home automation – SuperHouse Automation

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

DIY 3D Printer

Have you ever wished that you had your own 3D printer? Are you finding the cost of purchasing your own 3D printer prohibitive? With this fantastic instructable from AlmusYang you can build your own 3D printer from scratch! Not only will you learn a lot about how 3D printing works, but you will be able to quickly build models or prototypes right from the comfort of your own home.

If you still weren’t convinced, an Arduino provides the brains for this 3D printer meaning that the project is very easily modified and adapted to your own purposes. Having your own 3D printer can be particualry beneficial when you build your own home automation system as you can easily create your own custom cases, brackets and other assorted objects! This project is very well documented with full laser cutting templates and code samples provided. If the idea of building your own 3D printer sparks your interest you can check out the full instructions at the following link.

Always wanted to create your own home automation system? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

If you have a home automation project you would like SuperHouse to write about let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

Open Your Garage Door Using Your Smartphone

For those who are chronically forgetful or who often find themselves locked out of home, Instructables member MegunoLink has developed a system that allows you to open your garage using only your smartphone, granting quick and easy entry even without your keys.

The project uses a Freetronics EtherTen (recommended by SuperHouse Automation) to host a web page which can be accessed from any device on your local network. When you enter the password on the website, the Arduino switches a relay that triggers the opening of the garage door. The project should work on most motorised garage doors and only requires basic soldering to assemble. All of the parts are readily available, and completing this project will introduce you to the basics of controlling anything and everything over the internet.

Once you have obtained the parts required, you could easily add internet connectivity to your garage door in a few days – visit the Instructables page to get started.

Always wanted to create your own home automation system? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start! If you have a home automation project you would like SuperHouse to write about let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

Arduino Aquaponics!

Aquaponics is a unique system of raising fish and growing plants together. At a basic level, the fish fertilize the plants, allowing plants to grow in a water saving, chemical free environment. However, developing effective aquaponic systems can be very difficult. This is why Rik Kretzinger has added an Arduino into his aquaponic garden to make things run as smoothly as possible. Adding an Arduino allows the garden to be fully automated with various pumps controlled by the data inputted by water level, humidity, temperature and moisture sensors. The project even allows you to control and log data from your garden over the internet! The aquaponic garden allows you to combine the joy of making with the satisfaction of growing your own veggies! Although the project requires a number of parts to get started, it could be a worthwhile investment in the long run with likely savings from growing your own produce. To get started building your own aquaponics garden check out the following link. The project is extremely well documented and provides many useful tips to ensure that your garden is as productive as possible.

Want to get started creating your own home automation system? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start! Started on your own home automation project? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on July 17, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

Arduino Utilities Monitor

Electricity, gas and water are typically some of the largest regular expenses in any household. Having the ability to monitor trends in utilities usage means that you can easily notice discrepancies and pick up gas or water leaks promptly, saving you unnecessarily high bills! Plotting the daily electricity usage allows you to find out which devices or activities are inefficient and optimise your home accordingly, saving your even more money! This project from Chris Nafis uses an ethernet connected Arduino to send the information it collects from utility meter data packet broadcasts, onto the internet. To get started lowering your utilities bill check out the following link!

An example of the results generated from this project:

Although this project only mentions monitoring electricity usage, there is no reason why it couldn’t be adapted to water and gas. Having up to the minute information about your water, gas and electricity usage would offer enormous opportunities and would be a worthy addition to any smart home!

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start!

Have an idea for a project you would like us to feature? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Tell us about it in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

Fingerprint Security with Arduino

Every wanted to add biometric security to your smart home? You are in the right place! Adding biometric security of this type to your house or apartment could provide convenient and secure keyless entry and will certainly create an interesting talking point when you have people over.

This project works using a fingerprint module that can store up to 1000 fingerprints and has a false detection rate of 0.001%, so you can sleep easy at night! Completing a project such as this is a great way to increase your Arduino skills and is sure to be a lot of fun. To get started check out the following video:

Want to learn more about awesome automation hacks like this? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start! Have an idea for a project you would like us to feature? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

Create a Tweeting Toothbrush with Arduino

Struggle to get your kids to brush their teeth? Want to keep better track of your own teeth brushing habits? Check out this innovative project from Ruben Mortier which uses an accelerometer and Arduino to monitor teeth brushing behaviour.

The “Inventive Toothbrush” not only notifies parents via email and twitter when their children have started brushing their teeth, but also displays helpful brushing tips on a screen and plays music to encourage children to brush for longer. This helpful project is sure to be fun to make whilst also solving a common parenting issue! To get started check out the following link.

Subscribe to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube to learn more about creating internet of things devices!

Have an idea of another common household item that could benefit from being connected to the internet? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

Connected Laundry with Arduino

Sick of losing valuable drying time when you forget to take the washing out of the machine? This project allows you to turn your washing machine into an Internet of Things (IoT) device which notifies you via Twitter and sms when the washing is finished. Rather than modifying your washing machine, the project cleverly uses an accelerometer to detect when the washing machine is in use. The project can be made very cheaply from commonly available parts and could be easily finished in a few hours.

Completing this project will teach you a lot about building internet connected devices and could end up saving you a lot of time. To get started check out the instructable from MakerBee.

If you are looking for a accelerometer to complete this project, SuperHouse Automation recomends the Freetronics 3-Axis Accelerometer Module. The module has independent X,Y and Z axis outputs ready to connect directly into an Arduino. To find out more and to order check out the product page.

Subscribe to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube to learn more about creating internet of things devices!

Considering optimizing your washing machine? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to hear how your project goes! Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Posted on July 6, 2016July 6, 2016 by Daniel de Waard — Leave a comment

Monitor Air Quality Wirelessly Arduino

Ensuring that your home or office has sufficient air quality is imperative for maintaining good health. Many people would have no idea about the quality of the air in areas they spend large amounts of time, and would be under the impression that building a project to find out would be prohibitively expensive. However, this project from AriV4 demonstrates how you can create an internet connected air monitoring system for well under $50!

While the project only explains how to create the monitor, there is no reason why you couldn’t integrate the sensor into an existing home automation system. This would create many potential uses. For example, once poor quality air has been detected you could configure your fan to turn on, or a window to open. Although it sounds simple, it could make a real difference to your health and even potentially save your life in the event of a carbon monoxide build up! To get started with this project check out the following link.

Want to get started creating your own home automation system? Subscribing to SuperHouse Automation on YouTube is the best place to start! Started on your own home automation project? Inspired by this project? The team at SuperHouse Automation would love to know! Let us know in the comments section below or on Facebook and Twitter.