LIFX Light Switch

 

I wanted to share with you a project that I've been working on to create a light switch that will activate different scenes.  I call it the "In-Law switch"

 

The lights were given to me a Christmas present to be used in our media room in the basement.  I think they are great and my wife has learned to like them, but we both had one large issue.  The room also served as part our guest room and it's such a pain trying to explain to guests that the only way to control the lights is to download an app onto their smart phone. 

 

I decided to embark along a project to create a light switch unlike anything else I could fine on line, but resembled light switches you see in conference rooms of offices that have multiple presets.   The final solution has eight different buttons that each activate a different scene.  The software is running on a raspberry PI server that uses a combination of a python/ksh script to control the lights. 

 

Here are the parts I roughly used

 

Raspberry PI Kit

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G1PNG54?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00 Note: DidnÕt really need the kit in the final solution, but it helped with prototyping

 

8 Switches

https://www.adafruit.com/products/481 I went through a few too many switches as I learned to solder.

Soldering Iron

 

16mm Drill Bit

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G9TUMWC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00.  Note: My drill wasnÕt large enough for this bit so I was able to get someone else to drill the holes using the bit

 

Cat 5 cable

GOOD Cable.  I purchased some cheep cable on amazon that was a joke.  You need 4 strands for each button.  I used blue and orange pairs and ignored green and brown

Metal electrical Plate without any holes

 

Wire ties

 

Drywall Mounting Bracket

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UEAJWU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

IDE to Screw Terminals

https://www.winford.com/products/brk2x20.php

 

The software:  A combination of python and ksh running on raspberry pi.  When a button is pushed, all the lights on the other buttons go off for the duration of call to the cloud.  A curl command is called to activate the selected scene before turning on the other individual button lights at the conclusion of the call.  Let me know if you would like a copy of the software.  A second script scans once a minute to see if the lights are powered on or off and will turn off(or on) the LED lights around the switches if the lights are not reachable.,