Home Automation - get notifications on iPhone

Hi all,

Got a home automation project I'm toying with. There's going to be a very small, very cheap PLC controlling a watering system on my balcony. Due to the construction of my building, I can't easily get mains water out there, so I'm planning on just putting in a small water tank and a pump to run the system. I'm then going to put a low level sensor in the tank, because otherwise it won't be until all my plants are dead that I wonder when I last filled up the tank.

What I'd really like is to have an iPhone app that gives me a notification if the low level alarm goes off. Obviously, this means connecting my PLC to the internet (I'm not concerned with security at this point, if someone wants to hack in and water my plants they can go their hardest).

My question is, what methods can you think of to achieve this? Bonus points for whoever can make it work with the cheapest components

My current ideas are:

- Have the PLC send an email on low level. I'd prefer an actual notification to an email, but if that's not feasible, it's an option. Only thing is, the only PLC I know of that can send an email is a Compact or Control Logix. A little bit overkill (and expensive) to be sitting on my balcony watering plants.

- Use some sort of SCADA app like SCADAMobile or perhaps AdvancedHMI. The PLC won't have an external IP, it'll have to be forwarded from the router, and I don't know if any of them support remote connection to the PLC over the internet. Even if they do, I don't know if any of them can be configured to "check in" on the PLC every hour or so and check for alarms and give me a notification.

- Use a raspberry pi or something similar instead of a PLC. I've found this article about using a raspberry pi to send push notifications using a free push service, so it looks doable. I've never delved into the world of raspberry pi, python code, or anything terribly similar, so it would be a massive learning curve for me, but if it's a cheap, viable solution then I'm open to giving it a go.

Any other ideas? I'm feeling stingy and creative, so all comers are welcome!

Low tech/Low cost

Use an alarm on your phone that is set to repeat every [choose the day] at [time]. I know this lacks a few of the bells and whistles of a full app, but it should keep your plants alive.

Will.

willxfmr said:

Use an alarm on your phone that is set to repeat every [choose the day] at [time]. I know this lacks a few of the bells and whistles of a full app, but it should keep your plants alive.

Click to expand...

Where's the fun in that?

I'd also like to make it expandable - so that maybe later on I could put a flow switch in to detect a blocked line/failed pump, or perhaps even reset the alarm or start/stop the pump. For now, notifications are the main aim, but if I can find a solution that allows me to build on it, then great!

I've also found this option - by the looks of it I'd need a Modbus TCP capable PLC (anyone know of a cheap one?). The english translation of the website is a bit sketchy so it's hard to tell if it'd actually do what I want, but it could be a potential solution...

Float and a web cam? Then you can see the plants as well

Use a transparent tank.
Get an autonomous drone to fly up and use a vision system to determine the level of the tank. If low level, have it return to your apartment, fill a bucket with water (based on the size of the drone's max payload) then fly back up and fill your tank.
The drone can have wifi and send you a push notification, including photos of your plants. This will be a good redundancy measure, as you could know if anything went wrong based on how good your plants look.
Optionally, play music from the drone, because plants love that sort of thing.
Obviously, it will need a drone docking station to recharge.

AustralIan said:

Use a transparent tank.
Get an autonomous drone to fly up and use a vision system to determine the level of the tank. If low level, have it return to your apartment, fill a bucket with water (based on the size of the drone's max payload) then fly back up and fill your tank.
The drone can have wifi and send you a push notification, including photos of your plants. This will be a good redundancy measure, as you could know if anything went wrong based on how good your plants look.
Optionally, play music from the drone, because plants love that sort of thing.
Obviously, it will need a drone docking station to recharge.

Click to expand...

I love it! A drone with a vision system and the capacity to open my balcony door and turn on my taps shouldn't run more than a few hundred $, right?

Maybe it can wait just outside your front door until you come home and it can get out that way. Do you have a lake or other body of water nearby? That way you won't need wifi enabled taps nor multiple reentries to your property.

Well I'm in the city, so I suppose I could just send it to the Yarra...might just have to watch out for the tourist helicopter

You could even ditch the tank and this would free up further drone funds.

I bought a PIR alarm kit for my old raspberry pi model B. It runs a script that takes a picture and emails it to me when the PIR sensor is triggered. I'm sure that the concept could be easily modified to email you when the water level was low.

My other thought would be to use the codesys control for raspberry pi for your project and use the web based HMI on your phone. As you can only turn on the water when you're at home then it doesn't really mater that you don't see the details outside the house?

Nick

-Raspberry Pi with VM on it (Or PC/NUC) connected to your home network.
-PLC connected to your home network.
-AdvancedHMI (or similar) and TightVNC/TeamViewer (Or similar) on your Pi/PC/NUC.
-Put remote access client app on your phone.
-Access your HMI from your phone or any computer that has internet access.

The HMI is optional, as you could just run the PLC software on your machine at home, but I imagine you'll be using it for other stuff too, and a simple interface would be nice. You can also just set up a VPN to your home network and use a client to directly connect to your machine.

Probably the most costly bit here would be finding an ethernet PLC that's supported by one of the free HMI vendors. You could alternatively try to find yourself a cheap combined PLC/HMI that you can install a remote server/client system on.



P.S. - Never seen so many Aussies post at once!
P.P.S - This doesn't really notify you, but I'm sure you can set up some sort of e-mailing with one of those items.

Suffer the Rockwell..bit more expensive

Micro850 with a Prosoft GSM module, such that it sends you text messages to your iphone with status updates, based on digital inputs from your watering tank etc..basic programming software (CCW) is free too...

Or a Wago 2 pass system which is a telemetry system, you can build up with your own I/O cards. Programming software is free...

You could try an Ethernet Click PLC from AutomationDirect. You can use AdvancedHMI with it.

http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Programmable_Controllers/CLICK_Series_PLCs_(Stackable_Micro_Brick)/PLC_Units#Communication_Ports_ms=%22Ethernet%22&start=0

here is your float switch
http://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Stainl...77217&sr=8-15&keywords=stainless+float+switch