Developer Lambertus Gorter has taken a low-cost robotic lawnmower and given it an Espressif ESP8266-powered improve, connecting it to House Assistant for monitoring and distant management.
“This challenge was made for my very own Parkside PMRA 20-Li A1 mower, however it may simply work together with your mower as properly,” Gorter explains of the construct. “From House Assistant (or any system supporting ESPHome) you may preserve monitor of your mower’s standing, command it to mow and set the mowing time. This challenge hooks into the (analog) rain sensor of the mower. It can additionally detect whether or not the mower is transferring and whether or not the charger is linked.”
A low-cost improve for self-contained robotic mowers, this add-on board delivers key connectivity options. (📷: Lambertus Gorter)
Robotic mowers are more and more well-liked for his or her skill to take the drudgery out of garden upkeep, robotically maintaining the grass trimmed to your most well-liked top. Whereas there are many units in the marketplace with all types of smarts, these on the cheaper finish of the spectrum are usually fundamental self-contained techniques — which is the place Gorter’s challenge is available in.
A perfboard add-on comprised of a low-cost Espressif ESP8266-based Wemos D1 Mini growth board, a TDK InvenSense MPU-6050 accelerometer breakout, and a DC/DC converter faucets into the mower’s electronics, mounting on to its battery pack. A wire runs from the microcontroller to the mower’s built-in rain sensor by means of a 270 Ohm resistor — utilizing a faked optimistic rain sign to manage whether or not or not the mower is operating.
The add-on permits for monitoring and distant management of the mower by means of House Assistant. (📷: Lambertus Gorter)
As soon as linked to House Assistant, the add-in board permits for monitoring of the mower’s standing, whether or not or not it is in-motion, and its battery voltage and charging standing. Mowing can be manually triggered, and the mowing time configured as required. “Timekeeping is carried out on the mower itself,” Gorter explains. “This ensures that the mower at all times returns when the time is up, even when Wi-Fi is out of vary or when House Assistant is down.”
A circuit diagram and YAML configuration file for the challenge have been printed to GitHub beneath the permissive MIT license.