Creative ideas for scenes or triggers
- Thread starter Customtech
- Start date
I made an "elevator". Small chamber with two sliding doors. Light-up industrial 2" buttons. Sound effects when you are "changing floors". Currently there are only lighted indicators of when the doors can be opened or not (with sensors so the system knows when the doors are open or shut), the next step would be to add automatic openers although so far that is not in the budget.
I've also had lots of fun with Nerf Vulcans, linked to motion sensors, pressure pads, etc.
I've also had lots of fun with Nerf Vulcans, linked to motion sensors, pressure pads, etc.
My water softener is "demand driven". It regenerates when after a specified amount of water has been softened instead of after a set time period. Since it is located in a pump house a couple of hundred feet from my home, I didn't check the salt level as often as I should, and I came close to running out of salt more than once.
The softener has a small electric motor that runs several times when the softener is regenerating. I wired a relay coil in parallel with the motor, so whenever the motor is running, the relay contacts close. The relay contacts are connected to a zone on my M1G. When the zone detects a contact closure, the M1G (actually, CQC) sends me an email to tell me that the softener is regen'ing. I know that after the fourth regen, I need to add salt.
The softener also has a flowmeter that pulses based on water usage. In the past, I tapped into the flowmeter output in an effort to count the pulses so I could actually keep track of water usage thru the softener. My plan was to use the counter feature of the Brultech ECM-1240 device to keep track of the water usage, but I could never get the electronics (as recommended by Brultech) to work correctly, so I "postponed" that project.
Ira
The softener has a small electric motor that runs several times when the softener is regenerating. I wired a relay coil in parallel with the motor, so whenever the motor is running, the relay contacts close. The relay contacts are connected to a zone on my M1G. When the zone detects a contact closure, the M1G (actually, CQC) sends me an email to tell me that the softener is regen'ing. I know that after the fourth regen, I need to add salt.
The softener also has a flowmeter that pulses based on water usage. In the past, I tapped into the flowmeter output in an effort to count the pulses so I could actually keep track of water usage thru the softener. My plan was to use the counter feature of the Brultech ECM-1240 device to keep track of the water usage, but I could never get the electronics (as recommended by Brultech) to work correctly, so I "postponed" that project.
Ira
My two-car garage is a little on the small side, especially for a full-sized SUV. I wanted to get one of those "parking lasers" that are mounted on the ceiling to make it a little easier to park the SUV in the correct spot. Unfortunately, my GDO doesn't have that feature, so I couldn't use one that directly connected to the GDO to determine when the laser should be on.
I found an "always on" version of the parking laser that has its own wall wart that simply plugs into an outlet, but I didn't want it to always be on, and I don't have anything like UPB to control an outlet. I ended up wiring the laser power supply thru an M1G output/relay. The garage door already had a sensor on it connected to an M1G zone, so now when the door opens, the M1G closes the relay controlling the laser power supply for five minutes, or until the garage door closes.
I need to enhance this setup a little so that I have a way to turn on the laser if the garage door is already open, but it has been open for more than five minutes so the laser has turned off. For example, I've been working in the garage for a while, so the door is open but the laser is off. My wife drives up and wants to park in the garage but the laser (that she now depends on heavily) is off. I need a way to turn the laser back on without closing and opening the garage door. I have a wireless receiver for the M1G, so I'm thinking about a keyfob that is left in the car for this purpose only (i.e., it only turns on the laser, it won't affect the door).
Ira
I found an "always on" version of the parking laser that has its own wall wart that simply plugs into an outlet, but I didn't want it to always be on, and I don't have anything like UPB to control an outlet. I ended up wiring the laser power supply thru an M1G output/relay. The garage door already had a sensor on it connected to an M1G zone, so now when the door opens, the M1G closes the relay controlling the laser power supply for five minutes, or until the garage door closes.
I need to enhance this setup a little so that I have a way to turn on the laser if the garage door is already open, but it has been open for more than five minutes so the laser has turned off. For example, I've been working in the garage for a while, so the door is open but the laser is off. My wife drives up and wants to park in the garage but the laser (that she now depends on heavily) is off. I need a way to turn the laser back on without closing and opening the garage door. I have a wireless receiver for the M1G, so I'm thinking about a keyfob that is left in the car for this purpose only (i.e., it only turns on the laser, it won't affect the door).
Ira
apostolakisl
Senior Member
The CAI webcontrol can be programmed to count pulses provided they are not too high in frequency or that the pulse width isn't too short. Something like 10ms works. You need to write a "flip-flop" plc program that adds the clicks up (about 5 lines is all it takes). From there it can send you an email or you can poll the device with http get commands periodically to retrieve the count. Or, you can have it turn one of its outputs on when it hits a certain count.
I have a BarioNet 100 that has digital input counters that I think I can use, but I haven't been able to figure out how to use them (using the CQC driver). I tried the Brultech counter because I was playing around with it at the time and wanted to see if I could get its counter working. Paul at Brultech tried to help me out with some circuit diagrams to make things work but I never got it quite right before moving on.
I think there is a CQC driver for the WebControl device, but I don't know what shape its in.
The water softener flow meter flow meter has three wires between it and the softener PCB. According to the schematic, the leads are red(+), black(-), and green(S). There is a constant 19.5Vdc across the red and black leads. There is a constant 5.1Vdc across the green and black leads when NO water is flowing. When water flows, the voltage across the green and black leads will momentarily "pulse" to zero volts (or very close to zero). The softener specs say the flow meter generates 133 pulses/gal. The softener can probably flow up to 12 gal/min, so the maximum pulse rate is around 25 pulses/sec. Depending on the counter, I may need to put some type of counter divider in the circuit to bring the pulse rate down to whatever the counter can handle. That's what I was trying to do with the Brultech, and I would need something similar for the Barionet because it has a max of 15 cycles per second. Do you know what the WebControl max is? The thing that may make the Barionet (and maybe the WebControl) easier to get working is that the Brultech counter could only accept a dry contact closure. Part of the project was building a circuit to change the voltage drops/pulses to contact closures. I guess that may not be necessary for the other two devices if they can take a 5.1Vdc drop to less than 1Vdc as a pulse.
Regards,
Ira
apostolakisl
Senior Member
The pulse freqency is no problem at all. Provided that when it drops to 0 v it stays 0 for at least 10ms it should work (it doesn't actually need to go all the way to 0, anything less than 2 or so works). The 5.1v / 0v alternating is exactly what the cai is looking for (ttl level). The 19.5v will require a separate power supply (you can probably keep using what you have). Just send the green/black to the cai digital input/ground and red/black to your power source hot/ground (they share the black).
I have no idea about cqc driver for cai. The cai has its own programmable logic (plc) that can be programmed to do a lot. For example, you can have it count up to 133, then set another variable to x+1 giving you a gallon count. When it hits a certain number of gallons, you can set it to turn an output on which could power an led light, close a relay, or trigger something else. The variable could keep counting until it recieves an input to reset, or you could have it reset on its own. You can also have it send an email. As far as polling the data, it is a simple command http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/getvar1.cgi (or var2, var3, etc). If you can have your cqc do that, then no real driver needed. You can also turn outputs on/off using similar http commands.
Desert_AIP
Senior Member
My garage door opener has upper and lower limit switches on the track.
You could wire the power for your laser thorugh the lower limit switch so when the door opens and the switch closes the power to the laser comes on.
When the door closes and the limit switch breaks contact, the power will go out.
If it interferes with the opener, you could probably wire a relay through this switch and the power leads for the laser through the relay.
You might be able to hack into the GDO's light beam sensor. Or maybe install one at a slightly higher level, so that it is blocked while the car is pulling into the door. (The safety one might not be installed high enough to not pass under the car.) Presuming that your wife doesn't drive into the door like it's the Indy 500, the sensor should be blocked for 3-4 seconds while the car is entering, as opposed to a fraction of a second if a person walks through the door. You could use that to figure out when a car is entering.
Here's a couple of things I've done. The first one is a little silly. At Christmastime I set up some outdoor lights connected to UPB modules so the OPII can turn them on and off. I added a block of code that makes the ones next to the front door flash for a few seconds when someone rings the doorbell.
My A/C and utility room dehumidifier drain into a 5-gallon bucket. (Because the builder put the floor drain where it was convenient for him, instead of where the drawing said to put it...) The bucket has a pump, and there's a float switch that controls it. I tapped a relay into the float switch that opens a dry contact when the pump runs; this is connected to an OPII zone. When the zone goes not ready, the OPII logs a message indicating that the pump ran. By this, I can go through the event log and count the number of times the pump ran, and this tells me how much humidity the A/C is removing from the house. Now and then the float switch gets stuck during pump-out and doesn't shut off. When the zone goes not ready, the OPII starts a 20-second timer. If the zone hasn't returned to secure status when the timer expires, it issues a console alert. That way I can go fix it so that the pump doesn't run dry for an extended period of time.
My A/C and utility room dehumidifier drain into a 5-gallon bucket. (Because the builder put the floor drain where it was convenient for him, instead of where the drawing said to put it...) The bucket has a pump, and there's a float switch that controls it. I tapped a relay into the float switch that opens a dry contact when the pump runs; this is connected to an OPII zone. When the zone goes not ready, the OPII logs a message indicating that the pump ran. By this, I can go through the event log and count the number of times the pump ran, and this tells me how much humidity the A/C is removing from the house. Now and then the float switch gets stuck during pump-out and doesn't shut off. When the zone goes not ready, the OPII starts a 20-second timer. If the zone hasn't returned to secure status when the timer expires, it issues a console alert. That way I can go fix it so that the pump doesn't run dry for an extended period of time.
Desert_AIP
Senior Member
Cornutt reminded me!
The four outlets at the front of the house, two upstairs and two downstairs are UPB.
Three is a routine that turns the "Christmas Flag" on the day after Thanksgiving (our traditional decorating day) and off the 15th of January.
When the flag is on, the Omni turns these outlets on at dusk and off at 1am everyday.
The rest of the year they are on 24/7 unless we want to use them for something else like a switched lamp.
All we have to do is plug in our little candle lights and set them in the windows.
No more fooling with portable timers and trying to get them synched up, or looking at those ugly wall warts.
The four outlets at the front of the house, two upstairs and two downstairs are UPB.
Three is a routine that turns the "Christmas Flag" on the day after Thanksgiving (our traditional decorating day) and off the 15th of January.
When the flag is on, the Omni turns these outlets on at dusk and off at 1am everyday.
The rest of the year they are on 24/7 unless we want to use them for something else like a switched lamp.
All we have to do is plug in our little candle lights and set them in the windows.
No more fooling with portable timers and trying to get them synched up, or looking at those ugly wall warts.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
that reminded me - most modern garage door openers turn on the light again if you pass through the beam even if the door has been open for a while. If this were me, I'd unscrew the lighbulb in the GDO and plug a socket to plug adapter in there - and power the laser off that. I also don't personally use the lights in the garage door opener - I use the contact sensors on all the doors to turn on the fluorescents - much brighter. That would accomplish having the beam on only when you want it, and turn it on again if the door has been open for a while then she drives in.
Desert_AIP - that reminded me too... I have christmas lights automated - my builder put an outlet in the eaves on a dedicated circuit just for xmas lights with a switch in the garage - unfortunately power was wired straight to the outlet (a GFCI) and the switch had no neutral going to it (was actually wired wrong when I moved in - flipping the switch blew the breaker). Unfortunately automating this meant using a UPB outlet with a slave switch at that location (since it only needs 2 wires, not hot/neutral); and since I pulled the GFCI outlet out, I had to do a GFCI breaker. A very costly endeavor for a month and a half of xmas lights! I have rules that turn them on every night - and off at different times whether it's sun-thurs, fri/sat, and xmas; the rest of the year i just turn the breaker off.
But - every day - my house is lit consistently at night; my x-mas lights are on every night during the holidays for maximum enjoyment; and no matter what time you come/go from my house you have safe entry without having to think about it.
Check this 'classic' awesome How To Measure Salt Level in Your Water Softener Using an Ultrasonic Sensor out
I use Insteon lighting, and the system can differentiate between a single press and a double tap of a switch. I set up the shower light so that in addition to turning on with a double press, it also turns on the bathroom audio zone, selects the tuner input, goes to a preset volume level, and tunes to my favorite morning show. When the bathroom lights are shut off, it also shuts that zone off. I do this with my Universal Devices ISY 99 and the network module controlling an iTach IP2IR and a Digi port server. That is fun. A practical control, turns the exhaust fan back on for a period of time after the bathroom light is shut.
