How to remotely push a button?

[mjgold]

Hi everyone, I am interested in using a Raspberry Pi to remotely press the ON button of a sauna that looks like this:

http://www.lasplash.com/uploads//c69c/5 ... iew-11.jpg

(The sauna takes 30 minutes to heat up so it'd be really nice to press a button on the web or a mobile phone to start heating it before getting home.)

Can anyone advise on the parts and process needed to remotely press a button like this?

Thanks!

[topguy]

Unless you want to use a robotic arm, I'm guessing you would need to show us how that panel is connected to the electronics.

[Adolfo_Abalia]

Does the sauna have or accepts a remote? In this case, you could spoof the signal with IR or BT.

[mjgold]

Unfortunately no remote. I'm thinking of creating a robotic button press, similar to what the Microbot Push does:

https://prota.info/microbot/push/

Any thoughts on how could I do this with the Pi?

[solar3000]

Do you have a very long stick?

Are you comfortable with opening up that panel? You could wire up a very simple circuit. A low power relay would work well. It would be the same as you pushing a button. And how many buttons will you be pushing? Or will you push them ahead of time and trigger the last button remotely?

[davidcoton]

Do you have a very long stick?

Are you comfortable with opening up that panel? You could wire up a very simple circuit. A low power relay would work well. It would be the same as you pushing a button. And how many buttons will you be pushing? Or will you push them ahead of time and trigger the last button remotely?

I would not recommend opening the panel. I assume it is near the sauna itself, and will involve mains voltage. It may have been built with very particular regulations for saunas in mind, so any modifications should meet the same rules. The chances of inadvertently doing something wrong are not small.

In the absence of built-in remote facilities (and assuming an upgrade is not available) I think a robot arm is the way to go. You will need a web-based remote service. I think Mosquito does the job, though I haven't used it. To maintain security of your home network it is best if the Pi calls out to a hosted database (even if the data is only on or off!), otherwise if you need to "phone home" you must pay attention to changing account names and passwords, introducing better validation, and other methods to keep the bad guys out.

[solar3000]

Do you have a very long stick?

Are you comfortable with opening up that panel? You could wire up a very simple circuit. A low power relay would work well. It would be the same as you pushing a button. And how many buttons will you be pushing? Or will you push them ahead of time and trigger the last button remotely?

I would not recommend opening the panel. I assume it is near the sauna itself, and will involve mains voltage. It may have been built with very particular regulations for saunas in mind, so any modifications should meet the same rules. The chances of inadvertently doing something wrong are not small.

In the absence of built-in remote facilities (and assuming an upgrade is not available) I think a robot arm is the way to go. You will need a web-based remote service. I think Mosquito does the job, though I haven't used it. To maintain security of your home network it is best if the Pi calls out to a hosted database (even if the data is only on or off!), otherwise if you need to "phone home" you must pay attention to changing account names and passwords, introducing better validation, and other methods to keep the bad guys out.

That's funny, the first thing I do is take things apart.

[PiGraham]

Given this involves high voltage and water it's probably best to leave any modification to the circuit to a professional.
A button pusher should be OK, but again note you will probably want it to be waterproof.
A simple first step would be to test what it takes to press that button. How much force? Does it have to a particular material (resistive touch should work with any pusher but capacitive touch needs particular electrical properties)?
Depending on the force needed it should be possible to push the button with an RC type servo. You would then have to work out a way to waterproof the mechanism and mount it on the control panel.

You should consider if you will use battery power or power from a mains adaptor. For battery power Pi is probably not the right choice because the battery will not last long. A microcontroller would be better and could potentially last for months. A BBC MicroBit might work. It has BLE radio on board and can drive a servo.
You could use a 433MHz radio module to activate the button and use a mains-powered Pi as a remote web gateway device to activate it.

[Mister_C]

Find yourself an old school chime door bell. The sort that goes "ding dong" by shooting a battery powered solenoid against a couple of metal bars. Replace the door bell switch with suitable control circuitry and let the solenoid push the button.
simples

[broe23]

The only way to do this is to find out if the manufacturer offers any type of system that you can use to control the spa panel from a tablet or phone. Otherwise you are going to be stuck with doing it the human way. All of the ideas being thrown out there are not even wise to try, nor would they be best.

[mc007ibi]

you could do this with some little servo motor, an Arduino, a Wifi shield and wire it over MQTT to some home automation tool. The mechanic requires a little creativity but i am sure you can box it in less than a cigarette sized box. Should be ready to use after a half day of fiddling. I am sure if you google for "button pusher arduino" you will get something together, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cJmhcbBWWY