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Eject-A-Bed

Do you ever struggle to get your kids out of bed in the morning? With this awesome hack from Jamie Dixon you can modify an old adjustable hospital bed so that you can control it over the internet, from anywhere in the world. With a simple push of a button on your phone or computer you can tilt the bed from a comfortable horizontal position into a vertical position sending the occupant flying out of their bed and hopefully waking them up without causing any serious injuries!

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The eject a bed is controlled by Raspberry Pi 2 which talks to a servo and an Arduino. This is a really great project for learning how to control things over the internet and is sure to be lots of fun as well. For more information check out the following link or the video below.

Want to keep in the loop about the latest in home automation? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Working on your own home automation projects? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Visualising Arduino Sensor Data

As fantastic as the Arduino IDE can be, it doesn’t provide an easy way to graph data that you receive from sensor inputs on your Arduino projects. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to visualise in real time how the light levels inside your house have changed over time? Or be able to track fluctuations in temperature or humidity? Instructables member CrtSuznik has put together a neat set of instructions which outline how you can send data from your Arduino into Excel and visualise it. This is a really useful skill when you start to build your own smart home and are looking for ways to effectively turn sensor values into useful information!  To find out more check out the following link.

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If you are looking for an Arduino board to collect sensor data, the SuperHouse team recommends the Freetronics “Eleven” Arduino Compatible Board, click on the link to find out more.

Want to keep in the loop about the latest in home automation? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Working on your own home automation projects? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Unlock Your Door With Facial Recognition

Admit it, you have at least once had the thought that it would be awesome to have a door that automatically opened itself based on facial recognition! With this cool project from Team Windows IoT you can use a Raspberry Pi and a webcam to do just that. The project is very well written and should be surprisingly straightforward if you are willing to put in some effort. This is a great example of the endless possibilities that working with IoT devices provides. To get started check out the video below or the following link.

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Want to keep in the loop about the latest in home automation? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Working on your own home automation projects? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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SuperHouse Vlog #43: SMEE Robot Building Competition 2016

The second annual Society of Monash Electrical Engineers Robot Building Competition saw about 150 competitors spend a weekend building robots to solve a specific challenge. Their robots needed to follow a line down a track, detect when they approached a gate, sense the colour of the gate, transmit that colour to the course control computer using an RF transmitter module, wait for the gate to be opened, proceed to the next gate, and repeat until they reached the finish line. The finish line is a line across the track that matches the colour of the last gate, so they also had to detect multiple cross lines and ignore the ones that were the wrong colour.

The challenge turned out to be too complicated to complete within the time allowed, so it was simplified a little during the competition.

Freetronics was a major sponsor of the competition, providing prize packs for the first 4 place teams plus a bonus prize pack for a “best bling” category judged by me purely on who made the coolest looking robot.

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Model IoT Arduino Home

If you are reading this blog I am sure that you know it is possible to run an entire home monitoring and security system using only an Arduino!  Aaron Kow has done exactly this. However, rather than setting up his entire house, he has made a dollhouse sized model to demonstrate just how effective and easily Arduino can be to used control and monitor your home.

Small Scale Model

You can access data and control your demonstration smart home from any internet connected phone or computer. Aaron has come up with a very comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to emulate his project which you can find at the following link.

System Design

Undertaking a project like this could be a great way to develop your skills and confidence before you start working on a system for your entire house! Check out the video below to see the project in action!

If you plan on building your own dollhouse sized automation and security system you will most likely be needing a temperature and humidity sensor. The team at SuperHouse Automation recommends the Freetronics Humidity and Temperature Sensor Module. To find out more visit the product page.

Want to keep in the loop about the latest in home automation? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Thought that this was a cool project? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Joystick Controlled Labyrinth

Does your “labyrinth” game sit unused collecting dust on shelf? Is it too good to throw away even though you never use it? Why not bring your “labyrinth” into the 21st century! With this fascinating project from instructables member tripletray you can control your labyrinth using your Nintendo Wii controller and an Arduino (you can read more about using a Wii Controller with your Arduino here).

Labyrinth

At a basic level the Arduino reads inputs from a game controller which are converted into movement of the labyrinth plane using some servos. Not only does this project allow you to control your labyrinth using your Wii Controller, but it also includes a solenoid which automatically reloads to the ball to the starting position in the event of a (likely) unsuccessful run.  You can find full code examples and read about this project at the following link.

If you are looking for an Arduino board to provide the brains for your labyrinth, the SuperHouse team recommends the Freetronics “Eleven” Arduino Compatible Board, click on the link to find out more.

Want to keep in the loop about the latest in home automation? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Thought that this was a cool project? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

 

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Magnetic Stripe Decoder

Have you ever wondered if it was possible to use a magnetic card reader in your Arduino projects? Having control over a magnetic stripe reader opens up lots of possibilities such as adding swipe card access to one of the doors around your home. Instructables member powerpants has put together a fantastic guide which details every aspect of using a magnetic stripe reader from the wiring to full code examples. You can checkout the instructions here.

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If you are looking for an Arduino board to use in this project, the SuperHouse team recommends the Freetronics “Eleven” Arduino Compatible Board, click on the link to find out more.

Want to keep in the loop about the latest in home automation? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Thought that this was a cool project? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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DIY Musical Stairs

If you love music but also enjoy working with electronics, this could be the project for you! Instructables member helenbang has created her own musical stairs.

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As you walk up and down the stairs different notes are sent to a synthesizer on her computer. Each stair contains a sensor module which includes an IR sensor which allows the Arduino Uno controlling the project to know which stairs are occupied and which notes to play! You can watch her attempt to play happy birthday on her musical stairs in the video below:  

This is a really fun project! To get started building your own musical stairs check out the full instructions, including code samples, at the following link.

If you are looking for an Arduino board to provide the brains for your musical stairs, the SuperHouse team recommends the Freetronics “Eleven” Arduino Compatible Board, click on the link to find out more.

Want to keep in the loop about the latest in home automation? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Thought that this was a cool project? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.