The Patriot

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In Norway there are official flag days where (if you are a good little Norwegian) are supposed to put out the Norwegian flag. The rules for putting it up on these days are 08:00 in the summer time and 09:00 in the winter time and down at sunset. It’s like it’s begging for an automation!

So I built this, the Automatic Flag Machine. (I call it The Patriot) : ) It’s a 3D-printed flag-raising machine with three servos. One for opening the door to the flag compartment, one for rolling the flag and one for lifting the flag up and down.

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Watch a video of it in action here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUeLflrDyD0

So it raises the flag when asked to, or lowers it and tucks it away in its little compartment, and patriotically waits for its next outing. The thing has a Wemos mini inside and listens for MQTT commands. In Home Assistant it is configured as a cover - and as such, it can be raised and lowered from the front end or by automations.

The automation looks in a Google Calendar to see if it’s a flag day and checks another Google Calendar to see if it should go up at 08:00 or 09:00. I’ve also hooked it into the family’s birthdays, so birthday boys and girls also get flag automations!

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WAF, low to medium, but holy moly this one’s fun for me though

Improvements? Sure! Watertight? Well, kind of. This one is begging for a huge balcony flag and some actuators, but that’s for another time.

If you want to print one, you can download the 3D-files here:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3869384

31 Likes
2

The video is unavailable :frowning:

3

Should be available now

4

That’s pretty crazy and i like it! :rofl:

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5

Very cool.

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6

Brilliant! I have no need to fly a flag but I feel like I need to find a reason so I can copy this!

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7

Oh there’s always a reason to fly a flag : )

8

I’m puzzled as to why the WAF would be so low? It doesn’t look geeky at all once it’s deployed or concealed. Seems like nothing but a plus.

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9

I’m with you : )

10

This is very cool, well done!

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11

So COOL :astonished: :grinning:

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12

That’s beyond awesome! I’ve wanted this since day one of my home automation journey 4 years ago. I really need to find more free time to make one of my own…

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13

If you have access to a 3D-printer, you can download this from thingiverse and get a head start!

14

Neat! Is it vulnerable to damage from strong winds? If so is that something your automation takes into account?

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It’s not a huge flag, so it’s not too exposed to wind, but the bigger concern is icing and rain. That being said, it’d be a good idea to take weather into consideration, say for example if the flag has been out in the rain, as soon as it clears up, take it out and dry it.

This thing has got a lot of improvement potential, specially with weather proofing and wind resistance. I’m going to leave it out in all types of weather, see what fails, then improve it.

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