Maker-type folks often seem to like doing really outlandish, creative projects (often accompanied with lots of flashy LEDs). Or robots. Lots and lots of robots. But neither of those kinds of projects really appeal to me, they’re not my type. I like doing relatively simple projects to address everyday pain points that just need a touch of technology to make my life that much easier.
For example, I like my bedroom to be as dark as possible when sleeping. In the city, that requires closed curtains and blinds. But come morning, I don’t get to wake up with the sun – whether it’s 6:30am or 1pm, the light in my room is the same (aka, dark).
Enter automated blinds.
With an Arduino Mini, a small servo motor, a few other miscellaneous pieces, and some physical manipulations this guy has managed to fit all the required pieces into the top header of a standard set of blinds. A $1 light sensor and a $1 temperature sensor are used to tell the Arduino when to open and close the blinds depending on if it’s light outside (open the blinds) or getting too hot (close the blinds even if it is light outside – e.g. during the afternoon).
I have the blinds and even have a couple servo motors laying around, though I haven’t yet learned how to do anything with them. I’ll be ordering an Arduino Mini and hopefully can make this a weekend project sometime this fall.
Hey Michael, very nice project! Is it powered via battery or anything else?
I think it *can* be battery powered, but since it’s a permanent installation it makes sense to have it hard-wired. In the picture you can see a thin black wire running off to the right, I believe that’s the power, likely going to a wall-wart.