I live in an apt and have a Commax AP-2SAG intercom headset inside my apt. They call it a "2 wire" dumb intercom. It has three functions:
rings when someone touches the button of my apt,
two way audio when headset is lifted, and
a button to buzz the lobby door open.
I'd like to achieve three things remotely (via WiFi from my phone, even in another location):
know that someone has rung the door,
talk with the person from my phone, and
buzz the lobby door open at will.
A bonus could be to automate the buzzer after a given number of bells rung or something, for an Airbnb visit for example.
I have never used Arduino before but can normally read instructions or tinker with things. This might be a fun first project and would love any pointers or guidance to try this out!
Here are the tech deets to set the stage.
The model is the Commax AP-2SAG. I took pictures of the back part of the intercom and the internal wirings.
Maybe start with the simple things?
Read the ringing, light a led.
Read the ringing, send a mesage to phone.
Open the door from mcu.
Send message from phone to mcu.
Open door upon receiving message.
O think speech could be done as well but will indeed be challenging.
Actually I feel you are not ready to start the project at this point. We have no idea of your skill set or what resources you have available to you.
I would suggest you start with some of the tutorials that are on line, sorry to say some are not so good but many are very good. Start by learning the basics, you need to control outputs to ring, open door, send message and inputs such as reading the light, receiving a message etc. Start with the LED, they are not expensive and there is even one on most of the Arduinos. At this point you have also found several tutorials on basic electronics that you have gone through. You should acquire a copy of the Arduino Cookbook and go through that. I have no clue as to how fast you will learn this but it will probably take a few months. During this process you will learn what an IDE is and how to use to generate and upload your code to the Arduino. Let us know how you progress.
This doesn't seem like a technical question hehe. But yes, they do as long as I leave it if I break the lease.
Anu ideas on where to start? I was thinking that the button alone could be an easy place to do something without much complication instead of automating the whole thing.
You will need an electric lock. But I can hardly help, I have never been interested in this.
Are you confident enough in your DIY abilities to trust the homemade project to control the lock in your home? I would not
That's what tinkering is for It it does not work I can scrap it.
Not sure I need an electric lock. The lock is already electric. I just need a way to bypass the manual button and connect a module that will close that circuit triggered remotely. It doest not seem that complicated if you think about it from first principles.
My guess would be that the piece of brass with the black wires is connected to the door opening system. Is it operated with DC or AC?
Is it directly connected to the solenoid?
What is the voltage? And what is the current?
I suppose that a relay might be the best way to operate the door as it will work irrespective if AC/DC voltage and current.
You could also start with the phone connection. Maybe bluetooth can be used. Or wifi. I am not sure what would be best.
Is it the door of your house or the door of more apartments? Does it give straight access to your home? I guess you would not want to be hacked then.
The easiest way to bypass the button is not to. You can leave the button or remove it. Place the NO contacts of a relay across the two wires. Enabling the relay is the same as pushing the button. With both in the circuit both will work independently from each other. Be sure the relay has an amplifier circuit such as a transistor. Connecting the relay directly to the Arduino will probably destroy the Arduino.
With this in mind it would not be to hard to make a simple breadboard to test your concept and your code.
I would not