How to switch buzzer on if ultrasonic sensor value is less than x for y minutes within 1 hour

[kankadev (Akay Berk | kanka.dev)]

Hi,

I’m new to Home Assistant, ESP8266 and ESPHome. I have connected an ultrasonic sensor “HC-SR04” and a 2-pin-buzzer to my ESP8266. I can see correct values in the dashboard. The buzzer works, too.

But how can I use both in an automation?

First of all the config:

esphome:
  name: esp8266-ezig

esp8266:
  board: nodemcuv2

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: "ijbvijrbng="

ota:
  password: "gwergfrweg"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Esp8266-Ezig Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "rgerge"

captive_portal:

sensor:
  # HC-SR04
  - platform: ultrasonic
    trigger_pin: D5
    echo_pin: D6
    name: "E-Zig ESP8266 Ultrasonic Sensor"
    update_interval: 5s
    timeout: 4.0m

switch:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: D2
    name: "E-Zig Buzzer"

The automation should turn the buzzer switch on if the ultrasonic value is less then 0,2m for 5 minutes within one hour. Or in other words: The buzzer should peep if something is missing more than 5 minutes each hour.

Would much appreciate if I got code snippets or inspiration.

Edit:
If you ask why:
I vaporise too much e-cigarette when I’m sitting at my PC, namely every few minutes. The buzzer is to remind me that I can smoke for a maximum of 5 minutes per hour instead of 55 minutes per hour as before. So I just put the e-cigarette in front of the sensor whenever I’m not using it.
I will develop the project further and add a “snooze button” and also check whether I am at home at all so that the buzzer doesn’t beep non-stop.

[Didgeridrew]

There’s probably a way to do more of this locally on the ESP, but I would do it as follows.

Add a threshold sensor to your ESPHome config:

esphome:
  name: esp8266-ezig

esp8266:
  board: nodemcuv2

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: "ijbvijrbng="

ota:
  password: "gwergfrweg"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Esp8266-Ezig Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "rgerge"

captive_portal:

sensor:
  # HC-SR04
  - platform: ultrasonic
    id: ultrasonic
    trigger_pin: D5
    echo_pin: D6
    name: "E-Zig ESP8266 Ultrasonic Sensor"
    update_interval: 5s
    timeout: 4.0m

switch:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: D2
    name: "E-Zig Buzzer"

binary_sensor:
  - platform: analog_threshold
    name: "E-Zig Resting"
    sensor_id: ultrasonic
    threshold: 0.2
    invert: true

Create a History stats sensor in HA

sensor:
  - platform: history_stats
    name: E-Zig Use
    entity_id: binary_sensor.e_zig_resting
    state: "off"
    type: time
    start: "{{ now() - timedelta(hours=1) }}"
    end: "{{ now() }}"

Time-based History Stats sensors return hours so your threshol is 0.083 hours…

trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.e_zig_use
    above: 0.083
condition: []
action:
  - service: switch.turn_on
    entity_id: switch.e_zig_buzzer

[kankadev (Akay Berk | kanka.dev)]

Thank you. I had to change some lines because of errors.

But nothing happens after one hour testing.

ezig.yaml:

esphome:
  name: esp8266-ezig

esp8266:
  board: nodemcuv2

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: "rgregre="

ota:
  password: "rgerg"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Esp8266-Ezig Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "rgerg"

captive_portal:

sensor:
  # HC-SR04
  - platform: ultrasonic
    id: ezig_ultrasonic
    trigger_pin: D5
    echo_pin: D6
    name: "E-Zig ESP8266 Ultrasonic Sensor"
    update_interval: 5s
    timeout: 4.0m

switch:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: D2
    name: "E-Zig Buzzer"

binary_sensor:
  - platform: analog_threshold
    name: "E-Zig Resting"
    sensor_id: ezig_ultrasonic
    threshold: 0.2
    filters:
      - invert

configuration.yaml:

sensor:
    # E-Zig History Stats
  - platform: history_stats
    name: E-Zig Use
    entity_id: binary_sensor.e_zig_resting
    state: "off"
    type: time
    start: "{{ now() - timedelta(hours=1) }}"
    end: "{{ now() }}"

Automation:

alias: Buzzer if I smoke too much
description: Buzzer if I smoke too much
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.e_zig_use
    above: 0.083
condition: []
action:
  - service: switch.turn_on
    entity_id: switch.e_zig_buzzer
mode: single

[Didgeridrew]

I had a typo in the automation… the trigger entity should be sensor.e_zig_use.

alias: Buzzer if I smoke too much
description: Buzzer if I smoke too much
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.e_zig_use
    above: 0.083
condition: []
action:
  - service: switch.turn_on
    entity_id: switch.e_zig_buzzer
mode: single

[kankadev (Akay Berk | kanka.dev)]

No difference. Can I provide some screenshots?

[Didgeridrew]

Sure, make sure to include traces from the automation if there are any and the info from the States tool for the history stats sensor.

[kankadev (Akay Berk | kanka.dev)]

The sensor was disconnected 2 days because the automation wasn’t working. I connected it this tomorrow, restarted HA and the automation worked once. I think that’s the problem. The automation is running once the threshold is reached and never again.

Current version of the automation:

alias: Buzzer if I smoke too much
description: Buzzer if I smoke too much
trigger:
  - platform: numeric_state
    entity_id: sensor.e_zig_use
    above: 0.083
condition: []
action:
  - service: switch.turn_on
    entity_id: switch.e_zig_buzzer
  - delay:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 5
      milliseconds: 0
  - service: switch.turn_off
    data: {}
    target:
      entity_id: switch.e_zig_buzzer
mode: single

Would be nice if the automation would run every 10 second to check the values?! And the buzzer should stop immediately as I put the ecig in front of the sensor again.

[kankadev (Akay Berk | kanka.dev)]

I’m not allowed to post more than one embedded file per post because I’m a new user.

[kankadev (Akay Berk | kanka.dev)]