Alarm Clock With Sound and Vibration

I've made an alarm clock from things I had lying around, most of it anyway.

When we had kids I got an alarm clock with a vibrating puck to put under the mattress, that way I would not wake up the whole family when going to work early. That alarm clock had the same problem as any other alarm clock, you need to set it every day before you want to wake up.

I later replaced that with a Garmin Forerunner, it had recurring alarms, so I could set it to vibrate on my wrist every work day.

Recently I have been wanting to get a wrist watch with automatic winding, but first I needed to solve the waking up. So I built an alarm clock.

Features:

• Recurring alarm every Monday to Friday at 05:40 (by cron job)
• If there is an entry in my alarm clock calendar (Google Calendar) it counts as a day off and the alarm won't go off
• If the calendar entry is a time, like 8:35, the alarm will go off on that time instead
• A dot on the display will show if the alarm is due to set the next day, or today if it is before waking time
• Ability to choose either sound (mp3) or vibration
• Alarm stops after 10 seconds (can be changed in code) if no button is pressed
• Set sound level
• Set display brightness
• Set vibration power

As always you start simple and add features as you go, it did not have the ability to adjust the force of the vibration at first and it felt like the whole bed was shaking. I do wake up very easily so that was definitely overkill, I ordered a motor speed controller and now it vibrates just so I wake up but the woman next to me does not.

This project uses three python scripts.

alarm.py - Takes care of the recurring alarm, set by a cron job

clock.py - Shows time, handles changing of volume and brightness, handles other alarms than the above

get_days_off_from_Google.py - Does what it says, runs as a cron job every hour

This project does not include setting up a Raspberry Pi or installing necessary files for the display, you will need to look in the documentation for your display for that. You will also need vlc and any other import the scripts call for.

You can do this in any way you want but these are the things I used

• Raspberry Pi, I started out with a Zero W but later found I wanted sound and used a 3B+ (with 3.5mm audio out)
• Power source for the Raspberry
• Vibrating puck
• Power source for the puck (make sure it has the right voltage)
• Relay module for the puck, anything that can be controller by the GPIO outputs
• Display, I had a Four Letter pHAT so I went with that
• Buttons, with any kind of momentary switch
• Some resistors for the buttons, I used 1KΩ
• Amplifier and speaker, amp might not be needed but I used the one I had
• Box, make sure everything fits, mine is 103x148x56mm
• Motor speed controller you could probably do with a smaller one though, this one is huge

If you want you can just connect everything in the box but I used connectors that I mounted on the box.

The puck had a 3.5mm plug so I got a jack for that. The power source was for guitar pedals so it had a normal barrel plug and I had jacks for that.

I just drilled a hole for the Raspberry plug.

Connect all the things, I made a drawing of how I have it connected but it will probably not be exactly the same with your things.

The Four Letter Phat I use connects through I2C which only uses the four top most pins on the left rail on my drawing of the Raspberry Pi. The display you use might work differently.

I used two angeled headers soldered together to get the display stand on its own, I then soldered some wires to the header. You can also use gpio cabels or ribbon cable.

Some comments in here will be in Swedish, deal with it ;)

Some variables are kept in files for persistence. I have made checks for the files but maybe not all. If you get an error running the scripts check for file errors.

The files are:

• calendarfile_tomorrow (containing Working or DayOff)
• calendarfile_today (containing Working or DayOff)
• vibration_or_audio (containing vibration or audio)
• volume (10 - 100
• brightness (1-15, might have to use another scale on your display)
• runonce (contains done or is empty)

And then there are the tree scripts.

alarm.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3


from gpiozero import Button
from gpiozero import OutputDevice
import time
import re
import vlc


btn = Button(17)
alarm = OutputDevice(27)


max_time = 10 # seconds


with open('/home/pi/volume', 'r') as file:
    thevolume = int(file.read().rstrip())


player = vlc.MediaPlayer("/home/pi/alarm.mp3")
player.audio_set_volume(thevolume)
print(str(thevolume))


boolStopAlarm = False


with open('/home/pi/calendarfile_today', 'r') as file:
    calendarfile = file.read().rstrip()
print(calendarfile)


start_time = time.time() # Register what time the alarm starts


def vibration_or_audio():
    with open('/home/pi/vibration_or_audio', 'r') as file:
        thefile = file.read().rstrip()
    return thefile


def stopAlarm():
    print('Button was pressed')
    boolStopAlarm == True
    if (vibration_or_audio() == "vibration"):
        alarm.off()
    else:
        player.stop()


def playAudio():
    player.play()


isitatime = re.search(r"^\d+:\d+$", calendarfile) # Check if it is a time like 05:38
if isitatime is not None:
    print("Summary is a time: " + isitatime.string)
    # Check whether to use vibration or audio
    if (vibration_or_audio() == "vibration"):
        alarm.on()
    else:
        playAudio()
else:
    if (calendarfile == 'Working'):
        print('Alarm!')
        # Check whether to use vibration or audio
        if (vibration_or_audio() == "vibration"):
            alarm.on()
        else:
            playAudio()
    else:
        print('Inget alarm')


# Runs while alarm is on OR until max_time is reached
while (not boolStopAlarm) and ((time.time() - start_time) < max_time):
    #print('Alarm!')
    btn.when_pressed = stopAlarm
    time.sleep(0.1)

clock.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3


import time
import fourletterphat # as flp
import datetime as dt
from gpiozero import Button
import os.path
import re
import subprocess
import vlc


btnright = Button(5, hold_time=3, bounce_time = 0.1)
btnleft = Button(6, hold_time=3, bounce_time = 0.1)

if (os.path.exists('/home/pi/volume')):
    with open('/home/pi/volume', 'r') as file:
        thevolume = int(file.read().rstrip())
else:
    with open('/home/pi/volume', 'w') as file:
        file.write("100")


if (os.path.exists('/home/pi/brightness')):
    with open('/home/pi/brightness', 'r') as file:
        brightnessfile = int(file.read().rstrip())
else:
    brightnessfile = 1
    with open('/home/pi/brightness', 'w') as file:
        file.write(brightnessfile)


def isNowInTimePeriod(startTime, endTime, nowTime):
    if startTime < endTime:
        return nowTime >= startTime and nowTime <= endTime
    else:
        #Over midnight:
        return nowTime >= startTime or nowTime <= endTime


def btnRight():
    #print('Button Right was pressed')
    global brightnessfile
    with open('/home/pi/brightness', 'r') as file:
        brightnessfile = int(file.read().rstrip())
    brightnessfile = brightnessfile + 1
    if (brightnessfile > 15):
        brightnessfile = 0
    with open('/home/pi/brightness', 'w') as file:
        file.write(str(brightnessfile))
    print('Brightness is now: ' + str(brightnessfile))
    fourletterphat.clear()
    fourletterphat.set_brightness(brightnessfile)
    fourletterphat.print_number_str(brightnessfile)
    fourletterphat.show()


def btnLeft():
    print('Button Left was pressed')
    media_player = vlc.MediaPlayer()
    media = vlc.Media("/home/pi/alarm.mp3")
    media_player.set_media(media)
    with open('/home/pi/volume', 'r') as file:
        thevolume = int(file.read().rstrip())
    if thevolume < 100:
        thevolume += 10
        with open('/home/pi/volume', 'w') as file:
            file.write(str(thevolume))
    elif thevolume == 100:
        thevolume = 10
        with open('/home/pi/volume', 'w') as file:
            file.write(str(thevolume))
    fourletterphat.clear()
    fourletterphat.print_number_str(thevolume)
    fourletterphat.show()
    # thevolume är redan int men konstigt nog funkar set_volume bara med int(thevolume)
    media_player.audio_set_volume(int(thevolume))
    media_player.play()
    time.sleep(2)
    media_player.stop()


def check_calendar():
    calendarfile = "Nothing"


    with open('/home/pi/calendarfile_today', 'r') as file:
        calendarfile = file.read().rstrip()


    isitatime = re.search(r"^\d+:\d+$", calendarfile) # Check if summary is a time like 05:38
    if isitatime is not None:
        print("Summary is a time: " + isitatime.string)
        calendarfile = isitatime.string
    
    else:
        #Kväll, kolla om det är nåt imorgon
        if (isNowInTimePeriod(dt.time(5,41), dt.time(00,00), dt.datetime.now().time())):
            with open('/home/pi/calendarfile_tomorrow', 'r') as file:
                calendarfile = file.read().rstrip()


        #Morgon, kolla om det är nåt idag
        elif (isNowInTimePeriod(dt.time(0,1), dt.time(5,40), dt.datetime.now().time())):
            calendarfile = calendarfile


        else:
            print("inget")


    return calendarfile


while True:
    fourletterphat.clear()
    str_time = time.strftime("%H%M")
    fourletterphat.print_number_str(str_time)
    fourletterphat.set_brightness(brightnessfile)
    #fourletterphat.set_flipped()


    # Show dot if the alarm is set
    dtnow = dt.datetime.now()
    what_to_do = check_calendar()
    try:
        time.strptime(what_to_do, '%H:%M')
    except:
        # Innehållet i calendarfile_today är ingen tid
        ###print('False')
        if (dt.datetime.now().isoweekday() < 5):
            #print('Vardag - mån-tors')
            #print(check_calendar())
            if (what_to_do == 'Working'):
                fourletterphat.set_decimal(1, 1)
                #print('visa prick')
            else:
                fourletterphat.set_decimal(1, 0)
                #print('göm prick')
        elif (dt.datetime.now().isoweekday() == 5):
            #print('Vardag - fredag')
            #Evening, Day Off tomorrow
            if (isNowInTimePeriod(dt.time(5,41), dt.time(00,00), dt.datetime.now().time())):
                fourletterphat.set_decimal(1, 0)
                #print("")
            #Morning, Working
            elif (isNowInTimePeriod(dt.time(0,1), dt.time(5,40), dt.datetime.now().time())):
                fourletterphat.set_decimal(1, 1)
                #print("")
            else:
                print("inget")


        elif (dt.datetime.now().isoweekday() == 6):
            #print('Vardag - lördag')
            fourletterphat.set_decimal(1, 0)
            #print('göm prick')
        elif (dt.datetime.now().isoweekday() == 7):
            #print('Vardag - söndag')
            #Evening, Working tomorrow
            if (isNowInTimePeriod(dt.time(5,41), dt.time(00,00), dt.datetime.now().time())):
                fourletterphat.set_decimal(1, 1)
                #print("")
            #Morning, Day Off
            elif (isNowInTimePeriod(dt.time(0,1), dt.time(5,40), dt.datetime.now().time())):
                fourletterphat.set_decimal(1, 0)
                #print("")
            else:
                print("inget")
        else:
            print('Inget')


    else:
        # Innehållet i calendarfile_today är en tid
        ###print('True')
        # Kolla om tiden redan varit
        settime = dt.datetime.strptime(what_to_do, '%H:%M').time() # tiden från Google Calendar
        settime = settime.replace(second=0, microsecond=0) # Gör om till fast klockslag


        timenow = dt.datetime.now().time() # Just nu
        timenow = timenow.replace(second=0, microsecond=0) # Gör om till fast klockslag


        if settime > timenow:
            print('Tiden har inte varit än: ' + str(settime) + ' > ' + str(timenow))
            fourletterphat.set_decimal(3, 1) # Visa en prick på position 3
            with open('/home/pi/runonce', 'r') as file:
                runonce = file.read().rstrip()
            if runonce != "":
                with open('/home/pi/runonce', 'w') as file:
                    file.write('') # Rensa filen
        elif settime == timenow:
            print('Alarm!')
            with open('/home/pi/runonce', 'r') as file:
                runonce = file.read().rstrip()
            if runonce == "":
                subprocess.run(['python', 'alarm.py']) # Kör alarm.py i en annan tråd
                with open('/home/pi/runonce', 'w') as file:
                    file.write('done') # Skriv till filen så att alarmen bara körs en gång
        else:
            print('Tiden har redan varit: ' + str(settime) + ' < ' + str(timenow))

    btnright.when_pressed = btnRight
    btnleft.when_pressed = btnLeft
    fourletterphat.show()
    time.sleep(1) # Vila en sekund

get_days_off_from_Google.py

You will need to get the ID of the calendar you want to use, I made a new one, the ID will look something like somethinglong@group.calendar.google.com paste that into mycalendar = 'your-calendar-id'.

#!/usr/bin/env python3


#import datetime
from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta
import os.path


from google.auth.transport.requests import Request
from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from google_auth_oauthlib.flow import InstalledAppFlow
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError
import re


# If modifying these scopes, delete the file token.json.
SCOPES = ['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly']

def main():
    """Shows basic usage of the Google Calendar API.
    Prints the start and name of the next 10 events on the user's calendar.
    """
    creds = None
    # The file token.json stores the user's access and refresh tokens, and is
    # created automatically when the authorization flow completes for the first
    # time.
    if os.path.exists('token.json'):
        creds = Credentials.from_authorized_user_file('token.json', SCOPES)
    # If there are no (valid) credentials available, let the user log in.
    if not creds or not creds.valid:
        if creds and creds.expired and creds.refresh_token:
            creds.refresh(Request())
        else:
            flow = InstalledAppFlow.from_client_secrets_file(
                'credentials.json', SCOPES,
                redirect_uri='urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob')


            auth_uri, _ = flow.authorization_url()
            print(f'Please visit {auth_uri} on your local computer')


            # The user will get an authorization code. This code is used to get the
            # access token.
            code = input('Enter the authorization code: ')
            flow.fetch_token(code=code)


            creds = flow.credentials
        # Save the credentials for the next run
        with open('token.json', 'w') as token:
            token.write(creds.to_json())


    try:
        service = build('calendar', 'v3', credentials=creds)


        # Call the Calendar API
        today = datetime.today();
        starttoday = datetime(today.year, today.month, today.day, 00, 00).astimezone().isoformat()
        tomorrow = today + timedelta(days=1)
        starttomorrow =  datetime(tomorrow.year, tomorrow.month, tomorrow.day, 00, 00).astimezone().isoformat()
        dayaftertomorrow = today + timedelta(days=2)
        startdayaftertomorrow =  datetime(dayaftertomorrow.year, dayaftertomorrow.month, dayaftertomorrow.day, 00, 00).astimezone().isoformat()


        mycalendar = 'your-calendar-id'
        events_result_today = service.events().list(calendarId=mycalendar, timeMin=starttoday, timeMax=starttomorrow, singleEvents=True, orderBy='startTime').execute()
        events_result_tomorrow = service.events().list(calendarId=mycalendar, timeMin=starttomorrow, timeMax=startdayaftertomorrow, singleEvents=True, orderBy='startTime').execute()
        events_today = events_result_today.get('items', [])
        events_tomorrow = events_result_tomorrow.get('items', [])


        if not events_today:
            print('No events today.')
            f = open("/home/pi/calendarfile_today", "w")
            f.write("Working")
            f.close


        else:


            # Prints the start and name of the next 10 events


            print('Getting todays events')
            for event in events_today:
                eventdate = event['start'].get('dateTime', event['start'].get('date'))
                #print (start)
                print(eventdate, event['summary'])
                isitatime = re.search(r"^\d+:\d+$", event['summary']) # Check if summary is a time like 05:38


                if isitatime is not None:
                    print("Summary is a time: " + isitatime.string)
                    summary = isitatime.string
                else:
                    print("Summary is not a time")
                    summary = "DayOff"
                with open('/home/pi/calendarfile_today', 'w') as file:
                    file.write(summary)


        if not events_tomorrow:
            print('No events tomorrow.')
            f = open("/home/pi/calendarfile_tomorrow", "w")
            f.write("Working")
            f.close
        else:
            print('Getting tomorrows events')
            for event in events_tomorrow:
                eventdate = event['start'].get('dateTime', event['start'].get('date'))


                print(eventdate, event['summary'])
                f = open("/home/pi/calendarfile_tomorrow", "w")
                f.write("DayOff")
                f.close

    except HttpError as error:
        print('An error occurred: %s' % error)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

crontab -e

# Start clock at boot
@reboot sleep 60 && /usr/bin/python /home/pi/clock.py

# At minute one every hour
1 * * * * /usr/bin/python /home/pi/get_days_off_from_Google.py

# At 05:40 on every day-of-week from Monday through Friday.
40 5 * * 1-5 /usr/bin/python /home/pi/alarm.py