Phone-a-Goo - Coming soon - A Phoneable/SMS Switch/Dimmer/Timer

[Joseph White]

So As some of you know, i tend to be more active in the chat than on the boards, so i thought I would share some thoughts I had there with everyone who doesn't read the chat logs. Please forgive me if this is the wrong place.

Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about what it would take to automate a home lava system. I came to the conclusion that I can create with a controller board that can turn the lights on, off, interval, timer. dim, remember dimmer settings, be able to connect to your phone via bluetooth and even more important: be able to take commands via SMS or even a phone call from any phone via an additional simcard.

Currently for about $20usd total, I can create the first stage which will simply be an on/off timer, another $5 worth of parts and it will be dimmable and another $5 of parts for the dimmer and timer memory, and an simcard reader can be added for another $5-$10, and $5-$10 for bluetooth bringing the total to roughly $50-$60 USD cost. I know that doesn't sound "cheap" but when you realize it can control 8 devices at once, has bluetooth, can make and take calls/sms in any country (rates apply as you need to supply the sim card which can usually be found prepaid for about $10usd around the world),  a cost of $60 isn't too bad.

There is some programming to be done, but I'm pretty capable of programming most things that come along, and it is a fun idea for a pet project

Anyway,

Since I am just planning this out, i was wondering if anyone else had this idea before, or did it?

As I work on it I will update the thread here, comments are welcome

[Todd Miller]

I use dimmers on some of my lamps, to 'control the flow'.

IE: Dimmer cranked for warm up, and then turn it down an hour later,

then turn it down again xx minutes later, then turn it down again xx minutes...etc...

I have my dimmers marked with a sharpie. I don't need the fancy stuff, but having

something that can turn on and remember time -vs- dimmer setting would be nice. 

Just program it once and it's automated from then on.

You could use Arduino or an ATmega programed for your circuit..

Most dimmers use a simple adjustable resistor and a R/C Time circuit that

controls frequency and duty cycle to a Triac or similar component to control

the AC load via PWM.  Most dimmers are not LOG in scale. I guess once a

dimmer circuit is selected you could monitor the PW to correlate dimmer

position to desired output voltage. You could build a table or use an algorithm.

[Tim Gill]

I don't have much knowledge of hacking and modding things like this but it does sound like a interesting project and would be good to see how you get on with it.

Hope it all works well :)

[Joseph White]

Todd Miller said:

I use dimmers on some of my lamps, to 'control the flow'.

IE: Dimmer cranked for warm up, and then turn it down an hour later,

then turn it down again xx minutes later, then turn it down again xx minutes...etc...

I have my dimmers marked with a sharpie. I don't need the fancy stuff, but having

something that can turn on and remember time -vs- dimmer setting would be nice. 

Just program it once and it's automated from then on.

You could use Arduino or an ATmega programed for your circuit..

Most dimmers use a simple adjustable resistor and a R/C Time circuit that

controls frequency and duty cycle to a Triac or similar component to control

the AC load via PWM.  Most dimmers are not LOG in scale. I guess once a

dimmer circuit is selected you could monitor the PW to correlate dimmer

position to desired output voltage. You could build a table or use an algorithm.

That's the plan ;) I must forgot to say that it was an arduino with an 8 port high voltage switch (the ones that actually "click" for the fun sound). I figure once I get it working, I'll do a simple compilation of the code I'm using and push it out here.

I was thinking about going absolutely nuts and creating one down the road that has a thermometer on it that detects just how hot the surface of the lamp was and have it relay that information back to the circuit and eventually get an idea of what temperature gives a perfect flow based on the lamp lot.

Tim Gill said:

I don't have much knowledge of hacking and modding things like this but it does sound like a interesting project and would be good to see how you get on with it.

Hope it all works well :)

Thanks tim! 

Now all I need is the fundage for the project :P

Maybe i should do a small kickstarter to get a few bucks towards the project

[Joseph White]

Silly me forgot to pick up my arduino for the last two days. I'm hoping to get it in the early morning and work on it a bit before some rest.

I'm hoping to have SOMETHING cool to show by the end of the weekend. My goal is to simply have an on/off+timer. May have a dimmer or I may not, it depends on what all I got in the package. I might have to go to the hardware store to get one to do it this weekend.