[Will Donaldson] has whipped up a quick hack for anyone thinking of dipping their toe into home automation — or otherwise detest flicking off the bedroom light before navigating their way to their bed: a remote control light switch!
This remote switch uses a sg90 servo, an Arduino Uno, and pairs of ATtiny85s with HC-05 Bluetooth modules assembled on protoboards. The 3D printed mount screws easily on top of a standard light switch cover while still allowing the switch to be flipped the old-fashioned way. It’s also perfect as a temporary solution — [Donaldson] is presently renting his apartment — or for those unwilling to mess with the mains power of their abode.
True to the spirit of this project, [Donaldson] provides links to tutorials on how to setup and program the Bluetooth modules and ATtiny85’s instead of a belabouring explanation. He does recommend the SoftwareServo library for the ATtiny85 as the standard Arduino library doesn’t work on the chip, also tossing in a tip to ensure it works correctly.
Compared to Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and other home automation systems, this gives you some entry-level functionality at a fraction of the cost.
This is perfect, I love how it has a middle position that mechanically decouples it from the switch, that way you can over-ride it whenever needed.
It needs to return to a neutral position so you can still manually actuate it
It does.
After about .5 second delay the servo centers allowing the switch to be manually activated
“The 3D printed mount screws easily on top of a standard light switch cover while still allowing the switch to be flipped the old-fashioned way.”
That’s great
It’s aamzing the amount of effort we go to turn on/off a light .
I’m sure there is a joke there somewhere. How many hackers does it take to turn a light off ?
Just one, but it takes a 3D printer, a WiFi RaspberryPi coupled to an Arduino and three hundred lines of Python working via an IFTTT connection.
Rube Goldberg lives….
Possibly very valuable to someone less mobile (disabled)
Heck, it sounds incredibly valuable to me, and I just want to postpone getting out of bed on cold mornings.
How many mice does it take to screw in a light bulb.
One, but how they got in the light bulb is beyond me…
[rimshot!]
Doh! One^H^H^HTwo!
Wouldn’t it take two mice to screw?
Neat, just needs one of those gesture sensing chips so you can also wave you hand near it.
Or maybe a sensor that detects sounds, like, perhaps, clapping.
I find it ironic that a power switch uses a battery :p
It’s hacking! Can’t say it ain’t!
Reminds me… with all the new voice activated spies and associated lighting control equipment available suddenly… X-10 products should be getting cheap because some marketing guru spread the word “outdated”. Time to buy the rest of my lifetime supply.
Yeah, I like my X-10 stuff!
That is awesome. Just when you think you’ve scene everything you see something new. Would love your feedback on my new short called The Writers Block. Hope to see you there.
[Editor’s note: I was going to delete this obvious comment spam, but check it out: he or she is promoting a writer’s blog and has “scene” everything. Haha! Mistake! On the Internet! La-la-la-la-la!]
This is a copy of the Turner Onner, written up in Make Magazine. Please consider referencing that project in your sources.
If you read through the comments, you’ll discover that this isn’t the first time a light switch has been flipped with a servo. I’m sure that your project/product isn’t either.
This one doesn’t have wifi connectivity, which is marketed as a major feature in the other one
I like drop-ij hacks like this. Sometimes you’re not able (or allowed) to redo wiring, so this thingy comes very handy. Bonus, it’s completely resistant to overvoltages and surges that can happen on powerlines.
You are genius!
https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/23823240_156045598344901_8612158183013613568_n.jpg
OK. Now that IS cool!
That IS a hack!
Reduce, reuse, upcycle!
My first remote operated light switch, so I could turn light on/off from bed, was a weighted lever, pivot at one end, string at the other, length of string, screw for pivot and two screw eyes. … there was enough give in the lever it could pass over the switch and latch on top, but enough weight on it, that I could lift it a ways and drop lever to switch off. One screw eye above it, one screw eye above where I needed the pull cord.
Actually if you don’t have the 3D printer for this, I’d say get a spare light plate and drill it and use nylon spacers to hold the servo on in similar position. Then just cut a lever arm out of some springy plastic, and use same MO, servo actuates switch then plastic lever arm rides up and over it to other side, leaving switch free for manual operation and positioning to turn off again… slight mods to positioning routines required.
Yes, this halves the number of servos and driver cpu’s to one. Why the loop around the lever? The only thing that might happen is fingers messed around. If done the double way, the levers should move out of the way. If done with a single flexible lever, the same. Move lever out of the way of manual operation.
My first remote operated light switch, was a couple of eye screws in the sheet rock, some fishing line with a large nut tied to the end for weight. My bedroom light was a pull chain, so I made it a “parallel” operation by attaching the other end of the fishing line to the chain close to the light fixture.
Hm, this seems familiar…
They’re all kinda the same, too. We’ve had at least four posted on here now, maybe that’s enough? I’m just sayin’.
Why not purchase a motion switch an install it same location? Much easier
They are available in different colors also.
^^ there is always one on every post.
I’d like to see a version of the “Useless Machine” with a light switch.
I made one with a pull chain switch for the 7400 contest a few years ago. I was pretty young so it was kind of rough and never got completed, but it did work.
I loved that video. Hilarious!
Irrespective of this hack, I thought I’d comment on this statement–
“Compared to Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and other home automation systems, this gives you some entry-level functionality at a fraction of the cost.”
Smart light switches run in the neighborhood of $25-$35 these days and don’t require a hub, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Required-Requires-Assistant-HS200
Nice one! Almost steampunk style :D
Well, if steam came out of it, it really would be punk!
This is certainly a superior solution than replacing your light switches with a proprietary brand that won’t exist in 5 years. Good job!
Lorian Bartle