Article originally created 4/17/2018

From time to time, when I’m out in the garage or off somewhere in the house, I forget about my laundry. Or worse, I check on my laundry and find that it’s not done. While not the end of the world, it is inconvenient. I saw that some modern washers have notification apps to solve this problem. Since the washing machine that came with our house still functions, I decided to retrofit a notification system to it.

Finished Product

Items Used and Cost:

  • Raspberry Pi Zero W - $15
  • A 3.3v or 5v Vibration sensor, for Raspberry Pi or Arduino - $4
  • A piece of breadboard, a moment switch, a resistor, some wire, and solder - $5
  • An old cell phone charger that I had a box of junk - FREE
  • An old Roku 2 Case, or any enclosure - FREE
  • Python Script to monitor the sensor and send text alerts - $$$ (Whatever you value your time at)
  • Twilio.com Account - $0.0017 per text

I really thought about using a Sardine can for this one.

The wiring schematic found on the site referenced below allowed me to put together a few circuits on breadboards for testing. The Roku 2 streaming device case had a perfect location for an LED indicator, which I incorporated into my programming as a status light. I then soldered everything together and superglued standoffs to the case to best position everything. Of note, nylon standoffs are my favorite thing ever.

Circuits

I spent most of my time merging together a few Python scripts into something I liked. Using callbacks as opposed to putting a button event in the center of the main loop seemed to make the most sense to me. When the sensor is motionless for 5 minutes, a text alert is sent. A link to the actual python app is also linked below.

Output

The alerting was the fun part. I found that Twilio.com had a ready to go Python library, and rediculously inexpensive text plans for the hobbyist. The script logs to a file and outputs to standard out if debugging is needed.

Text Sample

Currently I have the device perched on the washer (or dryer). Seems to work pretty well so far. Sample code is: here

Washer

Links

If you have questions about any specifics, email me at sclebo05 —AT— gmail