some uses for a raspberry pi computer – introduction
visitors this year: 617 A Raspberry Pi is a small low power computer that hopefully has a use that chimes for you. I don’t think you’d want to use a Pi for emails and...
which ESP32 did I buy?
visitors this year: 307 “… It’s an ESP32. Yes but which?” ESPRESSIF is the company that markets chips such as the ESP8266 and ESP32 and ESP32-CAM. Other companies buy those chips and fit them...
project: cameras around the house
visitors this year: 358 There are a variety of camera types to help monitor the drive, a pet, a baby, a device, a bird feeder – whatever. You might want to know what’s eating...
project: does my broadband speed vary?
visitors this year: 168 Here’s how to add a little functionality to Home Assistant, the automation platform. Do try this especially if you’re just starting to add features to Home Assistant. speedtestdotnet: scan_interval: hours:...
project: when is the next train from the station?
visitors this year: 1,280 Travel information can be one of the things you need easy access to. If you have Google Home or Alexa you’ll find it helpful to recall the exact way to...
a home dashboard with the information you need just now
visitors this year: 544 When you have a few smart devices you meet a need to be able to see them easily. We might have a camera pointed at the front door but it’s...
monitor temperature on graphs around the house
visitors this year: 1,585 The Xiaomi Mijia sensor runs for ages on a AAA battery and it can be stuck to a wall to show the temperature and humidity. It’s an attractive Bluetooth Low...
automation: turn on lights when I enter the room
visitors this year: 826 The LED striplights in a kitchen use 12v transformers and they are powered through smart plugs / sockets. The sockets are by TP-link – and they remember their on-off state...
project: smart electricity meter with historic energy use
visitors this year: 4,706 fit a sensor to the electricity meter for a minute by minute readout The UK electricity meter shows electricity use in kWatt hours, and a human sometimes pops by to...
heating oil tank level sensor – JSN-SR04T version
visitors this year: 7,598 make a heating oil tank level sensor that’s more useful than anything you can buy There is a replacement for this project – the latest project uses a DFROBOT A02YYUW...
some of us have a thing about units, data and graphs
visitors this year: 281 The Home Assistant sensor graph offers painless autoscaling with options to set detail and timespan. But how do I alter the data itself? A car fuel tank measures in gallons...
how much heating oil does the boiler use?
visitors this year: 16,060 how much heating oil do I use each year? Of course it depends but reckon on needing to order 1000 to 1600 litres a year for heating your rooms and...
project: desktop volume control with Arduino
visitors this year: 1,063 A volume control at hand and ready to turn. Bash the top and the video or track pauses. Double bash to skip to the next track. It’s plug and play,...
weather station
visitors this year: 109 Weather station With a data logger several sensors can be used together to monitor the weather over periods lasting weeks. Suitable sensors include temperature, pressure, humidity, light or even a...
burning a candle
visitors this year: 160 Burning a candle As a candle burns oxygen is used and heat and water are produced. A few sensors can be used to monitor this process – including a light...
thermometric titration
visitors this year: 406 Thermometric titration As acid reacts with alkali the pH changes and heat is evolved. This heat of neutralisation can be easily monitored using sensors – to produce a graph of...
acid-base titration
visitors this year: 109 Acid-base titration As acid drains into alkali the pH changes. This can be monitored using a pH sensor to instantly produce a graph of pH against volume. The volume of...
reaction rate: marble & acid
visitors this year: 128 Rates: marble and acid Apparatus Clamps, bosses, & stands, marble pieces (large, medium and small sizes), 1M hydrochloric acid HCl, flask, bung, delivery tube, a good gas syringe. Interface, position...
reaction rate: thiosulfate & acid
visitors this year: 923 Rates: Thiosulfate and acid Sodium thiosulfate and acid react to form a precipitate. The light sensor can be used, like a colorimeter, to monitor the rate of the reaction. In...
exothermic reactions
visitors this year: 187 Exothermic reactions A temperature sensor can collect information about the heat generated when lime is mixed with water. Exothermic reactions are used in a glove heating pack. The proportions of...
heat of reaction
visitors this year: 152 Heat of reaction As acid reacts with alkali, heat is evolved. This is the heat of neutralisation. This can be easily monitored using a temperature sensor. In this experiment the...
absorption of thermal radiation
visitors this year: 122 Absorption of thermal radiation A shiny surface and a black surface absorb heat differently. Using temperature sensors or thermocouple probes it is possible to compare the temperatures on two these...
oscillator motion
visitors this year: 55 Oscillator motion A position sensor is attached to a weight and spring assembly as shown. This can be used to study simple harmonic motion and the effects of changing the...
extension of a spring
visitors this year: 123 Extension of a spring A position sensor is attached to a weight and spring assembly as shown. This can be used to graph the extension of the spring with increasing...
cooling curve
visitors this year: 225 Cooling curve Two temperature sensors can collect some interesting information about cooling during a change of state. In this experiment the temperature of a water bath increases as a substance...
heat insulation
visitors this year: 49 Heat insulation A temperature sensor can be used to study the insulating properties of different materials. Two temperature sensors allow a simultaneous comparison to be made. In this experiment two...
heat conduction
visitors this year: 64 Heat conduction A temperature sensor can be used to study the conduction of heat through different materials. Two temperature sensors allow a comparison to be made. In this experiment strips...
pressure & temperature
visitors this year: 58 Pressure & temperature How pressure changes with temperature can be monitored using sensors. A graph of pressure against temperature can be plotted as it happens. After the experiment, the scale...
capacitor charge and discharge
visitors this year: 94 Capacitor charge and discharge The voltage & current of a capacitor are measured as it charges and discharges. Sensors allow a graph to be plotted as this happens. The effect...
current and voltage
visitors this year: 119 Current-Voltage relationships In this experiment the resistance of a lamp, resistor or diode is measured as the current is varied. Voltage and current sensors make the measurements while the software...
characteristics of a thermistor
visitors this year: 127 Thermistor characteristics The voltage & current of a thermistor are measured as its temperature changes. Sensors allow graphs of voltage and current to be plotted against time. Not only can...
heating effect of an electric current
visitors this year: 60 Heating effect of an electric current The temperature, voltage & current of a heating unit are measured over a period of time. This allows us to calculate the power of...
battery life
visitors this year: 60 Battery life In this experiment an electrical cell is tested to exhaustion. The cell might be a dry-cell, an alkaline cell or a lead-acid accumulator. The decreasing voltage is measured...
seismometer
visitors this year: 111 Seismometer The magnetic field sensor responds to magnetic fields. We can use this idea, together with a metre rule damped with a sand bag, to demonstrate how a seismometer might...
magnetic fields
visitors this year: 65 Magnetic fields The magnetic field sensor responds to a magnetic field. In this experiment the sensor is moved through Helmholtz coils and the variation in field is measured. Apparatus Clamp...
radioactivity decay & penetration
visitors this year: 126 Radioactive decay The radioactivity sensor is normally connected to a standard Geiger-Muller tube and can produce a radioactive decay curve in ‘real-time’. This is a very convincing display of radioactive...
oxygen solubility and temperature
visitors this year: 258 As the temperature of water increases, the solubility of oxygen decreases. This is significant in pollution studies – for example, when factory outflow warms a river. In this experiment a...
measuring plant growth – long experiment
visitors this year: 163 A position sensor can be attached to a plant to record its growth. Depending on the plant chosen this is a very slow process. Using a sensor greatly decreases the...
