I just want to share that these are by far the best home automation you can have. I love my smart lights, hacked together smart humidifier, smart fans (the vornado dc fans with outlet switches), intake air pump, and air quality monitoring.<p>But nothing has the quality of life impact of smart blinds. It’s the best, and probably only, way to reliably keep your sleep schedule in sync. Smart lightbulbs - four of the brightest you can buy - are nothing compared to a window on a cloudy day.
Fwiw automated blinds in the bedroom are a 100% no brainer benefit. It's wonderful and better than an alarm clock with 0 mental load (set the times to open close across the week once and then never think about them again, you can keep the weekend manual if you like).<p>As in a lot of home automation actually makes things worse. Replacing a convenient light switch with an app? 100% terrible idea and actually makes things inconvenient, don't automate those.<p>But the blinds, specifically those in your bedroom? Do it! One of those life hacks that's really not that expensive and makes your life better with 0 cognitive load after initial setup.
Kind of jealous of this see an idea, build the thing mindset.
Not for showing off—just making a little tool that quietly helps you every morning.
A motor, some silicone tubing, an old magnetic encoder and somehow it becomes a device that opens your curtains at sunrise. So full of life.
Makes me want to build something for my own daily life, too.
If you want something less jank I suggest this
<a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2071225" rel="nofollow">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2071225</a><p>3d printed gear box with a servo that sits inline with the shaft. Invisible outside of the blinds if you route the cables correctly.<p>I controll mine with esphome and home assistant rock solid for years
What are the child safety considerations to be careful of, with blinds, and with openers?<p>(I recall seeing warning stickers and design changes on ordinary miniblinds. I suspect that one of the changes involved having multiple pull cords be separate and loose, rather than a fastened together or a single looped cord. But I'd guess that's not the only safety design decision.)
I have these on all of my blinds and they are amazing. You can sometimes get them on sale for $50-60 each. They come with a solar panel that keeps them charged. You can add a hub that makes them work with HomeKit.<p><a href="https://us.switch-bot.com/products/switchbot-blind-tilt" rel="nofollow">https://us.switch-bot.com/products/switchbot-blind-tilt</a>
Would measuring motor current be a better way to determine torque? Not an expert but seems like you could sense voltage across a fairly small shunt to do it.
For roller shades, I've had success with Ryse SmartShade [0] + their WiFi hub + Home Assistant.<p>Setup was not straightforward at all, and I have 10 windows, but it was worth it in the end.<p>You can write automations in YAML (or TypeScript with [1]), and your blinds can also be controllable with Siri or whatever voice assistant you like.<p>[0]: <a href="https://www.helloryse.com/products/rysesmartshade" rel="nofollow">https://www.helloryse.com/products/rysesmartshade</a><p>[1]: <a href="https://docs.digital-alchemy.app/" rel="nofollow">https://docs.digital-alchemy.app/</a>
Does anyone know if something like this already exists for the heavy duty, built-in shutters they have in Italy? The kind that close and form a barrier over the window and are operated with a flat roll of fabric from inside.
Person just wanted to automate a few "dumb" appliances but ended up building his own system (software and hardware) to do this.<p>I wish I had time to bike shed like this. Just learning, tinkering, and enjoying life.
Powered blinds and curtains are common, but powered home windows are very rare. Even though home control systems which managed windows would be great for heating and cooling. Interesting that they're not as common as electric auto windows.<p>(Linear induction motors were invented for curtains. Really. Kirsch Electrac)
I really wish there was a way to implement something like this for my skylight blinds. So far I haven't found anything which wouldn't need throwing away existing blinds and/or other expensive montage.
I have a south side back of house open kitchen / dining / living room on my house. 11 Windows.<p>I have consumer model power roller shades. I love them. If you have a room that gets lots of sun / you like the views, being able to hit a button and open it's an amazing quality of life thing.
I need to figure something like this out. My bedroom has this arch window about 3-4ft wide that's over 10ft high that I've permanently blacked out so I can sleep in. I'd love an easy way to open it and get light in the day though.
Sorry, I had to post this :|<p>if Apple made window blinds...<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv6EMd8dlQk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv6EMd8dlQk</a>
"I doubled up the relays feeding the main motor and the heating coil, which gives a lot more headroom on the amperage"<p>...That's not how that works. One of the relays is going to close first, and those set of contacts will take all the load. Similarly, one set is going to bear all the drama from breaking the connection (and with the motor, there's inductive kickback.)<p>The correct way to do this is to look up the motor rating for your relay and then size accordingly, not to do dumb shit like "oh I'll just double up these two relays."<p>Of course he fucks up and uses a resistor from mains to logic, too. Mains and logic should never, ever, <i>ever</i> come anywhere near each other. They're supposed to be physically isolated on a PCB, cutouts in the board, even.<p>Don't fuck with mains / appliances / HVAC / household water supply if you don't know what you're doing. This guy has no fucking idea what he's doing, and some winter day he's going to come home to a house that's 100 degrees inside and a flooded first floor (notice he didn't connect the water leak sensor?)<p>Home insurance is scummy, annoying, difficult and weasely in the best of circumstances. The second they figure out you had some chewing gum and duct tape hodgepodge running your dishwasher and that's what caused the flood, they will not only refuse to pay, they'll cancel your coverage on the spot.<p>Then you find out the joys of not having home insurance coverage on a house with a mortgage.<p>Edit: Holy christ I missed this part: "It seemed to be due to the push-on jumper cables either becoming too loose after years of jiggling or perhaps oxidizing and self-insulating a bit."<p>That is how you start a fire, people.