I’m looking for a way to control an RPi from an Android device (either phone or tablet) that will switch over from a pool mode (default) to a spa mode. Put very simply, it needs to:
Reduce pump speed to minimum.
Rotate two valves (suction and return)
Pause to allow the valves to move
Increase pump speed to high
Turn on water heater to high
That’s it! Other than the program delay, everything is the binary control of relays.
I’m controlling the pump speed and water heater now with wireless remote controls. The valves will require actuators which I haven’t bought yet. And there needs to be a pause in the control while the actuators move to position.
I can demonstrate what I want with the freebies I find on Play Store and a relay board. Works well enough but for the lack of program delay.
A full blown automation package like this may seem like overkill, but Will this package let me accomplish my goal?
You can program simple rules with waiting times etc. in openHAB. openHAB also allows you to add for example weather information to make certain decisions. Or you add some lighting scenes as well…
If you don’t want to go full automation package, you can certainly achieve the same with maybe some python scripts on the raspberry pi.
I would guess you could also do this with an Arduino and a couple of shields. That might be even easier. If you just want to do it locally, you could use bluetooth, I’ve done similar things to open gates from a phone.
Esp8266 with some relay shields and serving a webpage to control it from your phone. Lowest cost and standalone and won’t get corrupt sd card. If you want to learn home automation to use later on then yes it is a good way to learn by dipping a foot in. If you want secure use from outside of your local network then the openhab cloud makes that easy.
