Raspberry Pi Projects How to create a home automation system with a Raspberry Pi? step by step guide

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Currently the houses with home automation system have had a very significant boom, all this thanks to the fact that the devices that allow it have dropped in price enormously.

The home automation houses are those that contain two systemsa system internal and one external and that can be used for control, measure and automate various elements and factors of housing.

One way to start turning your home into a smart home is through raspberry pithis is how we are going to teach you how to create your own automated system at home by using these plates.

What are the most interesting home automation devices that I can develop with a Raspberry Pi?

The use that can be given to these plates is really very wide, this is how it can be used to carry out a large number of projects of all kinds, which can range from a video surveillance system, create multimedia centers, a telephone exchange, a video game console, an alternative desktop PC or as a home automation controller for your home.

Perhaps one of the most popular plates to carry out these projects is that of Arduino, but the truth to all this is that the Raspberry Pi also adds to it, so it offers you the possibility of create different home automation devices that will help you control your home intelligently. Some of the most interesting devices that you can create with this microcomputer from home without many complications are the weather stations.

This allows you to create sensors for your house, either to turn lights on or off, open or close doors, create an anti-theft alarm system, smart blinds, smart speakers, among many other projects that you will be able to create. This way you can start working with a raspberry pi like a whole home automation professionalwhere you can create from the simplest to the most advanced projects in order to convert your home into a smart home at a very low cost.

What do I need to create a home automation system with Raspberry Pi like a professional?

If you have a Raspberry Pi in your home and you want to go one step further and get away from the basic or simple projects that you do with it, then you will have the opportunity to take a leap to home automationin this way you will be able to start controlling several elements of your home smartwhich can be beneficial for you and your whole family.

Therefore, to start creating a home automation system like a professional, you will need to have the following elements at hand:

A plate raspberrypi, It is best to be a model Pi 2 or higher, although the most optimal would be a Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 4, since they are much more powerful and have wireless network connections added in their system, so you will not have to use a Wifi adapter as it happens with the Pi 2.
Grove: light sensing (LDR)
InifiniPi: It is a kit that contains the following essential elements to carry out these projects, such as 2 Relay outputs, 1 I2C input with grove Connector, 3 analog inputs with grove connectors and is compatible with Socket XVee. Each of these elements will allow you to connect your Raspberry Pi to different communication protocols, as well as control other devices, measure analog sensorsamong many other possible activities.
a transformer for 5V/2.5V Raspberry Pi
Display.
A keyboard and mouse
Light bulbs.

When you already have all these materials, then you will have the opportunity to start create your own smart projects for your home like a professional.

Raspberry Pi and Arduino How to combine both boards to develop a complete home automation system throughout your house?

Both Raspberry Pi and Arduino are two very similar devices in the form of a plate and both coincide in one of the uses that are given to them, such as being able to be used to carry out all kinds of electronics projectsbut the truth of all this is that both were designed for other activities.

However, so that this can be understood a little better, here we are going to briefly explain what each of them consists of:

Arduino

This board is a platform open source electronic creation with which you will be able to design a large number of projects of all kinds, being free software and hardware anyone can make use of it. Currently on the market you can find various models of boards, accessories and compatible applications created by different developers.

Thus Arduino offers what is the platform Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment), which becomes a programming environment with which anyone can create applications for arduino boards and give it different uses. This is how this electronic board allows you to create different types of home automation projectsso it will be a great ally for you if you want to give intelligence to your house.

raspberry pi

It is a simple board computer and very cheaply priced, it is considered powerful enough to perform basic tasks, as well as program and compile programs that run on it. Despite having a very small size, it has the capacity to be connected to different types of accessories for usability. You can find different models of these microcomputers where each of them allows you to carry out different types of projects according to the requirements that are needed.

Keep in mind that this board lacks a internal storage so your operating system must be installed on a micro sd card, as well as its applications. The official board system is an adapted version of the Debian distribution called Raspbian, but it can be adapted to other operating systems such as Windows 10 for Raspberry Pi. Like Arduino, it allows you to carry out a large number of electronic projects that will allow you to control various factors in your home.

How do both platforms work?

As has already been mentioned, both electronics devices they are incredible to carry out a large number of projects, the best of all is that they are cheap and each of them has its own pros and cons. In the case of Arduino It is recommended to carry out projects that are smaller, such as controlling the alarm system of the house, how to create a reverse sensor for the caramong many other projects of these types.

While in the case of the Raspberry Pithanks to all its power and components, has become a device that can perhaps be used to carry more complex projects or that in a certain way require a full operating system.

So that the difference between the two in terms of their capabilities can be understood a little better, the following can be taken as an example:

If what you are looking for is create a small vehicle and just want it to movethen Arduino is enough, since it is the best alternative for a job that will require an immediate response such as sending electricity to the motors of the wheels and for the sensors to interpret the information.
But now if what you are looking for is that the vehicle drives autonomously, then all this will change. To interpret the information from the sensors or the environment so that the vehicle can make its decisions, more elaborate processing would already be required. For what is required of a computer with more computing power how can it be the Raspberry Pi.
This does not mean that some of them are better than the other, since most of the projects carried out with both are similar. But it must be mentioned that Arduino like Raspberry Pi can be complementarysince there are some plates like Arduberry that will allow you connect Arduino shields to a Raspberry Pi and thus go the best of each one and create projects that are much more advanced.
Where arduino can put the details simpler and more basicthen give it a touch of greater professionalism with the Raspberry Pi. Therefore, the joint use of these two boards will allow you to go one step further than any other electronic project created with either of them.

We teach you how to create a complete home automation system with Raspberry Pi and Infinity Pi to automate your entire house from scratch

if you’re thinking about create your own home automation project with Raspberry Pi, So here we are going to explain how you can create this whole system completely with these microcomputers. Keep in mind that in order to carry out this you must have the necessary materials for it, which are already mentioned earlier in the post.

Therefore, to start this procedure you will only have to follow each of the steps that we will indicate below:

connection

The first thing to do is place the InifiniPi on the Raspberry Pi, you must make sure that the pins are at their disposal.
Next, you must insert the Grove LDR sensor at input A0 of the InifiniPi.
Now you are going to hold very well the cables that go in the relay output towards the electrical network and the light bulb.
The next thing is to program the Raspberry Pi 3 with which to work on this occasion. Here it is necessary to connect the peripherals such as the mouse, keyboard, monitor and the transformer, to put the board to work.

Programming

To start with the programming it is necessary to import the libraries, for this you must follow the instructions of the following links:

https://www.abelectronics.co.uk/kb/article/23/python-library-and-demos
https://ubidots.com/docs/devices/raspberrypi.html#send-one-value-to-ubidots

When you have already imported the libraries, the next thing will be to copy the code in your python file (it has been executed in version 2.7.13, since the Ubidot’s bookstore is in that version). where are they the asterisks “*”, are you going to replace them with your Token and Variable ID. When the code is executed, the frame that is sent to the platform can be viewed.

Code

#!/usr/bin/python

#!/usr/bin/env python # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

from ubidots import ApiClient

from ADCPi import ADCPi

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO

import math

import time

import os

import random

setmode(GPIO.BCM)

setup(22, GPIO.OUT)

adc = ADCPi(0x6e, 0x6e, 18)

while (True):

# clear the console

system('clear')

#Create an "API" object

api = ApiClient(token='******************************')

#Create a "Variable" object

variable = api.get_variable("************************")

#Here is where you usually put the code to capture the data

Luz= adc.read_voltage(1)

if Luz<1.5:

output(22,True)

else:

output(22,False)

# Write the value to your variable in Ubidots

response = variable.save_value({"value": Luz})

print(response)

sleep(5)

Functioning

When the sensor is covered it can be seen that the value is less than 1.5, what will cause the Relay activates and turns on the bulb.

List of the best home automation devices that you can create with Raspberry Pi and Arduino to fully automate your home

As mentioned earlier in the post, today you can create different types of home automation projects through these microcomputersmany of them will help you convert your home into a smart home easily and above all quite cheaply.

That is why below we are going to show you which are the best home automation devices that you can create with your Raspberry Pi and Arduino to fully automate your house:

Security system

Thanks to the Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards users will have the opportunity to create their own security system for their homes, this is how they will be able to have their own security camerawhere with the help of these plates they will have the opportunity to control camera movement, which makes it a completely different project from the rest. Therefore, thanks to these systems you will have the opportunity to have your own video surveillance system.

For this project you can use the plate of Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi 2 or Pi 3, preferably the Pi 3 which is more powerful or in case you have the latest model the Pi 4then you can use it. You will also need to have some servos and one usb webcam. This will allow you to end up with a camera on top of a servo that is controlled by the Arduino Uno board.

While all other factors will be controlled by the microcomputerincluding the server that will be used to access the camera and control its movements. It can be said that it is a somewhat simple project that you can do in a matter of hours.

smart lighting system

Thanks to all the versatility that these two softwares have, people will have the opportunity to start control what is the lighting in your home, so you can make your lights kitchen, living room or bedroom They can turn on or off by themselves. This is how these two plates will allow you to create your own smart lighting system.

It should be mentioned that this is a fairly simple project that can be created by anyone. It is based on motion sensors that will allow the lights to turn on automatically when a movement is detected, such as when you get up from your bed. You can also configure it so that they are turn on or off with the sound of your hands. A great way to add a smart touch to your home.

smart speakers

So much Arduino What Raspberry Pi are compatible with the Alexa voice assistant, This is how you will be able to create your own assistant from these plates in a very simple way. Keep in mind that amazon echo It usually has a fairly high cost in the market, so either of these two plates becomes a much cheaper alternative to enjoy this service.

The process to create this project is quite simple and simple, for this the users need to have a Raspberry Pi or Arduino Unoas well as a microphone, headphones, speaker and a charger. Once you have all these components you will have the opportunity to start with the installation of the wizard. Keep in mind that here you will have all the functions offered by Alexa, so you will get the same experience as with Amazon echo.

Fire alarm

If you want to create a smart home to improve the safety of your family and yourself, then you can start creating your own fire alarm, this you will be able to do from now on. Arduino or using a Raspberry Pi 2, Pi 3 or Pi 4. In order to do this you will need to have a Raspberry Pi 2 or higher, 5V/1A power supply, MQ4-based Co2 sensor, 5V buzzer, network cable, ribbon cable, and a plastic case to contain the set.

With the help of each of these components you will have the opportunity to start creating your own alarm system that will notify you if a fire occurs in your home. Keep in mind that these types of devices can help you save not only your life, but that of your family or any other person who is in your home. In addition, like all the projects mentioned above, it is very simple to carry out.

smart blinds

Surely you have gotten up from your bed and want to look out the window of your room and you cannot see because the blinds are closed, or you have come to your living room and the same thing happens to you. Fortunately, you will be able create a servo that will help you move your window blinds intelligently, this means that you can open them lying down on your bed or from anywhere in your house and thus allow clarity to enter your room.

In order to create this you will need a little time and some programming since it will be a system that will be voice controlled via Bluetooth and that will allow you to both open and close them whenever you want. When you have understood very well the operation of this system and its programming, then you will be able to automate several elements of your house in this same way, such as the water taps in the bathrooms or some lights in your home.

Swimming pool control system

If your house has a swimming pool, then you can’t hesitate to start creating this project that will be of great help to you. For this, it is necessary to combine Arduino and Raspberry Pi, as well as the system Microsoft Azure. This is a project that will help you create your own system to control the temperature and amount of water of a pool, this will allow you to decide how hot or cold you want it to be, which can be ideal for summer.

In this case the arduino uno board It will be in charge of receiving all the data collected by the different applied sensors, and then transmitting all this data to the raspberry pi who will be in charge of organizing and uploading them to the azure system so that they can be processed. In this way the main objective of this device will be to control and supervise the pool using the sensors of temperature, relays and Microsoft Azure.

Control the garden of your house

Without a doubt, gardens are one of the most important aspects of homes, since they become a kind of letter of introduction to it. This is how thanks to these plates you will have the opportunity to create a device be able to control the garden correctly and appropriately.

It is a very interesting project for all those people who have a small garden or orchard at home and don’t have the time to water it daily. This is how this device will allow you automate an irrigation system in the orchard, so you won’t have to worry if you go on a trip for a few days. With this system your plants will be watered with a fixed amount of water and as many times as required per day.

Create your own weather station

So much Arduino What raspberry pi they will allow you to design a Weather Station at home 100% effective, all this will be thanks to the help of different sensors, they will depend on how many of them you want to add to your station. You must bear in mind that to guarantee its operation you must carry out an adequate programming.

In this case it will be a weather station that is responsible for storing the measured data in an exportable formatthat is capable of generating graphs and statistics and you can even add a camera for the rpi, and thus be able to take a photo every minute for create a time lapse of the entire changing environment. Best of all, you can start having your own weather station at home.

Water cooler

In many homes, the kitchen is usually a bit far from the rooms, so having to looking for cold water can become quite tedious. However, these softwares are going to give you the opportunity to create your own portable water cooler, so you can forget about portable coolers that are quite expensive nowadays.

It is a beverage cooler that you will be able to build in a very simple way, here you will get a fairly low temperature that will allow you to cool any type of liquid that you add there, and best of all, you can do it from a Raspberry Pi or Arduino board. In this way you will be able to have your own cold drinks from the comfort of your room or any other part of your house, as well as taking it from one place to another thanks to its small size.

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