Published October 12, 2017 © GPL3+

Emergency-Button

Get help, in case of danger.

BeginnerFull instructions provided1 hour1,629

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Electron

Adafruit Massive Arcade Button with LED - 100mm Red

LED (generic)

change with the original

Resistor 475 ohm

change with the original

Resistor 10k ohm

pull-down from D1 to GND

Jumper wires (generic)

4 pieces

USB-A to Micro-USB Cable

powering the Particle Photon

3.7 V LiPo Battery

LiPo-Battery in case of power backup

Software apps and online services

IFTTT Maker service

for signaling

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)

Story

Overview

My father has been blind for years, and just like my mother is already in his old age. With the years of a senior, the danger increases in the daily solitude of the one thing or another thing to overlook. It threatens a fall and panics: what is now to be done? Is the hospital car called or can the familiar situation of a family member, a friend or a neighbors manage the situation again and again?

My parents have no Internet access (which is actually) and are not used to dealing with smartphones (the numbers can be found bad).

A solution: "Press the big button and I will call you immediately!"

The idea was born, the shopping list ordered and a similar project found for the adaptation.

Enclosure with button, Microswitch in the middle and antenna with LiPo

The implementation was carried out using a Spark Cores and wired up with crocodile clips, in order to be able to transmit the firmware updates via WiFi. As it turned out, the pin D0 had a crack and (my own Core) did not work. Details you can read here.

With the use of the Electron I am not dependent on WiFi in the house of my parents and can trigger a signaling using the IFTTT service in conjunction with the Particle Cloud:

New event published

This Trigger fires when an interesting event comes from a particular device. Send events using Particle.publish.

Particle.publish("Emergency-Button", "Button pressed!", PRIVATE);

The result within the log of the Particle Cloud:

For technical implementation, these points must be observed:

first focus on the micro switch: the colored side is plus.

replace the original LED with a 12V voltage resistor through another LED with a soldered 470 Ohm.

Areas of application can also arise in the own household: the cook no longer calls through the house that the meal is directed, but informs the family via the button. The toddler is afraid of the dark in the children's room and may not fall asleep: here the button can serve as a steady light source. In this case wire the internal LED to VIN and put D4 from Electron to 3.3V = light always on and powered via USB and LiPo Battery.

change the wire to power the internal LED always on

Conclusions

I recommend the 3D housing from the adaptation: it has the size 100 x 60 mm and takes the Microswitch (which is quite long with its screw thread) completely. I have an Enclosure for around 20 euros about the 3DHubs service to make ready and come in the end to a sum of about 110 euros (70 euro electron, 10 euro LiPo battery and 10 euro button).

Not too expensive when it comes to your own parents, right?

Update 25.10.2017

Today we visited my parents near Marburg / Lahn, Germany and explained to my parents the "Emergency Button". It now has a place in the kitchen and is permanently powered by the USB charger.

Button works

Schematics

Code

Version 1.0

// 10 cm Arcade Button from Adafruit: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1185 - Switch is N/O (= normaly open)
// Ingo Lohs, v1.0 v. 05.10.2017
// Projekt, um Senioren die Option zu geben, eine Signalisierung über die Particle Cloud abzusetzen
// Signalisierung erfolgt via IFTTT an Empfänger bei Trigger des Events
// zum Test sind Kroko-Stecker mit 10k resistor an D1 zu GND angeschlossen; der Original LED Widerstand wurde durch 470 ohm ausgetauscht
// im Einsatz ist ein Spark Core (mit defektem D0), https://community.particle.io/t/arcade-button-with-electron/36496/17

/* Wiring:
    a.) A connection from D1 (with the 10K pull-down from D1 to GND) to one side of the switch.
    b.) A connection from 3V3 to the other side of the switch
    c.) A connection from GND to the LED cathode (- side)
    d.) A connection from 3V3 to the LED anode (+ side), assuming the 470 ohm resistor is inside the assembly (change the original resistor and solder this one!)
*/

// If you only want the LED light up on button press, you can wire it in series with the button (put the LED anode also in D1): no µC needed for that.

const int BUTTON_PIN = D1;
const int internalLED = D7;
const int LED_PIN = D4;
bool wasPressed = false;

void setup() {
    pinMode(BUTTON_PIN, INPUT); // not in use: INPUT_PULLUP
    pinMode(internalLED, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
    
    bool pressed = digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN);
    if (pressed == HIGH && wasPressed == false)     
    
    {
        
        digitalWrite(internalLED, HIGH);
        delay(1000);
        digitalWrite(internalLED, LOW);
        
        Particle.publish("Emergency-Button", "Button pressed!", PRIVATE);
        //Serial.println(">>>pressed<<<");
        digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH);
        delay(250);
        digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW);
        delay(250);
        digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH);
        delay(250);
        digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW);
    
    }
    
    wasPressed = pressed;
    delay(250);
    //Serial.println("not pressed");
}

Credits

Ingo Lohs

182 projects • 194 followers

I am well over 50 years and come from the middle of Germany.