DIY Motorized WiFi Roller Blind - ESP8266 & Blynk

In this project we will see how to control a roller blind via a smartphone application. The reason why I realized the project was to use a roller blind to change the background in the video footage and to be able to easily control the roller blind via my smartphone. In this project, a breadboard circuit is shown for basic readers and a printed circuit board circuit for users who want a more useful prototype. Check out the video to see how it works...

How It Works?

As can be seen in the video showing the step-by-step construction of the project, I can easily open and close the roller blind on my wall using my smartphone. Of course, you can use this project to wirelessly control the roller blinds on your windows. A WiFi microcontroller was used to provide wireless communication, a stepper motor to provide move, and an application called Blynk was used.

Required Hardware and Components

First of all, we need some 3D parts to be used like providing roller blind movement. We talked about 3D parts in the next step. In this section, we listed what we should use as hardware for electronic components and mechanisms:

• Wemos D1 Mini WiFi board was used to provide motor movements wirelessly and programming: https://amzn.to/3mF4xZv
• Hobby stepper motor 28BJY-48 and driver ULN2003 was used to movement the roller blind up and down: https://amzn.to/3xKkGTY
• A 608zz bearing was used to ensure the smooth movement of the gear required for the roller blind: https://amzn.to/3QsmdW2
• A mini breadboard was used to build the circuit: https://amzn.to/3NJ5FY7
• Several jumper wires were used to provide the pin connections: https://amzn.to/3tveigJ
• A 9V adapter was used to power the circuit: https://amzn.to/3QciTOJ
• L7805 voltage regulator was used as 5V is required for the microcontroller: https://amzn.to/3twf50S
• A few capacitors are needed for the voltage regulator: https://amzn.to/3ObRACk
• Finally a few screws are needed for assembly: https://amzn.to/3tyciUV

A few extra components are needed for the printed circuit board prototype, mentioned these components in the PCB step.

3D Parts

The 3D parts shared below are needed for the roller blind mechanism. I recommend printing the gears at high-quality settings, while you can print the other parts at normal-quality. Then assemble the 3D parts as shown in the images or video.

Breadboard Circuit

I've built a breadboard circuit for beginner readers. So you can easily build the circuit with jumpers following the shared circuit diagram. The pins used in the microcontroller are specified in the circuit diagram. The point to be noted here is to directly connect the 9V power output to the ULN2003 driver and to use the L7805 voltage regulator 5V power output for the microcontroller.

Printed Circuit Board

I designed a printed circuit board for those who want a professional prototype. Thank you PCBWay for support and sponsorship in ordering the printed circuit board. For high-quality PCBs, you can choose PCBWay. If you want to get this printed circuit board easily, you can download the PCB Gerber file from the link below or order it directly.

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Motorized_WiFi_Roller_Blind_ESP8266.html

If you look at the bill of material (BOM), easily solderable components were preferred, so you can easily assembly your printed circuit board by following the circuit diagram designator.

Externally you need 3 more components for the printed circuit board:

• Female Header
• Male Header
• Power Jack

Create Template Using Blynk

Blynk, a popular developer application, was used to control the roller blind mechanism wirelessly via WiFi. You can see how to create a Blynk template step-by-step by following the images or video. Basically go to Blynk from the link below and create a template via web browser. The template is based on ESP8266 and consists of two switches. Then you need to install the Blynk application on your smartphone to use the created template with smartphone. Thus, you can wirelessly control your roller blind via both a web browser and an app. Blynk will provide you with a unique token, copy this token and enter it in the next step "Source Code".

https://blynk.io/

Source Code

If you are going to program an ESP8266 for the first time, first download the Arduino IDE from the link below:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

Then by following images or video add json package link for ESP8266 and install ESP8266 using Board Manager.

http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json

If you need more details follow the instructions at the link below:

http://arduino.esp8266.com/Arduino/versions/2.0.0/doc/installing.html

The library is needed for the Blynk application, again by following the shared images or video, install the Blynk library. Finally, download the shared source code and update the Blynk values contained in the code with the unique values provided for you. Fill in the SSID and Password required for WiFi. Update the ROLLERTIME for the timing required for the roller blind movement (time required for open and closed position). If everything is ok, upload the source code to Wemos D1 Mini.

Assembly

In the last step, fix the 3D mechanism to the roller blind profile with two screws. The mechanism is suitable for different roller blind profile widths. It can also be installed for both ceiling and wall. Optionally assemble the circuit box created for the circuit and everything is ready... Now it's time to movements it! Thanks for reading this article, if you have any questions please leave a comment.