How to create an ESP8266 based laundry reminder. Needing a way to remind myself to get my laundry out of the washing machine, I created Laundromat.
Using an Adafruit Feather Huzzah and the Pushover app, I get 3 reminders on my phone when my laundry is done.
I have an older washing machine with a green led that lights up when the cycle is complete. Using a light dependent resistor I measure the light level and when it is high or above a threshold I set, it triggers a message to be sent.
This repeats it self for a maximum of 3 times or 3 messages. When the lid of the washing machine is opened the led is turned off.
Parts List
- Adafruit Feather Huzzah ESP8266 WiFi with Headers
- Mini Breadboard
- 10k resistor
- Hookup wire
- Light dependent resistor
- Pushover app
- Project box
- Power plug to micro usb
Setup
Sign up for Pushover as you will need a User String & a Token String from the service. Connect your ESP8266 board to your computer and copy and paste the Arduino code into the Arduino IDE or web editor. Edit the code to include your WiFi and password. Also put in your User String & a Token String from Pushover. Then hook up the light dependent resistor using a voltage divider with a 10k resistor on a breadboard as shown below. Then tape the light dependent resistor over the led on the washing machine. You may need to solder some longer leads onto the light dependent resistor. I then put in a plastic box I already had to protect it. Now go to your phone and download the pushover app.
Next time you do laundry plug in the ESP8266 and wait for the notifications on your phone when it is done.
*As an alternative, you can also get notifications using a service called IFTTT. You would need to create a recipe with Webhooks and automation and also install the IFTTT app. Some altering of the code would be needed as well.
Code
Laundromat
Photos
Here are some photos of my setup.
