Power Orb complete

Finally!! you might say!
I fact, it has been a while since it is operational and running on the wall, but I had no time to report.
So here they are, the photos! where you can also see my home made home server enclosure.






The little black dot at the right, where the balls hit the wall (not the screw) is a little piece of metal that pushes the push button when the ball is touched, and it also helps keeping the ball in place, as it is pivoting on the other side on one screw only!

During the day it is not very visible, as the led is not very high power (on the contrary), and there is plenty of light coming in through the door, but the red and the purple are quite visible, even during the day, which is good, because those are the colors that it is relevant to see.

So for details. The processing is pretty simple: if there are more than 2 pulses from the gas meter in 20 seconds (0.03 cubic meters per minute) or 2 pulses from the electricity meter in 10 seconds (6Wh per minute) the light glows red. As soon as that doesn't happen, it turns back into green.
It is in my plans to make it average the consumption, so that it gives a better indication, since now we will probably not see it while it is red, since by then we are either in the shower (spending gas) or in the kitchen (spending electricity). Also should change the amount of glow depending on the amount of consumption. But all that is for later!

As for the purple, it comes up when someone rings the doorbell, and overrides all other indications. To reset, all you have to do is press the ball lightly, and it will turn the the appropriate color, indicating the consumption.

The code will come soon, I guess in a google code acount. If you want it, just drop a message!

Doorbell and meters code

Just before I update the code to include the power orb, which, by the way is already mounted on its place, I decided to put here the current code...since I am not great a keeping versions.
Once I setup a cvs server at my computer, but that was z
years ago when I did some serious software development under Linux. Now...I didn't yet have the patience to do it, so I thought blogger could be my repository. So here is the code (hope that this time it comes out better than the previous time - I am using code labels to get it fine):


--- Update: code removed...I don't know which version it was, but it was definitely not the right one...I really should do some configuration management...


Progress in the power orb front

So, if you have been following this blog (not likely I know!) you should be waiting for the ambient orb, or power orb as I just renamed it, to materialize. So today, after watering the plants and practicing the music, I decided to progress with it.
So I made two little breakout boards (is this what they are called?). One for the RGB LED and one for the button that will serve to reset the door bell indicator. Here they are in all their glory:



I like to use telephone cable, as it has plenty of conductors (5).

Now I will place it in the wall of the meters cabinet, from the inside, wire it up to the arduino that is doing the measurements, and hope that it will all go according to plan!

I'll try to do it quickly so that you don't have to wait long!!

Ambient orb for doorbell indication and electricity and gas consumption

Just a quick note to report on the progress of the ambient orb.
I coated the other half of the ball with white primer paint from a can I had laying around, and the results are really nice.
Take a look!


If you notice, on the left side, there is a little ear in the ball, so I'll just screw the ball to the drywall using the ear, install a microswitch opposite the ear, and it will be one with the wall. I reckon it will look good!

Now I will prepare the software for the arduino and the server, and when I reboot the server, I'll reinstall the whole thing. It might take a while, since, as you may recall, I am trying to go the whole heating season without rebooting the server that controls the heating, so far 163 days! But that allows me some more time to prepare the LED and think about the project!

Note: the reason why I can't disconnect only the arduino and install this without rebooting has to do with the (mine) crappy programming of the listener to the USB, which doesn't close the port. If I use Ctrl+C and disconnect the arduino, I'll not be able to connect to the arduino again without rebooting. I sorted that out in the new version of the listener, but, for the same reason I can't install it.

New developments!

I decided that all the effort in measuring electricity and gas shouldn't go unnoticed in the house, so I decided to make a light indicating the status of the house. Furthermore, when arriving home, the only way to know if someone had rang he door was to check my intranet (on the iPod Touch), although, at work I can see it in twitter anyway.

So, I bought an RGB led, one with 6 legs - strange - the pinout is in the image. Some simple connections to the Arduino and a small fading program later, and I had an initial prototype.


My idea is to have a small switch connected to it to reset the doorbell indicator.

So on to the enclosure.
I had laying around a ball from some promotional thing, which splits in 2 halves. The ball is rather big - about 7cm in diameter - which makes it look good, and has a rough finish which is also good to difuse the light...although not good enough. So I tried roughing it further with sandpaper and some other mechanical tools, but no good result. The solution appears to be paint! - A light cover of white paint from a can.



I made all these experiments in one of the halves, now i have the other half to do the real thing. Hopefully soon!