Dongfeng Gu

Raspberry pi smart controller for tp-link Kasa devices

Sunday. May 03, 2020 - 3 mins

What to expcet after this post?

Hardware that you needs

• Tp-link Kasa plug (A list of supported device can be found in here)
• Raspberry pi 4 2GB edition
• Waveshare 2.7inch E-Ink display HAT for Raspberry Pi
• Micro SD card for Raspberry pi

Details steps to reproduce this project

Step 1: Setup Micro SD card for Raspberry pi.

Please reference the offical guide from raspberry pi to install Raspbian operating system on the Micro SD card.

(Optional) You can also setup remote ssh connection to raspberrypi with the guideline

Step 2: Setup Waveshare 2.7inch E-Ink display HAT

Inside this step, we will install necessary library and driver for Waveshare 2.7inch E-Ink display.

• Mount the Waveshare 2.7inch E-Ink display HAT to the raspberry pi.
• Open terminal: Enalbe SPI interface
  • sudo raspi-config
  • Choose Interfacing Options -> SPI -> Yes to enable SPI interface
  • sudo reboot
• Open terminal: Install necessary library
  • Install BCM2835 libraries

    wget http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/bcm2835-1.60.tar.gz
    tar zxvf bcm2835-1.60.tar.gz 
    cd bcm2835-1.60/
    sudo ./configure
    sudo make
    sudo make check
    sudo make install
    #For more details, please refer to http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/
    

  • Install wiringPi libraries

    sudo apt-get install wiringpi
    
    #For Pi 4, you need to update it：
    cd /tmp
    wget https://project-downloads.drogon.net/wiringpi-latest.deb
    sudo dpkg -i wiringpi-latest.deb
    gpio -v
    #You will get 2.52 information if you install it correctly
    

  • Install Python libraries

    #python2
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install python-pip
    sudo apt-get install python-pil
    sudo apt-get install python-numpy
    sudo pip install RPi.GPIO
    sudo pip install spidev
    #python3
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install python3-pip
    sudo apt-get install python3-pil
    sudo apt-get install python3-numpy
    sudo pip3 install RPi.GPIO
    sudo pip3 install spidev
    

    More details can be found in reference: https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/2.7inch_e-Paper_HAT

Step 3: Kasa controller program

Inside this step we will run a kasa controller program (NodeJS) to control the Kasa devices inside your home.

• Open terminal: Install/Upgrade node and npm.
  • curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | sudo bash -
  • sudo apt install nodejs
  • node --version to check the version of the node
• Open terminal: Setup kasaControl.js
  • mkdir -p ~/smartcontroller/kasacontroller && cd $_
  • Create the kasaControl.js and package.json file under the kasacontroller folder. File can be found in the following gist
  • npm install && npm start
  • Verify cat /tmp/devicelist.json has content and it shows a list of kasa devices in your home.
  • Control + C to terminate the program

Step 4: Program for Waveshare 2.7inch E-Ink display HAT

Inside this step, we will setup the program for Waveshare 2.7inch E-Ink display HAT to dispaly a list of kasa device in the screen and the button control for the device.

• Open terminal: Install dependencies
  • pip install watchdog
• Open terminal: Run Waveshare E-Ink display control program
  • mkdir -p ~/smartcontroller/waveshareControl && cd $_
  • git clone https://github.com/waveshare/e-Paper .
  • cd ~/smartcontroller/waveshareControl/RaspberryPi&JetsonNano/python
  • Create the deviceInfo.py file under the ~/smartcontroller/waveshareControl/RaspberryPi&JetsonNano/python folder. File can be found in gist
  • Make sure the /tmp/devicelist.json file is not empty when it has been created in Step 3.
  • python deviceInfo.py
  • The Waveshare display should now show a list of kasa devices in your home.

Step 5: Run the program during start time in raspberry pi

• Open terminal: Edit the start up script
  • sudo vi /etc/rc.local
  • Append the following text before the exit 0 line

    exec 1>/tmp/rc.local.log 2>&1  # send stdout and stderr from rc.local to a log file
    set -x
    
    sudo -u pi node /home/pi/smartcontroller/kasacontroller/kasaControl.js &
    sleep 5
    sudo -u pi python /home/pi/smartcontroller/waveshareControl/RaspberryPi&JetsonNano/python/deviceInfo.py &
    

  • sudo reboot

After Setup 5, you should be able to use it to control your kasa devices.

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