Chicken Coop Management

Automation/reminder system for a backyard chicken coop.

Network Actors

• ESP32
• Google Services
• Humans
• Flock

System Tasks

ESP32

• Automatically open/close the run door (unless human sets it to manual mode)
• Track door status (with human input in manual)
• Send POST requests to Google Cloud Services (if enabled)

Google Services

• Sends out reminder at sunrise to open coop
  • Provides options: just the run (if run door is in manual mode) OR the run + front door
  • Asks for confirmation 15 min after 1st reminder
• Sends out reminder at sunset to close up coop
  • Asks for confirmation 15 min after 1st reminder
  • Sends out more urgent reminder 1 hour after 1st reminder
• Listen for updates from ESP32
• Tracks cleaning schedule? (future)

Humans

Opening (Day)

• Open run door
• Uncap food bin by UNSCREWING lids
• Check food + water levels, replenish if needed
• Check for eggs
• (doesn't need to happen every day) Open main door to let them out in yard

Locking Up (Night)

• Close run door
• Cap food bin and pour tray food back into the bin
• Close the run access gate
• (if a yard day) Close main door

Maintenance (schedule TBD)

• Clean poop from roosts/floor
• Clean run
• Replace water in pool
• Replace bedding
• Winterproof with cardboard

Flock

• Lay eggs
• Eat food and drink water

Web Integrations

EXISTING:

• NTP date/time
• Sunrise-sunset
• Google Apps Script
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Sheets IN PROGRESS: POSSIBLE:
• Discord bot?

Hardware

• ESP32 (SparkFun ESP32 Thing)
• Motor for auto run door
• 2 press buttons (door up / door down)
• button to toggle manual/auto run door

ESP Status Codes

Category Assc. Variables Broadcast Change? (code) WS Google

door (d) doorStatus y d y = yes always motorOn d = debug only motorDir x = never control (c) autoMode y y motor time (m) motorInterval_open y y motorInterval_close auto-offset (e) offset_open y y offset_close flock (f) flockStatus y y google (g) googleEnabled y y state (s) state d d time (t) time y x day-night (n) sunrise/sunset y x date

ESP32-Client Communications

(Messages sent over WebSocket) Client sends ESP sends Context

open (o) Client clicked "open" button opening [##] close (c) Client clicked "close" button closing [##] stop (h) set-open (so) open set-close (sc) closed manual (a) control [AUTO/MANUAL] google (g) google [ON/OFF] m[o/c] [##] (m) Client adjusted motor interval time m[o/c] [##] e[o/c] [##] Client adjusted offset auto open/close time e[o/c] [##] time: [HH:MM AM/PM] ESP updates client with time data date: [MM/DD/YYYY] sunrise/sunset: [time/time]

ESP32-Google Communications

(ESP sends HTTP POST requests to a Google web app) ESP sends Google response

c[a/m] control mode: switches calendar events to auto/manual f[c/r/y] ### logs the change in flock status with IP address [other data] logs the message in a spreadsheet

References

• Relevant project with outdoor automation and Google calendar - https://www.instructables.com/id/Irrigation-Using-Google-Calendar/
• Using NTP date-time with ESP32 Arduino - https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp32-date-time-ntp-client-server-arduino/
• HTTP GET and POST requests with ESP32 Arduino - https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp32-http-get-post-arduino/
• Library for motor control - https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun_TB6612FNG_Arduino_Library
• Tutorial for using Google script - https://www.dfrobot.com/blog-917.html
• Google Apps Script reference - https://developers.google.com/apps-script
• Date class (Javascript) reference - https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date
• https://medium.com/@dtkatz/3-ways-to-fix-the-cors-error-and-how-access-control-allow-origin-works-d97d55946d9