More than once a maker has wanted a thing, only to find it more economical to build it themselves. When your domicile has massive windows, closing what can feel like a mile of blinds becomes a trial every afternoon — or every time you sit down for a movie. [Kyle Stewart-Frantz] had enough of that and automated his blinds.
After taking down and dismantling his existing roller blinds, he rebuilt it using 1-1/4 in EMT conduit for the blinds’ roll to mount a 12V electric shade kit within — the key part: the motor is remote controlled. Fitting it inside the conduit takes a bit of hacking and smashing if you don’t want to or can’t 3D print specific parts. Reattaching the roller blind also takes a fair bit of precision lest they unroll crooked every time. He advises a quick test and fit to the window before moving on to calibrating and linking all your blinds to one remote — unless you want a different headache.
Now, to get Alexa to do your bidding.
[Stewart-Frantz] is using an RM Pro as the middleman, capable of controlling RF and IR receptive devices, and an Android box. He describes the process he used to connect the devices to the Alexa service, and customizing it to suit his chosen commands. In the end, all he has to do is speak and the blinds do his bidding.
At a total cost of $767, we’d say that’s a pretty good deal. There are other ways to hack together automated blinds, but sometimes you just want to ask Alexa about planes.
Filed under: home hacks, how-to
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