Washing Machine Phone Notification
This device detects the end of cycle wash and publishes a message via MQTT.
Sometime in the 20th century, automated clothes washing via an electric motor-powered drum mechanism became prevalent in the developed world. While a staggering advancement over doing the task manually, it’s now 2021, and perhaps you’d like – or even expect! – to be told when the clothing is done on your smart device. Although WiFi-enabled washing machines are available, Redditor “Straight_Hat” made their own external MQTT notifier using an ESP8266 and microphone setup.
This clever device is meant to be positioned within earshot of a washing machine. It takes in sound signals through a microphone, which are amplified using an LM324. These signals are in turn fed into an NE567 tone decoder, and when the “done buzzer” sound is detected, it notifies the Wemos D1 mini ESP8266 breakout implemented here by pulling a normally high output low.
When done, the D1 mini publishes a MQTT message to a Raspberry Pi running a Mosquitto server. The Raspberry Pi then pushes a notification to Straight_Hat’s phone using Node-RED and Gotify.
Physically, the system is built in a purchased electrical box, and features a power switch, along with LEDs for power, WiFi status, and a third to show when the magical "done" beep is detected.
Photos of the project and its circuit schematic can be found on Imgur.