/shutter_automation

Automation of motorized shutters

Primary LanguageKotlinGNU General Public License v3.0GPL-3.0

Warning

I did this for fun. If you are considering doing something similar, I suggest you to use Home Assistant

In my apartment, I have three motorized shutters, each operated by its own RF remote. Each remote allows you to:

  • Raise the shutters
  • Lower the shutters
  • Stop the shutters at any position, allowing partial opening, such as half-raised.

Remote front Remote back

Because it's noisy outside and I prefer to sleep in complete darkness, I lower the shutters every night and raise them when I wake up. However, using three separate remotes for this is quite frustrating. It would be great to have a single remote that operates all the shutters simultaneously. Even better would be the ability to schedule when the shutters should raise and lower automatically.

The remotes operate at 433 MHz, a common frequency for many home appliances. These signals can be captured using a DVB-T USB stick combined with SDR (Software Defined Radio) software, such as the Universal Radio Hacker app. If you're interested in learning how to capture these signals, this video tutorial provides a great step-by-step guide.

DVB-T USB
I used this Digital TV receiver sitck


Project Overview

I wanted to build a device with the following functionalities:

  • Lower the shutters
  • Raise the shutters
  • Set a time to lower the shutters automatically
  • Set a time to raise the shutters automatically
  • Display the current time

Materials Used

  • 4-digit 7-segment display
  • 3 x 10kΩ resistors
  • 4 x 1kΩ resistors
  • 100nF capacitor
  • RF Transmitter module
  • ESP8266 microcontroller
  • AMS1117 voltage regulator
  • 2 x 10µF capacitors
  • 2 x 100nF capacitors
  • USB C connector for power input (5v)
  • RTL-SDR USB stick

Circuit Diagram

Here's the scheme:

scheme


I attempted to create a freeform circuit sculpture, which turned out to be a pain in the ass:

side

front

Operating the device using the buttons may not be the most convenient option, but it's still a useful feature to have. Additionally, the device can be controlled through an app I developed using Compose Multiplatform. The app is currently working on Android and is expected to run on iOS as well, though testing on iOS is still pending.

Controls tab Automations tab Settings tab

Next setps

  • Test the app in iOs.
  • Improve the UI/UX of the app.
  • Add stop button to the app.
  • Support a weekly schedule of alarms.