Alarm Clock Blind Opener

Website Interface
Motor with Board

Inspiration

We were inspired to create this project by the annoying street light outside our window. It's much more convenient to wake up with sunlight pouring through the window, but harder to fall asleep with a harsh street light buzzing outside at night. We decided to create the best of both worlds with this device that could allow the user to wake up to an open window.

What it does

The device attaches to any blind wand and turns it wirelessly based on the users commands.

How we built it

Moaz: I was in charge of the front end and interfacing the motor with the blinds. I used Visual Studio to code the webpage, using html, css, and javascript. I also used photoshop to add a fun lil logo. I used Autodesk Inventor to model a motor attachment that could properly transfer torque from the motor to the blind wand.

Yusuf: I did the backend programming and hardware assembly. I used an ESP32 board to create the web server that would receive the commands and send them to the motor. I used a relay that had a forward and reverse function along with a 9-volt battery to drive the motor.

Challenges we ran into

It was difficult figuring out how to create the webpage and passing the data from the front-end to the backend. It was also tough to time how long the motor should be activated, since we had a short amount of time to prototype and troubleshoot. Choosing a motor was also a nightmare, since most kit dc motors didn't have enough torque to turn the blinds.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Last hackathon we weren't able to develop a functional prototype, we're really proud that we were able to have a working prototype at the end of almost 24 hours of work. We were proud to have been able to troubleshoot issues that may have taken hours in minutes under pressure, we had a round of high-fives when we finally passed the HTML to the ESP32.

What we learned

We learned a lot about web programming, as well as interfacing front and back-end developments. It was an incredibly fulfilling project that took us on a journey of self-reflection, perseverance, and love.

What's next for the Alarm Clock Blind Opener

We'd like to add automatic light detection to allow for dusk to dawn automated opening and closing. We'd also like to fine tune the timing of the motor to more exactly open and close the blinds. On the front end, we'd like to stylize the page a little more and make some of the interactions more responsive across mobile platforms.