Building Smart Homes with Raspberry Pi Zero

Book excerpt: Build revolutionary and incredibly useful home automation projects with the all-new Pi Zero About This Book Create and program home automation projects using the Raspberry Pi Zero board Connect your Raspberry Pi Zero to a cloud API, and then build a cloud dashboard to control your devices Integrate all the projects into a complex project to automate key aspects of your home: data monitoring, devices control, and security Who This Book Is For This book is for enthusiasts and programmers who want to build powerful and inexpensive home automation projects using the Raspberry Pi zero, and to transform their home into a smart home. It is for those who are new to the field of home automation, or who already have experience with other platforms such as Arduino. What You Will Learn Learn how to measure and store data using the Raspberry Pi Zero board Control LED lights, lamps, and other electrical applications Send automated notifications by e-mail, SMS, or push notifications Connect motion detectors, cameras, and alarms Create automated alerts using Raspberry Pi Zero boards Control devices using cloud-based services Build a complete home automation system using Pi Zero In Detail The release of the Raspberry Pi Zero has completely amazed the tech community. With the price, form factor, and being high on utility—the Raspberry Pi Zero is the perfect companion to support home automation projects and makes IoT even more accessible. With this book, you will be able to create and program home automation projects using the Raspberry Pi Zero board. The book will teach you how to build a thermostat that will automatically regulate the temperature in your home. Another important topic in home automation is controlling electrical appliances, and you will learn how to control LED Lights, lamps, and other electrical applications. Moving on, we will build a smart energy meter that can measure the power of the appliance, and you'll learn how to switch it on and off. You'll also see how to build simple security system, composed of alarms, a security camera, and motion detectors. At the end, you will integrate everything what you learned so far into a more complex project to automate the key aspects of your home. By the end, you will have deepened your knowledge of the Raspberry Pi Zero, and will know how to build autonomous home automation projects. Style and approach This book takes a step-by-step approach to automate your home like never before!