“Hey google, open the chicken door”

[olayak]

Now I totally want a coop camera and Google home activated door! Sounds like fun! I love playing with technology. You can always get second hand parts to cut costs. But really, if done right it's more about programming so it may be time consuming but shouldn't be too expensive.

 

[aart]

but shouldn't be too expensive.

If you already can afford the phone and service.

 

[olayak]

I've seen solar powered wifi cameras on Amazon for $99

 

[schmidty13]

I am really interested in this tech side of chicken keeping. However, I live in northern North Dakota. Winters cant get quite cold. Does anyone know how the bitter cold will affect a Raspberry Pi? Or the any of the other electronics needed for door openers and cameras?

 

[jthornton]

I am really interested in this tech side of chicken keeping. However, I live in northern North Dakota. Winters cant get quite cold. Does anyone know how the bitter cold will affect a Raspberry Pi? Or the any of the other electronics needed for door openers and cameras?

Electronic stuff just loves the bitter cold. My Raspberry Pi has functioned flawlessly down to 0°F. If you need any help programming the Raspberry Pi 3 hop over to my chicken coop door automation thread.

JT

 

[zimirken]

A pi is super overkill for what your average coop needs. The learning curve is also higher than arduino IMO. Oh, and about the arduino freezing up, the ESP family all have software and hardware watchdog timers that reset them if they freeze up.

I got my ip camera from aliexpress for $15. However, I didn't realize it was ethernet only, so I had to use a router as a wireless bridge. The wifi versions are only a few dollars more though.

 

[jthornton]

While the pi is overkill for a coop it is much more stable with more robust inputs and outputs than any arduino or clone. I spent a year messing with arduino's, ESP8266's and the like and once I tried the Raspberry Pi 3 B I swore I'd never go back to all those flaky things. As for a learning curve I found the pi much easier but YMMV. One super duper advantage to the Raspberry Pi is you can SSH (Secure Socket Shell, is a way to access a remote computer) into the pi from anywhere on your LAN and check the program and or change it... try that with an arduino or clone. Another advantage to a pi is you can plug a monitor, keyboard and mouse in and it's a desktop PC! And then you can get a terminal block that just plugs into the Raspberry Pi 3 B to make your connections... oh I forgot you can also have an OLED or LCD connected to the pi at the same time as other things like temperature probes, humidity things etc. Oh yea you can plug a camera into the pi as well... and having a drawer full of arduino's and various clones spending $40 for a Raspberry Pi 3 B is cheap.

JT

 

[zimirken]

I finally finished a short write up of my setup.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-fence-charger-using-esp8266-and-blynk.74476/

 

[Mouthpear]

Has anyone made this happen yet? We are in the process of building a new coop with an automatic pop door, and I really want to be able to operate it from my iPhone. I know this should be possible, but haven’t figured out the best way to do it yet.... anyone out there already got it set up?

Yes. With the eWeLink and google home you can do it.

Also the free eWeLink app lets you use a single cell phone as a webcam. The paid eWeLink app, only 9.99 per year, will let you use up 5 phones. So it you have any old cell phone with cameras you can use them. I have a few of them in a box and 3 of them were still able to be used.

 

[Mouthpear]

Has anyone made this happen yet? We are in the process of building a new coop with an automatic pop door, and I really want to be able to operate it from my iPhone. I know this should be possible, but haven’t figured out the best way to do it yet.... anyone out there already got it set up?

Well If you only want to automate the door and maybe some lights (on/off) and maybe a feeder, then all you really need is a SONOFF 4CHPROR3. It can be used to open and close at sunrise and sunset but also be controlled by remote. Via RF remote, Phone or PC.

I have mentioned it here and here.

As for Arduino and Pi they are good if you have more than simple actions like counting egg and tracking the chickens. Each have their good and bad aspects. The main one is the learning curve. takes a lot of time coding. I have a few setups using Arduinos for more complex door/coop projects.