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Building Smart Homes with Raspberry Pi Zero
Building Smart Homes with Raspberry Pi Zero

Building Smart Homes with Raspberry Pi Zero: Build revolutionary and incredibly useful home automation projects with the all-new Pi Zero

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Building Smart Homes with Raspberry Pi Zero

Chapter 2. Measure Data Using Your Raspberry Pi Zero Board

In the first chapter of this book, we worked on setting up your Raspberry Pi board so you can use it in your projects and realize all the projects you'll find in this book.

In this chapter, we are going to make our first project using the Zero board: measuring data using your board. We are going to learn how to connect a very simple temperature and humidity digital sensor to your Pi, and how to write software to read data from it.

From there, we'll look at some very basic applications using this sensor that can be really useful inside a smart home: how to log data on the Pi itself, how to access the measurements remotely, and finally, how to display past data on a nice plot.

Hardware and software requirements

We have already discussed most of the requirements for this project in the first chapter of this book. Here, you will simply need an additional component: a DHT11 sensor (https://www.adafruit.com/products/386). The following image shows the sensor:

Hardware and software requirements

You can of course use other similar sensors, for example the DHT22, which is more precise. To use a DHT22, you will only need to change one thing inside the code we'll see later.

You will also need a 4.7k Ohm resistor to make the sensor work, as well as jumper wires and a breadboard.

Hardware configuration

Let's now look at how to configure the hardware for this project; basically, how to connect the sensor to the Pi Zero board.

The following figure is a schematic to help you out:

Hardware configuration

As it's the first project we are actually building using the Raspberry Pi Zero, there is something important I wanted to point out here. To connect the board to components like this sensor here, we have two options. You can...

Reading data from the sensor

As the first project of this chapter, we are simply going to see how to read data from the sensor. As for all the projects in this book, we'll use Node.js, which is a great framework for building projects on your Raspberry Pi Zero.

I will now go through the main parts of this first piece of code. It starts by including the DHT sensor module for Node.js:

var sensorLib = require('node-dht-sensor');

Then, we create an object to read data from the sensor and initialize it when we start the software:

var sensor = {
    initialize: function () {
        return sensorLib.initialize(11, 4);
    },
    read: function () {
        var readout = sensorLib.read();
        console.log('Temperature: ' + readout.temperature.toFixed(2) + 'C, ' +
            'humidity: ' + readout.humidity.toFixed(2) + '%');
        setTimeout(function () {
            sensor.read();
        }, 2000);
    }
};

if (sensor.initialize()) {
  ...

Storing sensor data

Displaying the current measurements from the sensor is nice, but what is even better is to actually store that data inside a database. In this section, we are going to see how easy it is to do this with Node.js.

As a database, we'll simply use NeDB here, which is a really simple database for Node.js that is completely stored in memory, but you can also save the entire database in a file.

The code is actually very similar to what we saw in the previous section. However, here, we'll first import the database module, and then insert data inside the database when a measurement is done:

var Datastore = require('nedb')
  , db = new Datastore({ filename: 'path/to/datafile', autoload: true });
sdfsd
var readout = sensorLib.read();

// Log
var data = {
    humidity: readout.humidity.toFixed(2),
    temperature: readout.temperature.toFixed(2),
    date: new Date()
};
db.insert(data, function (err, newDoc) {
    console.log(newDoc);
});

// Repeat
setTimeout...

Accessing the data remotely

In the previous projects of this chapter, we learned how to measure and store data on your Pi. However, in a smart home, the best is to be able to access data remotely, for example, from your smartphone or computer. We will see many similar examples in later chapters of this book, but in this chapter, I just wanted to give you a glimpse of what is possible.

The module we are going to use here is Express, a server framework that is really easy to use with Node.js. Express works by defining routes, which is what will be served to the client if a request is made on a specific URL.

First, we'll import Express and define a main route that will send back the temperature and humidity measurements:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

app.get('/', function (req, res) {

  var readout = sensor.read();
  answer = 'Temperature: ' + readout.temperature.toFixed(2);
  answer += ' Humidity: ' + readout.humidity.toFixed...

Hardware and software requirements


We have already discussed most of the requirements for this project in the first chapter of this book. Here, you will simply need an additional component: a DHT11 sensor (https://www.adafruit.com/products/386). The following image shows the sensor:

You can of course use other similar sensors, for example the DHT22, which is more precise. To use a DHT22, you will only need to change one thing inside the code we'll see later.

You will also need a 4.7k Ohm resistor to make the sensor work, as well as jumper wires and a breadboard.

Hardware configuration

Let's now look at how to configure the hardware for this project; basically, how to connect the sensor to the Pi Zero board.

The following figure is a schematic to help you out:

As it's the first project we are actually building using the Raspberry Pi Zero, there is something important I wanted to point out here. To connect the board to components like this sensor here, we have two options. You can either use jumper...

Reading data from the sensor


As the first project of this chapter, we are simply going to see how to read data from the sensor. As for all the projects in this book, we'll use Node.js, which is a great framework for building projects on your Raspberry Pi Zero.

I will now go through the main parts of this first piece of code. It starts by including the DHT sensor module for Node.js:

var sensorLib = require('node-dht-sensor');

Then, we create an object to read data from the sensor and initialize it when we start the software:

var sensor = {
    initialize: function () {
        return sensorLib.initialize(11, 4);
    },
    read: function () {
        var readout = sensorLib.read();
        console.log('Temperature: ' + readout.temperature.toFixed(2) + 'C, ' +
            'humidity: ' + readout.humidity.toFixed(2) + '%');
        setTimeout(function () {
            sensor.read();
        }, 2000);
    }
};

if (sensor.initialize()) {
    sensor.read();
} else {
    console.warn('Failed to initialize...
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Key benefits

  • Create and program home automation projects using the Raspberry Pi Zero board
  • Connect your Raspberry Pi Zero to a cloud API, and then build a cloud dashboard to control your devices
  • Integrate all the projects into a complex project to automate key aspects of your home: data monitoring, devices control, and security

Description

The release of the Raspberry Pi Zero has completely amazed the tech community. With the price, form factor, and being high on utility—the Raspberry Pi Zero is the perfect companion to support home automation projects and makes IoT even more accessible. With this book, you will be able to create and program home automation projects using the Raspberry Pi Zero board. The book will teach you how to build a thermostat that will automatically regulate the temperature in your home. Another important topic in home automation is controlling electrical appliances, and you will learn how to control LED Lights, lamps, and other electrical applications. Moving on, we will build a smart energy meter that can measure the power of the appliance, and you’ll learn how to switch it on and off. You’ll also see how to build simple security system, composed of alarms, a security camera, and motion detectors. At the end, you will integrate everything what you learned so far into a more complex project to automate the key aspects of your home. By the end, you will have deepened your knowledge of the Raspberry Pi Zero, and will know how to build autonomous home automation projects.

Who is this book for?

This book is for enthusiasts and programmers who want to build powerful and inexpensive home automation projects using the Raspberry Pi zero, and to transform their home into a smart home. It is for those who are new to the field of home automation, or who already have experience with other platforms such as Arduino.

What you will learn

  • Learn how to measure and store data using the Raspberry Pi Zero board
  • Control LED lights, lamps, and other electrical applications
  • Send automated notifications by e-mail, SMS, or push notifications
  • Connect motion detectors, cameras, and alarms
  • Create automated alerts using Raspberry Pi Zero boards
  • Control devices using cloud-based services
  • Build a complete home automation system using Pi Zero

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Oct 26, 2016
Length: 196 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781786469861
Vendor :
Raspberry Pi
Category :

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Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
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Product Details

Publication date : Oct 26, 2016
Length: 196 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781786469861
Vendor :
Raspberry Pi
Category :

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Table of Contents

11 Chapters
1. Configuring Your Raspberry Pi Zero Board Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Measure Data Using Your Raspberry Pi Zero Board Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Building a Smart Home Thermostat Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Controlling Appliances fromthe Raspberry Pi Zero Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Making a Smart Plug with the Raspberry Pi Zero Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Sending Notifications using Raspberry Pi Zero Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Use the Raspberry Pi Zero to Build a Security System Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Monitor Your Home from the Cloud Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Control Appliances from Anywhere Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Building a Home Automation System with Raspberry Pi Zero Boards Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
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(1 Ratings)
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Dsqr Jan 11, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This is a good book for a beginner with home automation and communication with a web posting service.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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