As I pass the halfway point on the CraftingTable Academy course, I will be continuing to build on the Raspberry pi, adding some real world interaction.
In this months box is a selection of parts for use with Hone Assistant, I free to use, local, non subscription tool that will let me sense and control several parts of my house.
So I have: 2 bulbs, 2 plugs, a button, a temperature/humidity sensor, a switch, a controller, a PIR sensor and a door sensor.
Being a US based company/ course I was expecting the plugs to need an adaptor, which was supplied, with one to convert from uk plug to the smart plug, and another to convert back to uk. I already have a uk/us adaptor for the solder station, so my plan is to use that for one plug, and the other for the us mains adaptor for the pi itself!
I wasn’t expecting trouble with the bulbs, but that’s exactly what I have.
The bulbs are a screw fit, which most of my light sockets are not, the bayonet fitting being more common here. But more importantly they require us power, which is only 110v. We have 240.
Ohh, the screw fitting is also 1mm different to the uk screw standard too. Just for good luck.
I could get adaptors and power converters, but it’s actually much cheaper for me to just ignore the bulbs and buy uk versions. So that’s what I have done. When they arrive I’ll get them paired up and we should be good!
Next up I need to install the Home Assistant software in the pi, and learn how to work it! Wish me luck!