Thoughts to adding a GPIO header ON/OFF for a heater

[BobW55]

I see several people have added code to control a GPIO pins for a heater.
Any thoughts given to adding in a set that can be toggled ON/OFF in the allsky settings Tab of the WEB user interface.
Dont need all the temperature/ humidity relaited stuff. Just a simple on or off and what ever the user wants to hook to them.

[EricClaeys]

@Alex-developer Alex, isn't there a module that helps with this?

[Jonk2]

I’ve done this myself using python, fully automatic heating and cooling.
But it’s very easy to switch on and off in python.
It’s even easier with a mobile, I use a program on ios called pihelper, which has a gpio page…

I’m not great at coding but happy to share what I’ve done so far so it could (if acceptable) be added to the allsky package?

My way is simply a script that measure internal and external temperatures, works out if too cool or too warm and switches a heater or fans on. It runs as a service.

[BobW55]

Anything that can be accessed and turned on/off by the Web interface would be excellent. I have read some commands that could do it from the command line.

[Jonk2]

Once you've installed your relay libraries (if using a relay hat like I do) then the code for manually switching on in Python is this:

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time

# setup the relay hat 

Relay_Ch1 = 26 # P26 -> Relay_Ch1
Relay_Ch2 = 20 # P20 -> Relay_Ch2
Relay_Ch3 = 21 # P21 -> Relay_Ch3

GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setup(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.setup(Relay_Ch2,GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.setup(Relay_Ch3,GPIO.OUT)

#Close then open Channel 1
GPIO.output(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.LOW)
time.sleep(0.25)
GPIO.output(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.HIGH)
time.sleep(0.25)

GPIO.output(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.LOW) # turn CH1 relay ON
internal_heater_status = '[ON]'

print ("The camera heater is " ,internal_heater_status)

to switch off it's this:

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time

# setup the relay hat 

Relay_Ch1 = 26 # P26 -> Relay_Ch1
Relay_Ch2 = 20 # P20 -> Relay_Ch2
Relay_Ch3 = 21 # P21 -> Relay_Ch3

GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setup(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.setup(Relay_Ch2,GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.setup(Relay_Ch3,GPIO.OUT)

#Close then open Channel 1
GPIO.output(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.LOW)
time.sleep(0.25)
GPIO.output(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.HIGH)
time.sleep(0.25)

GPIO.output(Relay_Ch1,GPIO.HIGH) # turn CH1 relay OFF
internal_heater_status = '[OFF]'

print ("The camera heater is" ,internal_heater_status)

I was going to learn how to control this via a webpage button like you say, but didn't get round to it.

[EricClaeys]

@Jonk2 Jon, see the WEBUI_DATA_FILES tutorial here for how to add buttons to the WebUI's "System" page to do exactly what you want.

[BobW55]

@Jonk2
In my case, I just need one 5 volt pin to turn on, or off. Yes it is hooked to a relay. I can help test, but I am sorry to say I suck at programming.

[BobW55]

So I am looking at some of the basic stuff to program the Pi in Python. I am assuming these commands will not mess with the All sky Programming.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install rpi.gpio
sudo raspi-config

looks like this is just things to enable the GPIO in the OS??

[BobW55]

I use a relay hat -> https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-relay-board It’s perfect for the job.

I use a POE hat,

[Jonk2]

I use both, pi-poe-relay.

[BobW55]

I have a new POE hat on order, it has pass through pins for the GPIO, my current POE hat does not. But I have a Relay module on order as well. I couldn't find a switching transistor in my junk.

[Jonk2]

Cool, you using a pi4b? In the blurb for the new poe hat it says not compatible, but I don’t know why as it appears to be fine for me?
Hopefully you’ll find it straight forwards to use.
I’ll be happy to share my heating / cooling code in part as there are a few things you need to setup in code like relay and bus initialisations.
It’s quite straightforwards once you get used to it, and I’m certainly not great at programming!

[BobW55]

May take you up on that when time comes. Going to rebuild the whole thing. New 22 gauge outdoor rated Cat5 cable. New POE Hat with pass through GPIO pins. Pi Relay. Dew Heater.
Going to use a ON or OFF logic to it. I have heaters in my rain gauge that I just plug in in the winter and unplug when it starts to warm up.
Would be nice to end up with an ON/OFF in the Allsky setting page. But for now I 'll settle for using the command line.

[BobW55]

@Jonk2
Got my new POE hat and single Relay. have relay hooked up using GPIO 5 (Pin18) as the relay trigger.

#import the GPIO
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
GPIO.setup(18, GPIO.OUT)
GPIO.output(18,True)
GPIO.cleanup()

Thought this would turn the pin on (High) but does nothing. saved as heat_ON.py
Wrote another file setting the output FALSE to turn the relay off or pin low.
What did I do wrong? instead of true/false do I need to use High/Low?

[BobW55]

#import the GPIO and time package
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
GPIO.setup(18, GPIO.OUT)
# loop through 50 times, on/off for 1 second
for i in range(50):
    GPIO.output(18,True)
    time.sleep(1)
    GPIO.output(18,False)
    time.sleep(1)
GPIO.cleanup()
~~~
This will blink the relay ON/OFF   
I just need on or OFF.

[BobW55]

I know nothing about programming in Python or PHP both of which I guess you need to know to make this work.

So I have my code working. Two different programs to turn on/off the relay.

OFF

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setup(24,GPIO.OUT)
print ("Heater OFF")
GPIO.output(24,GPIO.LOW)
#GPIO.cleanup()

ON

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setup(24,GPIO.OUT)
print ("Heater ON")
GPIO.output(24,GPIO.HIGH)
#GPIO.cleanup()

They work fine, but I think I need something to pass the current state to some parameter like (Heater =X) I'll assume that this needs to be binary 0=Off 1=On. I guess it could be a text value as well.
I would like help with this, but I dont want someone to "DO IT" for me. I learn nothing that way.

My Task list.

1. Figure out how to pass the on/off of the relay (heater) to a parameter (Heater_State)
2. Figure out how to add a Heater slider/button to the Allsky Web GUI Allsky Settings Page Heater On/Off
3. Figure out how to run the Python code to switch the relay On/Off based on the button press.
4. Update the Allsky settings page with the new heater status.

Am I kind of on track here?

[Jonk2]

Hi Bob,

How I learnt the basics is copying and pasting code, changing things around and learnt why it broke.

In your case, you need to learn how to use variables.

For example, in code (not like I write below) you would write:

If something, do something.

So:

If set heater on, close relay, set variable to 'on', print variable.

This would, on command, close the relay, change a variable to 'on' (in text format), show 'on' in the console or output to a text file as you see fit.

The same the opposite direction:

If command off, switch relay off, set variable to 'off', print variable.

I would reccomend reading as many basic tutorials as you can find, even online videos.

How I did it, is set everything to individual text files, then create a master text file to display on the allsky - this was before the current method of overlay modules which we're testing at the moment, prior to release.

[BobW55]

@Jonk2
Basically how I figured out how to turn the relay on/off
Been googling python code examples. Beig that I did not write any of the PHP code used in the WEB UI it will be hard to figure out exactly where to add things in. I know when its all said and done it should only be a few lines of code.

[BobW55]

Figured out how to get 2 buttons on the systems page.
Now to figure out how to program them.

[BobW55]

OK Now lost. which line is the actual command to run the on/off program I have made in python?

<div style="margin-bottom: 15px">
						<button type="submit" class="btn btn-warning" name="system_reboot"/><i class="fa fa-power-off"></i> Reboot Raspberry Pi</button>
						<button type="submit" class="btn btn-warning" name="system_shutdown"/><i class="fa fa-plug"></i> Shutdown  Pi</button>
					 </div>

[EricClaeys]

@BobW55 see the WEBUI_DATA_FILES tutorial here for how to add buttons to the WebUI's "System" page to do exactly what you want. If you follow those instructions, clicking on the buttons will invoke the programs.

You need to be able to execute the commands from the command line, so will need to put this as the first line:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

The WEBUI_DATA_FILES tutorial should explain everything .

[BobW55]

I have read that.... Several times and just walked away even more confused.
I have 2 Files Off and ON that I can run from the command line. Always harder when you are trying to reverse engineer someone elses programming. I figured out how to place two additional buttons and label them. now just have to figure out how to code their actions.

[EricClaeys]

Where directory are the commands in, and what are their exact names?
What colors do you want the buttons to be?

[BobW55]

folder is in the root called dew-heater

allsky  allsky-modules  allsky-OLD  allsky-OLD1  dew-heater  grove.py
pi@allsky1:~ $

dewheater_status.txt  heat_OFF.py  heat_ON.py
pi@allsky1:~/dew-heater $

I want the buttons red and green I also am trying to learn how to have a variable so I can post the status (ON/OFF) on the page Im getting there.
using

https://www.w3schools.com/html/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_editors

so I can play with out damaging anything.

[BobW55]

Im getting there

[BobW55]

All righty..... I got them colored. No idea why the question mark.
Have to figure that out.
have to figure out how to have them run sudo /dew-heater/heat_ON.py or sudo /dew-heater/heat_OFF.py

[EricClaeys]

@BobW55 Bob,
Try the attached files. Unzip to /home/pi, then add this to config.sh:

WEBUI_DATA_FILES="/home/pi/dew-heater/dew_heater_buttons.txt:/home/pi/dew-heater/dewheater_status.txt"

Go to the "System" page in the WebUI and press the "Heater ON" and "Heater OFF" buttons.
You'll need to add your code to the two .py files. And if you want different icons, go to Font Awesome to find ones you like.

The advantage of using WEBUI_DATA_FILES over what you're currently using is that your setting will be preserved when you upgrade, and you don't need to change any Allsky code (which will be overwritten when you upgrade).

dew-heater.zip

[EricClaeys]

You'll probably need to add "sudo" to the dew_heater_buttons.txt file.

[BobW55]

I wasnt expecting you to do all that. Will take me the rest of the day to fogure it all out.
for the time being, things error out at the top of the page.

'/home/pi/dew-heater/heater_OFF.py' failed: sh: 1: /home/pi/dew-heater/heater_OFF.py: Permission denied

button Dew heater turned on sudo python /home/pi/dew-heater/heater_ON.py green circle-up Heater ON

I have also tried:

button Dew heater turned on sudo /home/pi/dew-heater/heater_ON.py green circle-up Heater ON

from the home/dew_heater/  directory and running it from the command line it works.

sudo python heater_OFF.py

Im still playing

[EricClaeys]

Coming up with the files for you gave me a chance to improve the documentation.

The first line of the python scripts is #!/usr/bin/python which tells Linux to run them using python so you can execute them with just sudo.

In Linux, files you want to execute have to be executeable:

chmod g+x heater_ON.py heater_OFF.py

And the status file needs to be writeable by the web server:

chmod g+w dewheater_status.txt
chgrp www-data dewheater_status.txt

[BobW55]

doesn't the # in

#!/usr/bin/python

make it a comment?

[BobW55]

now getting:

'sudo /home/pi/dew-heater/heater_ON.py' failed:
We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:

#1) Respect the privacy of others.
#2) Think before you type.
#3) With great power comes great responsibility.

sudo: a terminal is required to read the password; either use the -S option to read from standard input or configure an askpass helper
sudo: a password is required

I have tried the sudo -s option as well

[BobW55]

Have tried without and
sudo
sudo -S

[BobW55]

just to be clear, this is the code inside the file to turn the heater off

#!/usr/bin/python

# your code goes here
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setup(24,GPIO.OUT)
#print ("Heater OFF")
#GPIO.cleanup()
# next line has a tab
tab = "\t"
status = "OFF"
statusFile = "/home/pi/dew-heater/dewheater_status.txt"

with open(statusFile, 'w') as outfile:
    outfile.write("data")
    outfile.write(tab)
    outfile.write("0")      # change if you want a timeout
    outfile.write(tab)
    outfile.write("Dew heater status")
    outfile.write(tab)
    outfile.write(status)

[BobW55]

with no sudo I get this error
'/home/pi/dew-heater/heater_ON.py' failed: sh: 1: /home/pi/dew-heater/heater_ON.py: Permission denied

[BobW55]

Changed file permissions to exicutable.
now get this error.

'/home/pi/dew-heater/heater_ON.py' failed: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/pi/dew-heater/heater_ON.py", line 7, in
GPIO.setup(24,GPIO.OUT)
RuntimeError: Not running on a RPi!

[BobW55]

RuntimeError: Not running on a RPi!

Looks like a common but hard error to fix

[EricClaeys]

@BobW55 The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!
You could have it tell you how long the heater's been on or off and update every time you refresh the page. And add that info to the overlay...

Creating the "extra" file is really easy: just have your scripts write "VARIABLE=VALUE" to the file, e.g., HEATER_STATUS=ON.

I think the warning messages are pretty good and combined with the updated "Troubleshooting" section of the WEBUI_DATA_FILES documentation, it's pretty clear how to fix the problem.

[BobW55]

Ok working on the overlays.
I wrote (with nano editor) a dewheater_overlay.json file. I plan to use the buttons.py files to update the status. but the overlay is not picking up the file. I have added the ${dewheater} to the overlay. I tried restarting allsky, but that didn't help.
For the furure, would be easier to specify an overlay file to use, and have users add the variables to it. Right now looks like you could pull a variable from anywhere. I have dewheater status in several locations, but the overlay does not recconize them.
Maybe add a line to the config.sh that specifies the file and location.

dewheater_overlay.json

{
"dewheater": {
"value": "ON"
},

[EricClaeys]

Bob, if that's your dewheater_overy.json file, it's missing a }, which is likely the reason the overlay isn't picking it up. Look in /var/log/allsky.log for any error messages.
JSON files have an initial { and ending }, and stuff in between.

Could you expand on what you mean by "For the furure, would be easier to specify an overlay file to use, and have users add the variables to it" ? Specify the overlay file for what? For the overlay, or for the WEBUI_DATA_FILES file? Or something else?

Eric

[BobW55]

Could you expand on what you mean by "For the furure, would be easier to specify an overlay file to use, and have users add the variables to it" ? Specify the overlay file for what? For the overlay, or for the WEBUI_DATA_FILES file? Or something else
Just for the overlay.
add a section in the config.sh file that specifies the file that the ovelay will look in for user added variables.

WEB_UI_OVEARLAY="home/pi/overlay/userfile.txt" <-------- all user variables go here

It would just make it easier to look in one place for user added variables. be it a txt or json type file.

[EricClaeys]

The Overlay Module looks in /home/pi/allsky/tmp/extra for *.txt and *.json files and converts their contents to variables and values (possibly with attributes like color, font size, etc.) that can then be added to overlays via the Overlay Editor web page in the WebUI.
There can be a combination of *.txt and *.json files (with different structures).
Having a variable in config.sh that listed all those files would be a maintenance nightmare since the list of files can change. The Overlay Module doesn't care if the list changes - after every image is saved it looks in the "extra" directory for any files and processes them.

Some Allsky modules, like "Read Pi Status" gather information from various places and create/update files in the "extra" directory.
Users can write their own modules or use their own scripts (like yours) to create/update files there.

Keep in mind the overlay files are separate from the files for adding items to the WebUI Systems page, since they serve different purposes, although there can be some overlap.

[BobW55]

Fixed the json file (turned green) but allsky overlay is not picking up the data in it. stopped/started allsky did not help. does it need a reboot?

[EricClaeys]

Reboots rarely fix anything with Allsky software. Restarting Allsky does sometimes. Best bet is to look in /var/log/allsky.log for error messages.

[BobW55]

I have a simple json file dewheater_overlay.json

[
    { "dewheater": "OFF" }
]

The overlay editor does not pick up the file or it contents.
I have read through the instructions a zillion times. I fail to find how you tell allsky overlay to look at this file for a value.

[EricClaeys]

Try

{
  "dewheater" : "OFF"
}

[bikeDiavm]

That's a great idea! Adding a simple ON/OFF toggle in the allsky settings Tab of the WEB user interface would make it much easier for users to control the GPIO pins for a heater. It would also be nice to allow users to customize what they hook up to these pins, depending on their specific needs.

[BobW55]

It works great. Now if I can just get it to display the dewheater staus (ON/OFF) on the overlay

[EricClaeys]

@bikeDiavm Marty, users can easily do that themselves using the WEBUI_DATA_FILES setting in config.sh. They can add one or more buttons to the System page that execute a script (that they provide) to change pin states, or do anything they want.

[BobW55]

@EricClaeys
I owe you an apology!!!
After a good night sleep. I got the overlay working.
Having to put a file into allsky/tmp/extra I guess was not too clear to me .
Now that I pur a text file into that directory it works. Now to see if I can change the text color on the module depending on it being off or on.
I will try to have all my files properly commented so they could be shared by others.

[EricClaeys]

Bob, changing the color should be easy with a .json file. Whatever creates the file simply changes the font color depending on ON / OFF status then writes to the file.

[BobW55]

I figured it out. The overlay specifies its own color. I simply set up two different values in the overlay file. The overlay see these as two different values. so I can have a

${heater} for off and a ${dewheater} for on.

now I have text "Dew Heater Is in white and after that the on/off in what ever color the user selects in the overlay manager.
I did my best to comment all the files, and a quick readme.txt of what each file does. Where can I send you the zip file?

[EricClaeys]

Bob, you can attach it to Discord. You're Bobbo, right? I can then give you my email.

I made pretty major changes yesterday to the new documentation for overlays that should explain a lot of stuff.

[BobW55]

That maybe why I figured it out first thing thins morning. I kept telling myself there has to be a way for allsky to look for the user added stuff. Don't know how I missed the MUST be in the allsky/tmp/extra/ directory. I added such infor in the comments of the files.
Yes I am Bobbo.

[BobW55]

Found this confusing. you want the data file for overlay in the /allsky/tmp/extra/XXX folder. Yet you also state that on a reboot this directory is rebuilt. would this not wipe out the users data file?

This is an advanced topic that requires an understanding of the Linux file system and how to manage files within it. The [Linux Basics ](https://htmlpreview.github.io/?https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thomasjacquin/allsky/dev/htmlhttps://htmlpreview.github.io/?https://raw.githubusercontent.com/documentation/basics/Linux.html) page should provide the understanding you need.
You can have multiple "extra" files which reside in ~/allsky/tmp/extra and are used to create variables which can then be added to the overlay.

As an example, assume you want to add weather data to your images. You first need to create or obtain a program that gathers that data and writes it to a file. How you obtain that file is outside the scope of this documentation, but the program needs to write the data in a specific format in a file called ~/allsky/tmp/extra/xxxxx (replace the xxxxx with an appropriate name). This file can be either a simple .txt file or preferably a .json file since it provides much more flexibility.

**The tmp/extra directory will normally be re-created after every reboot so don't save anything there that needs to remain permanately.**

[EricClaeys]

Bob, the intent withe the "extra" data files is they are constantly being updated by some program the user provides, so after a reboot the program would start up and recreate the file, then update it at regular intervals.

There is no reason (that we are aware of) to save a permanent, static file there. Instead, you would simply add that information to the overlay manually with the Overlay Manager.

[BobW55]

Right now that is where I store a file for the status of the dewheater. since this maynot be updated for weeks to months.
How often does this run from the module manager?

[EricClaeys]

Bob, the Modular Manager has different events that tell it when to run a module:

• after every daytime picture,
• after every nighttime picture
• after the first picture of daytime (called "end of night" - eventually the startrails, keograms, and timelapse will be called here)
• after the first picture of nighttime (called "end of day")
• periodically per a schedule you set. This method is the only one not tied to when a picture is taken).

These are the items in the drop-down.

As you noticed, the "Allsky Script" module isn't in the Periodic list - Alex will need to fix that. You can then specify how often it runs.

This may be a situation we didn't consider, i.e., data files that don't change often so should remain in the "extra" directory all the time.
On the other hand, your scripts probably shouldn't assume the heater is in the same state after a reboot as it was in before the reboot, but instead should check and report the state after a reboot, which would recreate the "extra" file.

@Alex-developer, thoughts?

[BobW55]

Here is where I am at. I wrote a linux script that pulls a txt file from my weather station. It converts it and copies it to the
allsky/tmp/extra folder. Now I need a way to run the script every 10 minutes or so. I can add the the txt file that has the dew heater status to that script.

#! /bin/sh
# Delete current file
rm realtimegauges.txt
# Get weather text file from web
wget https://www.melvinweather.com/realtimegauges.txt
# Change permissions of text file
chmod 777 realtimegauges.txt
#replace the " with  nothing
sed -i 's/"//g' realtimegauges.txt
# replace the : with = sign.
sed -i 's/:/=/g' realtimegauges.txt
#Remove the trailing ,
sed -i 's/,//g' realtimegauges.txt
# Copy file to the allsky/tmp/extra/
cp realtimegauges.txt /home/pi/allsky/tmp/extra

I am wide open to suggestions on how to do this.

[BobW55]

Ok, solved the problem with the status of the dew heater on the overlay.
I added a copy the file over to the end of my script that pulls my weather station data.

[EricClaeys]

@BobW55 Bob,
Try this file. You'll need to remove the trailing .txt from the name and then chmod 755 getWeatherData.sh; feel free to rename it to whatever you want.
This script does what you posted above, but has some error checking (e.g., what happens if the 'wget' fails?) and replaces the multiple 'sed -i' commands with a single 'sed' command that makes all the changes at once, then redirects its output to the final file in the "extra" directory. It also removes the initial "{" and ending "}" from the file and fixes a problem where all ":" were replaced, even ones that were within a value.
I commented it a lot so you'd know what it was doing. Finally, I used a variable for the file name to make it easier to change in the future if needed.

getWeatherData.sh.txt

[secstwice]

New to the Allsky system but playing with it for various reasons. I noticed this discussion topic and thought I might add what I am doing. I have programmed in a few languages and am an electrician by trade so often play with PLC's etc. I was looking to set up a dew heater controller and also fan for cooling etc. I do a lot with Node-Red so installed it on the rpi 4 I am using for Allsky. I grab the temp of the rpi from using Node-Red and then for interest, send the data back to base using MQTT. My Allsky is going to be located some 40kms away from home in an open paddock so I wanted to keep an eye on the temp etc as it gets both extremely hot here and down to -10C as well. Using MQTT I can also pull in weather data etc. I can control GPIO pins via node-red as well and also read DS18b20 temp sensors. I run a few RPI's remotely for various reasons and use MQTT to keep an eye on them. I plan to use logic in Node-Red to turn fans on and off etc as well as dew heaters. I also send
data to my Things Stack (internet of things) and graph temps etc there

Hope this helps someone

[BobW55]

That is really top notch. I just went a simple route. I am new to programming, but very pleased with my results. WhenI realized I could pull down data from my weather station and use it to trigger my dew heaters. I added buttons to manually turn ON/OFF my dew heater or put it in automode.

[EricClaeys]

@secstwice Pretty fancy. I have a 4-pin fan whose speed is controlled by the CPU temperature. I used WEBUI_DATA_FILES to add the fan speed to the "Systems" page. My Pi is in the mountains of New Mexico so dew isn't an issue.

[secstwice]

Yes I kind over over do things but I love tinkering and after a while you run out of things to tinker with so you look for new challenges. I am not really into the sky etc but my partner has multiple personality disorder and has 25 and climbing alters. 5 of these are kids in age. The 3 year old loves using a camera so I needed a web cam for a weather page I host and found allsky. So thought I might combine all these things so our 3 year old persoanality/alter can be involved with the photo side of things. As for Node-Red I started this path as I have automated the house to assist my partner in day to day living. By using Node-Red on the Allsky RPI allows me to talk to aother things like Homeassistant,the weather station, drive the gpio pins on the raspberry pi etc but most importantly gives me a something to tinker with :-)

[Jsorace04]

Following, going to try and rig something like this up as well