Many people who get involved with home automation for the first time start with configurable lighting, and then move to automating kitchen appliances. My most frequenly used kitchen appliance is a kettle, the obvious choice is to automate my kettle.

It would have been easy enough to buy some random IoT-enabled kettle off the shelf, but where's the fun in that?

In addition to the individual articles below, the codebase is available in my connected-kettle repository on GitHub.

Stage 1: Connected Kettle: Scale and display

Stage 1 is proof of concept that an ESP32 connected to a scale could be use to measure the weight of a kettle, as a means of approximating how much water is inside it and show the output on a display.

Stage 2: Connected Kettle: Enclosure

Stage 2 shifts attention towards a 3D printed enclosure for the ESP32, scale, display, and future extensions. This involves prototyping shapes that fit the components comfortably, and then moving on to the integrated prints.

Stage 3: Connected Kettle: Temperature reading

Stage 3 is the first point of contact with the kettle itself, using a thermistor attached to the kettle surface to calculate the temperature of the water inside. This also includes the extra code involved with transforming the thermistor reading into a temperature in °C.

Stage 4: Connected Kettle: Handle attachment

Stage 4 introduces an attachment for the kettle handle, with a hardware interface between the attachment and the enclosure base for connecting and disconnecting the thermistor easily.

Stage 5: Connected Kettle: Home automation integration >

Stage 5 returns to the ESP32, using MQTT over Wifi to communicate with a Home automation system.

Stage 6: Connected Kettle: Remote operation

Stage 6 adds a servo to the handle enclosure to activate the kettle on demand. The existing home automation integration is expanded to allow the servo to be triggered remotely.

Feedback? Questions? Email me

• All articles
• About Sinclair Studios