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BeagleBone Home Automation Blueprints
BeagleBone Home Automation Blueprints

BeagleBone Home Automation Blueprints: Automate and control your home using the power of the BeagleBone Black with practical home automation projects

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Profile Icon Rodolfo Giometti
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€36.99
Paperback Feb 2016 378 pages 1st Edition
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Arrow left icon
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Paperback Feb 2016 378 pages 1st Edition
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BeagleBone Home Automation Blueprints

Chapter 2. Ultrasonic Parking Assistant

In this chapter, we'll learn how to use the BeagleBone Black to implement a park assistant. We're going to use an ultrasonic sensor to detect the distance between our car and the garage wall, and some LEDs to give a feedback of the car position to the driver in order to avoid collisions.

We'll see how to set up the ultrasonic range sensor in two different manners, using different interfaces to get the data in order to resolve a problem in two different ways and obtain two different system configurations.

The basic of functioning

The project is really simple, even if it needs some electronic skills in order to manage the sensor output. Basically, our BeagleBone Black just needs to periodically poll the ultrasonic sensor output and then turn on the LEDs according to the distance from the wall: as level indicator lower is the distance and more LEDs are turned on.

Setting up the hardware

As just stated, in this project we're trying to implement two different setups: the first one uses the analog output of the ultrasonic sensor and implements a circuitry, where all the devices are directly connected with the BeagleBone Black (all peripherals are near the board); on the other hand, the second setup allows us to remotely manage the ultrasonic sensor by using an USB connection, so we can mount the sensor far from the BeagleBone Black board.

Simply speaking, we can put the sensor in one place while the LEDs are in a different location, maybe in a more visible position, as shown in the following image:

Setting up the hardware

As you can see, the dotted arrow, which represents the driver's point of view, is more clear if the LEDs are in a upper position with respect to the distance sensor that should be located near to the floor to better catch the car frontal.

First setup – all devices near the BeagleBone Black

In this setup, we're going to use an ADC pin of...

Setting up the software

In this project, the software is really simple, since we just need a procedure that periodically reads the distance and then turn on and off the LEDs accordingly; however, some issues must be pointed out, especially about how to manage the LEDs and the differences between the two setups of the ultrasonic sensor.

Managing the LEDs

Despite of what was presented in the previous chapter about the GPIO's management, it's important to point out that the Linux kernel has several kinds of devices, each one dedicated to a well-defined usage, and one of these special devices are the led devices, which is a particular type of devices that can be used to manage an LED with different triggers. A trigger is a sort of manager of the LED that can be programmed to work in a specific manner. Ok, it's better doing an example instead of trying to explain it!

First of all, we have to define the led devices by using a dedicated device tree as reported in the chapter_02/BB...

The distance monitor

Now it's time to see how our park assistant can work in practice. A possible implementation of the code is reported in the chapter_02/distance_mon.sh script in the book's example code repository. The following code snippet shows the main code:

# Ok, do the job
while sleep .1 ; do
   # Read the current distance from the sensor
   d=$($d_fun)
   dbg "d=$d"

   # Manage the LEDs
   leds_man $d
done

The functioning is simple—the code periodically reads the distance from the sensor by using the function pointed by the d_fun variable, and then turns the LEDs on and off, according to the value of the distance d (in cm) by using the leds_man function.

The d_fun variable holds the name of the function that should read the distance by using the ADC, that is, read_adc, or the name of the function that uses the serial port, that is, read_tty. The following are the two functions:

function read_adc () {
   n=$(cat $ADC_DEV)

   d=$(bc -l <<< &quot...

Final test

To test the prototype, we must first select one setup and perform the needed connections, as stated before. Then we have to turn on the board.

After the login, we must setup the system by using the commands discussed before, or simply by using the chapter_02/SYSINIT.sh command in the book's example code repository. Then, we must execute the distance_mon.sh command accordingly.

Note

Note that looking into the SYSINIT.sh file, you can read:

# Uncomment the following in case of buggy kernel in USB host management
# cat /dev/bus/usb/001/001 > /dev/null ; sleep 1

This is if after plugging in the USB cable, you get an error in recognizing the /dev/ttyUSB0 device.

To test my prototype using the first setup, I used the following command:

root@beaglebone:~# ./distance_mon.sh -d -k 1.38 adc
distance_mon.sh: d_fun=read_adc k=1.38
distance_mon.sh: d=176
distance_mon.sh: d=175
distance_mon.sh: d=175
distance_mon.sh: d=175
distance_mon.sh: d=175
...

On the other hand, to test the second one...

The basic of functioning


The project is really simple, even if it needs some electronic skills in order to manage the sensor output. Basically, our BeagleBone Black just needs to periodically poll the ultrasonic sensor output and then turn on the LEDs according to the distance from the wall: as level indicator lower is the distance and more LEDs are turned on.

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Key benefits

  • Build, set up, and develop your circuits via step-by-step tutorial of practical examples, from initial board setup to device driver management
  • Get access to several kinds of computer peripherals to monitor and control your domestic environment using this guide
  • This book is spread across 10 chapters all focused on one practical home automation project

Description

BeagleBone is a microboard PC that runs Linux. It can connect to the Internet and can run OSes such as Android and Ubuntu. BeagleBone is used for a variety of different purposes and projects, from simple projects such as building a thermostat to more advanced ones such as home security systems. Packed with real-world examples, this book will provide you with examples of how to connect several sensors and an actuator to the BeagleBone Black. You’ll learn how to give access to them, in order to realize simple-to-complex monitoring and controlling systems that will help you take control of the house. You will also find software examples of implementing web interfaces using the classical PHP/HTML pair with JavaScript, using complex APIs to interact with a Google Docs account, WhatsApp, or Facebook. This guide is an invaluable tutorial if you are planning to use a BeagleBone Black in a home automation project.

Who is this book for?

This book is for developers who know how to use BeagleBone and are just above the “beginner” level. If you want to learn to use embedded machine learning capabilities, you should have some experience of creating simple home automation projects.

What you will learn

  • Build a CO (and other gas) sensor with a buzzer/LED alarm to signal high concentrations
  • Log environment data and plot it in a fancy manner
  • Develop a simple web interface with a LAMP platform
  • Prepare complex web interfaces in JavaScript and get to know how to stream video data from a webcam
  • Use APIs to get access to a Google Docs account or a WhatsApp/Facebook account to manage a home automation system
  • Add custom device drivers to manage an LED with different blinking frequencies
  • Discover how to work with electronic components to build small circuits
  • Use an NFS, temperature sensor, relays, and other peripherals to monitor and control your surroundings
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Length: 378 pages
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ISBN-13 : 9781783986026
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BeagleBoard.org
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Tools :

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Table of Contents

12 Chapters
1. Dangerous Gas Sensors Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Ultrasonic Parking Assistant Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Aquarium Monitor Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Google Docs Weather Station Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. WhatsApp Laundry Room Monitor Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Baby Room Sentinel Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Facebook Plant Monitor Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Intrusion Detection System Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Twitter Access Control System with Smart Card and RFID Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. A Lights Manager with a TV Remote Controller Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
11. A Wireless Home Controller with Z-Wave Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
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