When in college I lived in an apartment that I had filled with smart devices. Naturally I wanted all the lights to be controlled by Alexa as it is extremely powerful and convenient. I could not connect the ceiling fan to Alexa without replacing the entire light switch with a smart alternative. Since I was renting this apartment this was not an option. This birthed the idea of a renter safe smart light switch alternative that used existing hardware.
I had a Particle argon sitting around from another project and decided that this would a perfect use for it. I got the Argon and SG90 servo hooked up to breadboard and started to experiment with pins.
Once I had solidified the pins that I would be using I got to work soldering the connections to make them permanent. The main power to the servo goes to the 3v3 pin, the ground from the servo goes to the ground pin and the data goes to the A3 pin. (any A pin will work).
After laying out the components and finding a final layout I hopped into CAD to create an enclosure. The bottom half of the enclosure pictured above features two spots for threaded inserts, the hole for the switch to protrude through, standoffs for the main board, a servo enclosure and two mounting holes spaced perfectly for the screws used on the switch plate.
After printing the bottom half I used a soldering iron to place the m2 threaded inserts.
The argon could then be slipped over the two standoffs on the bottom and bolted in the threaded inserts.
The cables could also be coiled underneath and the servo snapped into place.
A quick test of fitment guaranteed the placement.
Next, I designed the crank slider mechanism that would be responsible for turning that rotational motion into linear motion. This is just a simple box that is constrained linearly with an arm that connects it to the servo.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/aUicB5ngRSwr1sTF7
The Link above is a video that shows the simple movement of the box used to flick the switch.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1SMUegjrCFcdiUX4A
After the linkage was attached it was time to test the device which is seen in the video linked above.
With all the electronics connected and working it was time to print a press fit cover plate. This was not too complicated, just extruding the existing geometry in the opposite direction.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kofsWTxTPU3prqxq9
The video above shows the device mounted to a lightswitch and working perfectly.
With the cover plate on the device is complete and can be connected to the cloud through Particle's Alexa skill in the cloud.
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