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Event-driven access to my home after a run

randywestergren.com

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Re: Event-driven access to my home after a run

#51

Post by mbrameld »

Did I miss where he tells how he did this part?

    Knowing I had left for a run was key to knowing when I had returned from a run, rather than a trip in the car for example.
From what I see he's assuming a run starts after the phone doesn't respond to ping requests for 5 minutes. How does that imply a run over a car trip?

Re: Event-driven access to my home after a run

#53

Post by mbreese »

I setup something similar years ago for my garage. Instead of looking for my phone though, I wanted a way to open the garage quickly without using the keypad. My kids were small and my hands were normally full. However, I did have an RFID ID card from $work in my back pocket. So, I placed an RFID reader at butt height. If it detected my ID (or my wife's, or keyfobs, etc...) it would trigger a relay to simulate pushing the button inside my garage to open the door. It was all controlled by an Arduino.

That was quite possibly one of the most satisfying projects I've done.

I've now since moved and don't have an attached garage anymore, so this is now sitting in a box in my basement. :(

Re: Event-driven access to my home after a run

#54

Post by kingosticks »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #12

There are now locks for your front door that can be opened using a numeric code or a fingerprint or even an nfc fob. Likely any of those would be more robust.

If you are taking an NFC fob out with you just take a spare key. It doesn't even need power.

Re: Event-driven access to my home after a run

#57

Post by Majromax »

rwestergren wrote: post #37
ivanbakel wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the initial problem was clearly-enough stated, and the GP's point is valid - why bother accounting for the case where your phone is so close to dying that you can't unlock the screen, when just a bit less battery life would mean that your phone dies regardless (and you're stuck outside anyways)?

The battery level isn't actually close to dying, in my case it just rapidly depletes from up to 40% when it's very cold. But that 40% remains intact seemingly with the screen off. Could be my phone also, but it has happened often enough that I wanted to solve it and thought this was an interesting approach. For me, this was just a matter of convenience and not optimizing for most resilient or reliable solution. I do…

Batteries are generally less able to source current when very cold. At low temperatures, the battery was sufficient to power your phone in a low-draw state (minimal network activity, no screen, low power CPU state), but the voltage dropped when current draw increased.

Re: Event-driven access to my home after a run

#58

Post by mftb »

bin_bash wrote: post #22

I'm really disappointed by all the comments here. OP showed a clever way he gets his garage door to open when he gets home from a run. It's an interesting look into home automation from scratch and exactly the kind of content I come to HN for. This isn't posted in NY Times. He's not advocating everyone should go out and do this because of how much better it's made his life. He's not even claiming that it's necessaril…

You also might want to just give it a little time. When I viewed this post 3 hours after you, the four following comments began, "Super cool project...", "First: cool project...", "I setup something similar...", "This is awesome...". I assume your comment probably helped, but that also over time regular comment moderation did its part.

As for the original article, I'm a runner so it was of interest. My living situation is nothing like OPs tho, so probably not for me.

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