I just came up with an idea for a sensor.. In our house, we have 3 large drawers for dirty laundry, with sorting baskets inside. One for White, one for red and one for other colors.
The problem is that some people in the household (mainly the two eldest kids, aged 19 and 21), doesn't know when it's time to do laundry, they fill up one of the baskets to the brim, and beyond, even though they know how to start the washing machine. My idea is to add a small sensor inside the drawer cabinet, that detects if the basket is full and then cuts internet to the whole house, until it's fixed, it should only take 1 or 2 attempts before the said persons figures things out, and start to do the laundry by themselves.
Now for the actual sensor, I have thought of a simple laser / light sensor mounted in the back of the drawer cabinet, that bounces off the back of the drawer front, and if the line of sight is blocked, report this to the home automation. There is 5-10 cm from the top of the basket, to the top of the drawer front / table top, so there should be some space for electronics. Alternative mount a ultrasonic distance sensor above the basket, but it could potentially be knocked off, if the basket get's filled too much.
As a secondary thing, when people take out the clean laundry from the dryer, they just put it on top of a table, and thinks that "Someone else is going to fold it, and put it aside". I have thought about a simple ultrasonic distance sensor, that detects distance from the ceiling to the table above the dryer. If the distance is below a certain point, it alerts the home automation setup.
Only issue I fear coming up, is the WAF, as I think that she wouldn't approve of the "disciplinary punishment"
Any other thoughts about the above sensors?