Mastodawn

I would like #homeassistant to alert me if I have forgotten to take out the trash. First thought is a proximity sensor of some sort. Or just anything where I can detect that my trash can has moved the ten or so meters away from my house to the road (there are multiple trash cans on different schedules). A sensor that does nothing except report signal strength might also work.

Any good ideas?

Mark Gjøl Mar 10

Maybe a light sensor behind the trash can. When needed I turn on a light, wait a few minutes (because things are not instant) see if the light has been detected and notify if not... I do have a Govee light chain around the trash cans I could use.

Tomi the Slav and 1024 others Mar 10

@Gjoel bad idea: any esp32 can report wifi signal strength. Overengineer it with a solar cell and a battery.

Stu KZ4LN Mar 10

@Gjoel Are the cans stored in a climate controlled location? You could also potentially use those ultrasound distance sensors, assuming you always store the bins in the same location. If you're handy with ESPHome, that would be a viable alternative to consider.

Mark Gjøl Mar 10

@KZ4LN they are outside. Also, the trash bin is handled rather roughly when emptied... Perhaps an optical sensor could be used, like what they use for the gates in super markets? Line of sight to a reflective surface sort of thing. Is that an option?

Stu KZ4LN Mar 10

@Gjoel https://esphome.io/components/sensor/ultrasonic/ I was picturing something like this, mounted on a wall behind where the bins are stored. It does not require any special reflective surface for the bin, and since it stays on the house, rough handling of the bin is a non-issue. However weather is, hence leading with that constraint.

Ultrasonic Distance Sensor

Instructions for setting up ultrasonic distance measurement sensors in ESPHome.

ESPHome - Smart Home Made Simple

Mark Gjøl Mar 10

@KZ4LN Yes, the sensor would have to withstand moisture, even if I could shield it from direct rain. That's a very good idea though!

Kevin Morin Mar 10

@Gjoel Maybe a vibration sensor? If it did not detect long vibrations during the day, it means that the trash has not been taken out? Or a NFC tag that you could scan when you take the trash out (it is cheaper and nobody can steel the tag, but you have to do something, it is less automated)?

Mark Gjøl Mar 10

@kmorin There are a couple of solutions of varying viability (and utility)...

NFC: Yes, but I don't like the manual part. Having to bring up a phone won't be easy to sell to the wife.
Vibration sensor: Maybe. At least if I tune the threshold just right it might be a good indicator. Of course, then I could probably also just use signal strength.
Door sensor: It would have to accept a rather long distance, since I won't be placing the bins the exact same place.
Infrared LoS sensor: Probably needs continuous power, even if I actually only need it to fire once every other week at a set time.

Anything big attached to the bin would have to be very securely attached due to the manner in which they empty them (the truck bangs them a few times to get everything out). And of course, Everything is located outside, so that's another fun challenge.

Matthieu Oostveen Mar 10

@Gjoel don’t know of it’s a good idea, but could an AirTag-alike device work for this purpose?

Mark Gjøl Mar 10

@moostveen I don't have much experience with those. I'm guess a phone nearby would inform me that the tag is now located near my road, rather than near my house? Maaaaybe...

Martin Schultz Mar 10

@Gjoel place a zigbee Aeotec window sensor under the trashcan. If it’s connected on trash day send a notification.

Mark Gjøl Mar 10

@mshdk But that would require me to park my trash can very carefully to align it with the sensor, no? I can park them more or less the same place, but it's hardly within 1cm each time...

@Gjoel iBeacon on the can plus an ESP32 to measure the distance.

Mark Gjøl Mar 11

@morph That sounds very interesting. Do you know a place to start? I have yet to start fiddling with esp32 so of course it's strange and dangerous!

@Gjoel Unfortunately not. But there seem to be some ESP32 based projects around.

Mark Gjøl Mar 11

@morph Ok, jumping down the rabbit hole. Thanks for the suggestion!

Corey Edwards Mar 13

@Gjoel @morph This is what I did and it worked ok with a few quirks. I have multiple ESP32 BT sensors so the distance fluctuated, depending on which ESP32 was measuring. And the beacon was not as weatherproof as I hoped, so it rusted out and is now ruined. But it worked well until then.