk controls.
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