Episode

The Maker Show: Episode 21 - Building an iOS app for your Garage

In this episode of The Maker Show, we'll make an internet-connected garage app, GarageOS. We'll start by controlling the doors remotely using a relay and a Particle Photon. Then, we'll build a way to read if the door is open or closed with a magnetic reed switch. Third, we'll build a way to measure parking distance for cars parking in the garage with an ultrasonic ping sensor. This way you don't need to hang a tennis ball in your garage! Finally, we'll wrap it all up in an iOS app using Swift, so we can control our garage and know what's going on from anywhere on the planet.

If you're looking for some practical IoT projects to hack your home, this one is fairly approachable. All the code for the app, firmware and schematic are shared below. Enjoy.

Generic Episode Image

Outline

[00:00] - Teaser
[01:12] - Hardware
[03:08] - Step 1: Open the door
[04:40] - Step 2: Read the door status
[05:56] - Step 3: Read the parking distance
[08:14] - Step 4: Build the firmware

[12:07] - Step 5: Build the iOS app

[16:51] - Bonus: Microsoft Band app

[18:01] - Recap

Things used in the project

Particle Photon
Particle Relay Shield
5mm Common Cathode RGB LED
5 dB Antenna
Magnetic Reed Switch
Strong Disc Magnet
HC-SR04 Ultrasonic ping sensor

Schematic

Schematic

Code

http://github.com/dwcares/garageos