This Alexa-Enabled Light Switch Takes a Physical Approach to IoT

If you buy a home assistant, like an Amazon Echo or Google Home, the first thing you’ll probably do is setup light control. It’s convenient to simply say “Alexa, turn off the bedroom lights” after you’re already nice and cozy in your bed. That usually requires some IoT smart plugs or light bulbs. But, over on the YouTube channel Super Make Something, they’ve taken a more physical approach to IoT lights.

In short, they built an IoT servo-operated plate that mechanically flips a light switch. That’s obviously more complicated than a simple IoT bulb or smart plug, but it does offer one major advantage. In a room with multiple built-in light fixtures controlled by a single switch, you’d normally have to buy a whole set of smart bulbs or rewire your lights with an IoT relay. This setup lets you control all of those lights with a single inexpensive device, and is perfect for those of you who rent your home.

The brain of this mechanical smart switch is a NodeMCU ESP8266, which you can find for just a few dollars. That runs on battery power and controls a small hobby servo motor, which flips the switch using a 3D-printed rack and pinion gear mechanism. It utilizes the fauxmoESP software library and emulates a Phillips Hue smart bulb in order to work with Amazon Alexa. After setup, the device can be configured like any other Phillips Hue smart bulb so you can use simple voice commands to control the switch.