Smart Blind Control

[fwolferd]

I'm planning to implement this in my house to control two sets of 3 windows using two different ESP8266 boards. The question I have is. Based on the code provided in the project "Github" library, does anyone know if the Arduino plug-in will be able to control and send the appropriate signals to the ESP8266 controllers as referenced in the video? In the video Rob goes into the commands that need to be sent at 8:29. Just looking for some help before I go down the wrong road.

I realize I may be asking for a little research do be done, but I thought this was a pretty cool way to cheaply automate blinds.

The Youtube video is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O_1gUFumQM

The Github resource is at: https://github.com/thehookup/Motorized_MQTT_Blinds

Thank you,
Forrest

[Michael McSharry]

The Shelly 2 or 2.5 https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/hs...lay-and-switch has a roller mode for blinds control. I described in the thread a dual relay mode, but they have both. It is built with ESP8266, is the size of a fat silver dollar, and can be obtained with UL certification to deal with insurance and building code constraints.

This approach gives you an out of the box solution at a low cost. The interface is WiFi so all you need to worry about is providing power

[ewkearns]

Michael, I am very interested in this product. The only problem I am having is finding an affordable motorized shade, as most of them come with a remote and some kind of radio control, which drives the price to the moon. From looking at the Shelly 2.5, all I need is a dumb motor (5 actually) to power 24 X 60 blackout curtains. Can you or anybody help educate me on what is to be found downstream from the motor?

[Michael McSharry]

Here are some DIY videos from The Hook Up to give you some ideas. I have no personal experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O_1gUFumQM&t=527s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qeZd59Yfpc&t=591s

[ewkearns]

Thank you, those were very informative. Now, decisions, decisions....

[fwolferd]

Unfortunately the motors in the videos will not work with the Shelly 2.5. and I am trying to get it to work through the Arduino plug-in as I have already purchased and 3D printed all the parts to make it work with my blinds. Keep in mind these are horizontal 2-in blinds as described in the video. The commands seem pretty straightforward, but I have not used the Arduino plug-in and wondering about it's capabilities.

Thanks,
Forrest

[enigmatheatre]

fwolferd With the Arduino plugin you can control the motor as you require but n to through the code given. You would run the board in API mode then just use the stepper code to move it to your required position through HS.

[fwolferd]

@enigmatheatre Thanks for the feedback.

I'm going to start testing the controllers abilities this weekend and hopefully I can get it to work as I purchased everything the guy referenced in the video and already printed a custom motor mounts and adapter I created for the blinds I want to control.

One follow-up question:
I purchased these on Arduinos on Amazon,https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Do you think they will work wirelessly to control the blinds and will I need to make any updates to the firmware installed on the ESP8266 boards?

Thanks Again,
Forrest

[enigmatheatre]

Yes, the NodeMCU is supported in the plugin. You will need to modify and build the API sketch to upload to the board but most of the code is given in the GitHub you posted for you. If you mean will you have to change the bootloader then no it should work fine?

[fwolferd]

Great, It's a little in over my head as I've only used an Arduino once before for a pixel controller, but should be a fun project for the weekend. I read through the install instructions you have posted for the USB setup using sketch, but didn't see the instructions for setting the WiFi info. I'll do some reading through the forum and if it's okay I may send you a few follow up questions. Thanks again for your development on the the Arduino plug-in and continued support.

[enigmatheatre]

What Version of the plugin are you running? are you on HS3 or HS4?
You need to be on 1.0.0.166 or higher to get the NodeMCU support with the WIFI setup. If you are on HS4 then there is a guided walkthrough to help you set up the board built in to the plugin so just follow that then you will need to edit the sketch to do what you want to.

[fwolferd]

I'm currently on HS3 and just installed the beta 1.0.0.166 plug-in. I already purchased the HS4 update, but holding off as the early evaluation did not go well. I hear it's a lot more stable now.

[enigmatheatre]

I am running HS4 and see no major problems. There are some small bugs that are annoying but you can get round most of them using the HS3 interface in HS4.

Good luck and have fun!

[fwolferd]

Will do and thanks again for your help.

[enigmatheatre]

fwolferd You should not have to change anything in the code that the plugin generates to get the board to connect and as the plugin in handling the connection you do not need the wifi code you posted. You will only have to add the code to control the motor and nothing else. I would get the board connected to HS and then add small parts of the code to test they are good before moving on. You can always use OTA to update the board to.