Alright, buckle up, because I’m about to spill the beans on this “sex door neighbours” thing I messed around with. Don’t get any weird ideas, it’s all above board, just some techy fun.
So, it all started last week. I was bored, scrolling through some forums, and saw a thread about building a proximity-based alert system. The idea was to have a notification pop up when someone was near your door. Naturally, my brain went straight to automating “neighbour greetings,” but I figured I could spice things up a bit.
Step One: The Tech Gathering
Raspberry Pi Zero W: This little guy is the brains of the operation. Cheap, small, and powerful enough for what I needed. I grabbed one from my local electronics store.
Bluetooth Beacon: I snagged a couple of these off Amazon. They’re basically small devices that constantly broadcast a Bluetooth signal. The idea is to stick one to my neighbour’s door (with their permission, of course!), and the Pi would detect it.
USB Power Supply: To keep the Pi running 24/7.
Some Python Skills: Okay, I’m no Python guru, but I know enough to be dangerous.
Step Two: Setting Up the Pi
First things first, I flashed Raspberry Pi OS onto an SD card and got the Pi booted up. This part’s pretty standard, so I won’t bore you with the details. After that, I connected to my Wi-Fi and installed some essential packages:
Bluepy: A Python library for interacting with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices. This is how I’d detect the beacons. sudo pip install bluepy did the trick.
Some Notification Library: I ended up using `plyer` for cross-platform notifications. Easy peasy. sudo pip install plyer
Step Three: The Code (the messy part!)
Alright, time to get my hands dirty. Here’s the gist of what I cobbled together in Python:
import * as btle
import time
from plyer import notification
BEACON_MAC_ADDRESS = "YOUR_BEACON_MAC_ADDRESS" # Replace with your beacon's MAC
def scan_for_beacon():
scanner = *()
devices = *(5.0) # Scan for 5 seconds
for dev in devices:
if * == BEACON_MAC_ADDRESS:
return True
return False
def show_notification():
title='Door Alert!',
message='Someone is at your neighbour's door!',
app_icon=None, # Replace with an icon if you want
timeout=10
while True:
if scan_for_beacon():
show_notification()
*(60) # Wait 60 seconds before checking again
else:
*(5) # Check every 5 seconds
Yeah, I know, it’s not the prettiest code, but it worked! Basically, it scans for the beacon’s MAC address. If it finds it, it throws up a notification. I made sure to replace `”YOUR_BEACON_MAC_ADDRESS”` with the actual MAC address of the beacon I used.
Step Four: Deployment (and Permission!)
Okay, this is where I had to talk to my neighbour. Luckily, they’re pretty cool. I explained what I was doing (leaving out the “sex” part, of course!) and asked if I could stick a beacon to their door. They were a bit confused but ultimately agreed. I used some double-sided tape to attach the beacon discreetly.
I then plugged in the Raspberry Pi, ran my script, and waited.
Step Five: The Results (and Tweaks)
The first few tests were… underwhelming. The range was terrible. I had to tweak the beacon’s broadcast power and play around with the Pi’s placement. Eventually, I got it to a point where it reliably detected the beacon when someone was within a few feet of the door.
The notifications were popping up! Success! It was pretty cool seeing it in action, knowing I’d cobbled this thing together myself.
Lessons Learned
Bluetooth range is a pain. Location matters.
Double-check your MAC addresses!
Getting permission is always a good idea.
Simple Python scripts can do some pretty cool things.
What’s Next?
Honestly, this was more of a proof-of-concept. I might try adding more features later, like logging who’s at the door or integrating it with a smart home system. But for now, it’s a fun little project that gave me something to tinker with. Maybe I’ll even help my neighbour out sometimes by knowing when someone is at their door. Who knows?
