Use a Cree Zigbee radio to create an alert light
This project was inspired by the ogiewon/CreeRelays project. He pulled a Cree Connected bulb apart and used the Zigbee board to control relays. I've created an even simpler project, a visual alert that tells me if my house perimeter is secure (all the doors and windows are closed).
This project creates a device for use in a SmartThings environment. A smartapp watches all my perimeter devices and lights a green light when the perimeter is all closed, and blinks a red light if any of the perimeter devices is open.
This is not rocket science, but it's very handy to be able to glance at the status light when you leave the house to know if you've left a window open somewhere.
It uses an Arduino, a Zigbee board from a Cree Connected bulb, and LED's, a resistor, and a tiny breadboard.
The device uses the standard Cree Bulb device driver inside of SmartThings.
The Arduino simple checks the On/Off status of the Cree Zigbee board. When it's on, the green LED is lit. When it's not, the red LED is blinked.
I printed a nylon case that fits over the breadboard. (I uploaded the STL file) I'll mount it near the door where I can see it as I leave the house.
CreeAlert consists of two parts:
- An Arduino sketch
- A smartapp
CreeRelays requires:
- Arduino Nano, UNO, or similar
- Cree Connected LED Bulb's Zigbee Board
- Red and Green LED's
- 300 ohm resistor
Join your Cree Connected Bulb to your hub using your phone's SmartThings App BEFORE disassembling the bulb!!! (To connect it later you need to power cycle it 4 times and then leave it on.)
After removing the Zigbee board from the Cree Connected bulb, attach it to the Arduino as follows:
- Zigbee Board Pin 1 to Arduino GND
- Zigbee Board Pin 2 to Arduino 3.3V
- Zigbee Board Pin 3 to Arduino Pin 2 (PWM) (not used)
- Zigbee Board Pin 4 to Arduino Pin 3 (On/Off)
- Resistor between Arduino GND and LED's (I hid mine under the controller chip. See photos)
- Red LED between Arduino Pin 13 and resistor
- Green LED between Arduino Pin 12 and resistor
Power and Ground to the Cree Zigbee board.
Signal from the Cree Zigbee board to pins 2 and 3 of the Arduino.
The resistor hidden under the Arduino, between GND and the LED's.
Victory! Ready to be put in a case and mounted.
