Published January 18, 2017 © GPL3+

Twitter Smart Home

Tweet to your timeline and control anything using a Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and the Twitter API.

IntermediateFull instructions provided2 hours2,632

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B

Arduino Nano R3

Relay (generic)

Jumper wires (generic)

Resistor 10k ohm

Adafruit Standard LCD - 16x2 White on Blue

Android device

Webcam

DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Sensor (4 pins)

Software apps and online services

Twitter

Arduino IDE

IDLE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Soldering iron (generic)

Story

This project showcases how to turn your twitter account into a smart home system. You will be using the Twitter API to post and read statuses. With a relay module you can control up to 4 devices. A webcam can be used with the Raspberry Pi to take pictures of an area that you wish to monitor. You should probably make a new Twitter account and follow it, so your current followers can't see what you post. Here are the steps to make it:

Accounts:

After making a new Twitter account, sign it up on the Twitter apps site, and then make a new app. You can call it whatever you want. Open up Notepad and copy/paste four keys. You will see 2 app keys. Then get oauth keys and copy/paste those as well. In the Python code put your four keys in their respective places.

Wiring:

Put the DHT11 sensor in an enclosure and wire it up to the Arduino Nano. Then connect the relay module to the Arduino as well. Next attach the webcam to the Raspberry Pi, and point at a room that you want to keep track of. LEDs or buttons can be added if you wish, but this will have to be added to the code.

Setup:

A custom enclosure can be made to support a relay module inside of it. It should also include room for a Raspberry Pi and Arduino. The Python code could be consolidated to only need the Raspberry Pi without an Arduino.

Usage:

To call a function you must tweet at your bot. You can setup custom commands in the Python code. I have put 3 pre-loaded commands in the code. One is "lights on" which turns on the first relay pin. The second command is "lights off" which turns off the relay. The third command is "check house" which makes the Raspberry Pi take a picture using an attached webcam and sends a tweet back to you with the attached picture. When nothing new is tweeted, the Arduino displays the temperature and humidity on its LCD.

That's it! Feel free to change it and add new commands. Let's see what is possible.

Code

#include "DHT.h"
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

#define DHTPIN 7

#define DHTTYPE DHT11

DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);

LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);

int pageNum = 0;
const int lights = 6;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  // set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
  lcd.begin(16, 2);
  dht.begin();
  pinMode(lights,OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(lights,HIGH);
}

void loop() {
  delay(2000);
  switch(pageNum){
    case 0:
    initLCD();
    pageNum = 1;
    break;
    case 1:
    waiting();
    break;
  }
}

float getTemp(){
  float t = dht.readTemperature(true);
  return t;
}

float getHum(){
  float h = dht.readHumidity();
  return h;
}

void initLCD(){
  clearAll();
  lcd.print("Initializing");
  delay(1000);
  clearAll();
  lcd.print("Ready!");
}

void waiting(){
  if(Serial.available()){
  while(Serial.available()>0){
    char data = Serial.read();
    Serial.println(data);
    if(data== "o"){
    Serial.println("Lights on!");
    digitalWrite(lights,LOW);
    lcd.print("Lights on.");
    delay(2000);
    clearAll();
    }
    else if(data == "f"){
      digitalWrite(lights,HIGH);
      lcd.print("Lights off");
    }
  }
  }
  else{
    clearAll();
    float t = getTemp();
    float h = getHum();
    lcd.print("Temp: ");
    lcd.print(t);
    delay(2000);
    lcd.setCursor(0,1);
    lcd.print("Humidity: ");
    lcd.print(h);
    delay(5000);
    clearAll();
  }
}

void clearAll(){
  lcd.clear();
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
}

from twython import Twython
import serial
import json
import time
from cv2 import *
import serial

app_key = "secret"
app_secret = "secret"
oauth_token = "secret"
oauth_token_secret = "secret"
twitter = Twython(app_key,app_secret,oauth_token,oauth_token_secret)
previous = "null"
ser = serial.Serial("COM6",baudrate=9600)
cam =VideoCapture(0)

def sendImage():
        #Takes the folder where your images are as the input
    image_open = open('recent.jpg', 'rb')
    print "I chose: " + str(image_open)
    image_ids = twitter.upload_media(media=image_open)
    twitter.update_status(status='Checked home: ',media_ids=image_ids['media_id'])
def get_image():
    s, img = cam.read()
    if s:    # frame captured without any errors
        imwrite("recent.jpg",img) #save image
def check_twitter():
    global previous
    json_file = json.dumps(twitter.get_home_timeline()[0])

    data = json.loads(json_file)
    current_message = data["text"]

    if previous != current_message:
        if current_message == "lights on":
            ser.write("o")
            print "Turning on lights."
        elif current_message == "check house":
            print "Checking house"
            get_image()
            sendImage()
        elif current_message == "lights off":
            print "Turning off lights."
            ser.write("f")
    elif previous == current_message:
        print "Already done." 
    previous = current_message
while 1:
    check_twitter()
    time.sleep(60)

Credits

Evan Rust

120 projects • 1052 followers

IoT, web, and embedded systems enthusiast. Contact me for product reviews or custom project requests.

Twitter Smart Home

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Accounts:

Wiring:

Setup:

Usage:

Schematics

Schematic

Code

Arduino Code

Python Code

Credits

Evan Rust

Comments

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Twitter Smart Home

Twitter Smart Home

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Accounts:

Wiring:

Setup:

Usage:

Schematics

Schematic

Code

Arduino Code

Python Code

Credits

Evan Rust

Comments

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