[Tutorial] Easy IoT: How To Create A Do-Not-Disturb Light For Your Home Office

Introduction

This article is part of a series to show how to easily get into IoT using Gravio in a low code environment. Every article builds on a different use case which anyone may encounter daily and how Gravio turns a normal space into an interactive one, in this case, your home office!

Working from home can be challenging especially when you have the entire family at home with you. Being interrupted during meetings, people walking in behind you during conference/video calls is something all of us would have experienced since working remotely more often in the past couple of years. So why not have a Do-Not-Disturb solution to notify your loved ones that a meeting is in session.

Approach

tldr; we are creating a simple notification system using an Aqara Button and Gravio Light for a home office that allows family members to know when a meeting is in session to prevent random disturbances throughout the day.

We’re using the Gravio Light and Aqara Button because: we want to show how easy it is to get started in IoT with a low code environment, and without the need for an internet connection.

We’ll be sharing other examples of ‘Easy IoT’ in future posts, follow us on Twitter or join our Gravio Slack community to find out when.

Tutorial

Requirements

• Gravio HubKit setup - the Gravio Edge server
• Gravio Studio installed (available on MacOS and Windows)
• Gravio Basic account - sign up here 
• Devices: 1x Aqara Button, 1x Gravio Light, 1x Gravio Dongle 

OR 1x Gravio Hub (Standard Tier required to rent Gravio Hub)

• Devices to be paired and layers to be set up in Gravio Studio - setup info here

Steps

Part 1: Setting up Devices

Step 1:

Log in to Gravio Studio and select the Devices view.

Note: If you know how to pair devices or have already paired the devices in Gravio Studio, skip to Part 2.

Step 2:

Start the pairing process by clicking on the ‘Start Pairing’ button. Then, press the pairing button on the Aqara Button or Gravio Light. Hold the pairing button for 5s and let go. When the pairing is successful, you will see the device paired listed in the device list. Repeat step 2 to pair more devices in Gravio Studio.

Part 2: Creating Areas and Layers

Step 1:

Now that we have paired our devices, we need to create an area and layers. 

Note: If you know how to create areas and layers, please skip to part 3.

*Areas represent the physical space you are monitoring and Layers represent the sensor being binded to retrieve data from.

At the main page you can:

1. Add a new Area
2. Add a new Layer
3. Bind the sensor device to the layer

For this project, I have named the Area ‘Home Office’ as that is where the sensors will be located.

Step 2:

Create your layer by clicking on the 3 dots on the top navigation bar. Then select the appropriate layers and bind the device to the created layer.

Step 3:

Please make sure the device bound to the Layer checkbox is checked. This determines whether we would like the sensor data to be streamed into Gravio Studio.

Part 3: Creating Actions

Step 1:

The next step is to create the Actions and Triggers to complete the application. Go into the Actions page and create a new Action. For this project, we will need to create 2 Actions:

1. Gravio Light Red
2. Gravio Light Off

This is because we need to have 1 Action for “On-Air” and 1 for “Off-Air”.

Tip: Labelling the Actions according to the intent of what it should do, helps with organizing other Actions in the future!

Step 2:

In the Action editor, you can add various components to create a chain of sequences to eventually build a ‘micro program’. We will be using only the Gravio Light component to build this Action.

Let us add it in this sequence:

1. Gravio Light

We will also need to input the right properties in each component. It should turn out something like this.

Step 3:

Inputting Gravio Light properties:

1. Base Property - None
2. Physical Device ID - can be found in Device List
3. On - Make sure checkbox is checked
4. Color - Red (Feel free to use other colors)
5. Brightness - 100

This component will now ensure that Gravio Light turns Red.

Press the ‘Play’ button to check for any errors, if successful, the Gravio Light will turn Red. Now that we have successfully created an Action, let us move on to Triggers.

Repeat Steps 1 to 3 in this Part to create another Action for “Gravio Light Off”.

Part 3: Creating Triggers

Step 1:

In your home page, look for the ‘Trigger’ tab. In it you can add a new Trigger by selecting the ‘+’ icon.

Step 2:

Configure the Trigger by

1. Selecting an appropriate name
2. Selecting the right Conditions

1. Area: Home Office (or your Area name)
2. Key Layer: Button (or your Layer button name)
3. Physical Device ID: Checked
4. Button Press: Any Value

1. Selecting the Action to run

1. Action: LED Matrix Display (or your Action name)

Step 3:

After saving, remember to turn on your Trigger by ticking the checkbox. Now, your Trigger and Action is ready!

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Summary

As simple as this project is, the effectiveness of the solution helps solve some challenges we may face on a daily basis in the new normal. This can be easily achieved using Gravio within minutes without writing a code completely from scratch. A key feature to note is that this can work completely without being connected to the internet! There are also various ways this solution can be implemented in offices or even remote working booths. Single press to occupy the booth and double press to release the booth. We certainly hope this has got some of your brain juices flowing and hopefully in the future, apply a similar concept in a different environment.

For some bonus points, you could also use the Twilio SMS/Line/MSTeams component in Actions to send messages to your family members when you press the button. This will add more elements to the overall notification system, creating new experiences. See you in our next instalment!