Published July 28, 2019 © LGPL

Do I Need an Umbrella Today?

With the help of a Bolt IoT module, we can find out if we have to carry an umbrella with us at the click of a button.

BeginnerFull instructions provided30 minutes1,321

Things used in this project

Hardware components

LED (generic)

Buzzer

Bolt IoT Bolt WiFi Module

Resistor 330 ohm

2 Pin Push Button

Jumper wires (generic)

Mini Breadboard

USB-A to Micro-USB Cable

Software apps and online services

Bolt IoT Bolt Cloud

Digital Ocean

PuTTY

Story

Why?

When it's cloudy outside, and I have to go somewhere I usually take an umbrella with me. However if it doesn't rain, the umbrella feels like a burden when I'm walking and I like to carry only the essentials with me. With the help of Bolt IoT, I have been able to create a device that will let me know if I have to carry my umbrella or not.

What does it do?

This device mainly consists of a push button, a LED, a buzzer and of course my Bolt IoT module. When the button is pushed, I programmed the module to check today's forecast with the help of a real-time weather API. If it is going to rain, the buzzer will go off, warning us that it will rain. If not, the LED will switch on for a few seconds, indicating that we need not take our umbrella today. Now we can take our umbrella only when required. :)

Procedure

Connections

NOTE: At the time of writing this, I was not able to use fritzing.org to make the circuit diagrams. So I hope the images below are enough to recreate this project.

First, connect the push button to the mini breadboard. Connect one pin to GPIO Pin 0 and the other to 3v3 pin of the Bolt WiFi Module.

Next, connect one end of the resistor to the end connected to GPIO 0 and the other end to GND as shown in the image.

Then, connect the negative leg of the LED(the shorter one) to GND and connect the positive leg(the longer one) to GPIO pin 1.

Finally, connect the negative leg of the buzzer to GND and the positive leg to GPIO pin 3.

Connect the Bolt WiFi module to a power source with the help of the micro USB cable.

Before writing the Code....

To obtain your Bolt API Key and Bolt Device Name, connect your Bolt Device to the Bolt Cloud according to the instructions given at https://cloud.boltiot.com/. Below I have attached images of the Bolt Cloud page.

The Bolt Device ID has been highlighted.

Go to the API section of the website to obtain your API key.

Click on the eye icon to make your API key visible.

Code Explanation

NOTE: For the code, I created a Digital Ocean Droplet and accessed my server with the help of PuTTY.

Make sure you have installed the following python libraries before continuing with this project.

sudo apt-get update
sudo pip3 install boltiot
sudo pip3 install pyOpenSSL ndg-httpsclient pyasnl
sudo pip3 install 'requests[security]'

To create the Python code file, type

sudo nano umbrella.py

Refer to the code at the bottom of this web page.

The code can be divided into 3 major parts:

First, we check if the button has been pushed. For this we do an digitalRead on GPIO pin 0. The response is in JSON format with 2 classes: success and value. We use json.loads to return an object from a string representing a JSON object.
Next, if the button is pushed we call a function that checks today's forecast. To check the current forecast I used a free weather API called Dark Sky API. You're required to create an account i.e. you will get a unique API Key(insert this in the [Your API KEY] block of the URL variable). Click here for more details.
Finally, if the check_weather() function returns "rain" then the LED function is called. Otherwise the buzzer function is called.

For more information on the data that can be accessed through Dark Sky API visit https://darksky.net/dev/docs.

Execution

After saving the umbrella.py file, to run the file, type

sudo python3 umbrella.py

Now push the button to trigger the check_weather() function. You might have to push the button for sometime to trigger the function. Depending on the Dark Sky API URL you used, the LED will light up if its not going to rain or the buzzer will go off if there is rain in the forecast.

Final thoughts

I hope this project can inspire others to create their own IoT projects. I am still a beginner when it comes to IoT but Bolt IoT has given me the confidence to create whatever I want. Please let me know if I have made any mistakes or of any changes I could make to this project. :)

Code

Code Required for This project

API_KEY = ""              #insert your unique API KEY
DEVICE_ID = "BOLTXXXXXXX" # and Bolt Device ID

from boltiot import Bolt
import json,requests

mybolt = Bolt(API_KEY, DEVICE_ID)

def check_weather(): #function to check today's forecast
    URL = "https://api.darksky.net/forecast/[Your API KEY]/17.432837,78.362292?exclude=minutely,hourly,daily,flags,alert?units=auto"
    response = requests.request("GET",URL)
    result = json.loads(response.text) #returns an object
    current = result["currently"] #accessing the current forecast
    weather = current["icon"] #icon tells us if it is going to rain today
    return weather

def led(): #function to switch on the LED
    mybolt.digitalWrite(1,"HIGH")
    time.sleep(3) #the led is on for 3 seconds
    mybolt.digitalWrite(1,"LOW") #switching off the led

def buzzer(): #function to switch on the buzzer
    mybolt.digitalWrite(3,"HIGH")
    time.sleep(2) # the buzzer is on for 2 seconds
    mybolt.digitalWrite(3,"LOW") # switching off the buzzer

while True:
  response = mybolt.digitalRead(0) #checks if the button is pushed
  data = json.loads(response) #returns an object

  if data["success"] != 1:
     print("ERROR")

  if int(data["value"]) == 1: #if the button is pushed
      check = check_weather() #checking today's forecast
      print(check)
      if check == "rain": #if it is going to rain
        buzzer() #call buzzer function
        print("Take your Umbrella")
      else: #if it is not going to rain
        led() #call the LED function
        print("Do not take your Umbrella")

Credits

ANUJITH BEERAKAYALA

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Do I Need an Umbrella Today?

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Why?

What does it do?

Procedure

Execution

Final thoughts

Schematics

Circuit Diagram

Code

Code Required for This project

Credits

ANUJITH BEERAKAYALA

Comments

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Do I Need an Umbrella Today?

Do I Need an Umbrella Today?

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Why?

What does it do?

Procedure

Execution

Final thoughts

Schematics

Circuit Diagram

Code

Code Required for This project

Credits

ANUJITH BEERAKAYALA

Comments

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