Anyone into home automation/smart homes with integration to Alexa, Google Home, Siri, etc.?

[oj88]

Ah you mean the Pro will only serve as the main hub while the Mini will be like a repeater? Then I can connect the Pro directly to my Google Home/my phone?

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Not quite. They both serve almost the same purpose, which is to flood the room with IR light to control any device in the room. The only difference is that, the Pro also has RF capabilities in that, aside from IR, it can also blast your whole home with RF to control RF devices in almost an room..

You will only need the Pro if you have RF devices to control. Otherwise, you’ll need the Mini3 in every room where there’s an IR device like A/C you wish to control.

[kisshmet]

It would have been more challenging to have the bathtub water set to a preset temperature.

The non-variable valve opening shouldn't be an issue. What is needed are a couple of temp sensor that samples the water temp and a controller that turns on/off the cold and/or hot water tap to achieve the preferred temp. Then, it will need a water level or pre-overflow sensor to make sure the water does not go over a certain level. Once the target level and temperature is achieved, the owner receives a notification.... "Your bath is ready, sir." -- in an English, butler-ish accent.

Future thesis writers... here's an idea for you.

Now, if only we have a bathtub. :D

Its an issue for the thesis panelist then bcoz we also control the light remotely to ward of intruders who could think that the house is unattended if theres no light the whole night for several days

With our contraption a user can remotely turn on the light..so its basically an on/off situation

A fully open or fully closed valve operation will be similar to an on/off light switch thats why the panelist specifically requested a variable valve operation (slightly open, half way open, fully open, fully closed valve)

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[Archerfish]

It would have been more challenging to have the bathtub water set to a preset temperature.

The non-variable valve opening shouldn't be an issue. What is needed are a couple of temp sensor that samples the water temp and a controller that turns on/off the cold and/or hot water tap to achieve the preferred temp. Then, it will need a water level or pre-overflow sensor to make sure the water does not go over a certain level. Once the target level and temperature is achieved, the owner receives a notification.... "Your bath is ready, sir." -- in an English, butler-ish accent.

Future thesis writers... here's an idea for you.

Now, if only we have a bathtub. :D

There is a similar implementation of this idea, it is the jacket water temperature of the main engine that propels a ship.

ON/OFF controller won't do for this type of control. Instead, PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) is used. There's a pneumatically​ controlled valve to regulate the flow of the cooling medium and a 3-way valve to recirculate it or discharge it overboard.

A feedback temperature is of course installed to the return line of the jacket water which dictates the position of the 3-way valve.

I believe that it is possible to have this idea implemented in a bathtub.

[12vdc]

If you just want to control relays and some C+ knowledge there are DIY Adruino kits you could customize.

[jut703]

Not quite. They both serve almost the same purpose, which is to flood the room with IR light to control any device in the room. The only difference is that, the Pro also has RF capabilities in that, aside from IR, it can also blast your whole home with RF to control RF devices in almost an room..

You will only need the Pro if you have RF devices to control. Otherwise, you’ll need the Mini3 in every room where there’s an IR device like A/C you wish to control.

I'm having pinlights installed right now for my living room, what's the best product to get them connected to the RM Pro?

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[oj88]

There is a similar implementation of this idea, it is the jacket water temperature of the main engine that propels a ship.

ON/OFF controller won't do for this type of control. Instead, PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) is used. There's a pneumatically​ controlled valve to regulate the flow of the cooling medium and a 3-way valve to recirculate it or discharge it overboard.

A feedback temperature is of course installed to the return line of the jacket water which dictates the position of the 3-way valve.

I believe that it is possible to have this idea implemented in a bathtub.

This is fun, bouncing ideas with you guys.

By controller, I had the Arduino in mind as the center of the water valve trigger as well as the temp and water level feedback. Though, other modules will still be required for the front-end interface, solenoid drivers, sensors, as well as network connectivity to be able to send out notifications and/or for the user to be able to access the interface remotely through an app. Maybe even an API to integrate with Alexa, IFTTT, etc. I'm thinking of the Raspberry Pi for the interface and IoT integration.

Many homes would have a hot and cold water tap and to adjust the water temp that ends up in the bathtab, the logic just needs the temperature feedback and the preset target temp. It will then open up the respective valve, hot or cold. At a certain level, if the feedback circuit detects that the water in the bathub is too cold for the target temp, it will keep the hot water valve open longer than the cold water valve and vice versa.

I know this should work in theory, just don't know how to get there.... along with where do I put the bathtub.

[Archerfish]

I know this should work in theory, just don't know how to get there.... along with where do I put the bathtub.

The greatest difficulty will be where to put the bathtub!
[emoji3]

If you just want to control relays and some C+ knowledge there are DIY Adruino kits you could customize.

Yes, Arduino should work. I was thinking of the industrial application that I forgot about servo motors that can be controlled through it which is practical to do instead of a pneumatic valve.

[12vdc]

Because pneumatic and hydraulics are for larger loads and you will have to supply steady source of compressed fluid/air.

For home use, this will just involve input sensors and instructions to control relays maybe 5V direct output from logic board.
You will need to wire each physical switches to the relay/SCR solid-state-relay just like what the hotels proximity-card access are using or maybe a magnetic contactor to control the power in lieu of the circuit breaker. There are China units along T.Alonzo that sells those proximity access locks with option to security just like what fire & burglary alarms and auto dial emergency numbers.

Same as most remote controlled environments like server rooms have these to control the operation of aircon for 24h rotation, a temperature, smoke/fire and flood sensors that transmits alarm to a monitoring center or a life-support system of your Goldfish that automatically trigger alarm when power is out on the aerator. Even some UPS have alarm output relays to transmit commercial power conditions.

[oj88]

I've succumb again to my weakness, please don't judge me. Tech is my kryptonite.

Even though the Echo Wall Clock is seen by some as a gimmick, it's MY gimmick. And the wife seems to love it to no end. She'll have much use of it in the kitchen.

[dreamur]

Even the older generation is trying to catch up with the new technology. Hey goo-goo!

Hey Goo Goo, okay Goo Goo! This Italian Grandma using Google Home is hilarious - YouTube

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[fleas2016]

Where do you guys get your broadlink stuff?

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[oj88]

Where do you guys get your broadlink stuff?

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Lazada, mostly. A few from Shopee, depending on the price.

[minicarph]

Lalong dami tataba na millenials ngaun, gunning for home automation pero kung makalaklak ng milk tea wagas, Well i guess this will be good for the economy and gdp , More purchases

As most millennials are entering age 30 , welcome to the obesity world

[chronicle]

Lalong dami tataba na millenials ngaun, gunning for home automation pero kung makalaklak ng milk tea wagas, Well i guess this will be good for the economy and gdp , More purchases

As most millennials are entering age 30 , welcome to the obesity world

wall-e



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[dr. d]

Lalong dami tataba na millenials ngaun, gunning for home automation pero kung makalaklak ng milk tea wagas, Well i guess this will be good for the economy and gdp , More purchases

As most millennials are entering age 30 , welcome to the obesity world

mag-enroll sila sa work-out or fitness center.
but after a few sessions, nawawalan ng gana, dahil malayo sa parking lot...
heh heh.

[oj88]

Any technology or innovation that's abused and/or generally used the wrong way will certainly lead to problems. Home automation is no different. But to say that it will lead to obesity is a bit far-fetched.

You might think that voice control IS home automation, but you'd be dead wrong. Voice control is just a part of home automation, much like what the mouse is to computers... you'll still be able to use the computer without it, but with GREAT difficulty. Home automation of yesteryears were usually either discrete pieces of equipment, PC-based or tablet-based (proprietary). When voice control and AI became widely available (mainly due to cloud computing), it added more advanced capabilities and generally made the experience a whole lot better.

Home automation used to only mean that you can program stuff to happen at home while you're away or triggered by a condition such as schedules or events (ie. sunrise/sunset, weather, tripped sensor, etc.) But this has now evolved to giving you control of your devices as well as being able to see their status from a mobile device over the internet.

Automation can also be safety- or security-oriented. As an example, Alexa will be coming out with an update called Alexa Guard, that, when enabled, allows your Echo devices to listen for specific noises like breaking glass, smoke/fire/CO alarms, or probably even unusual and/or loud noises while you're away. If it detects something, it will send a notification to your phone giving you some details of what's happening.

My Wyze cam already sends me a notifications when it hears the smoke alarm (which were falsely tripped a few times while cooking). It sends me a notification along with an audio/video footage of when the alarm was triggered.

[jut703]

Looking to control my light switches via app and Google Assistant.

So far I'm reading that Xiaomi's Aqara light switch paired with the Mi Smart Gateway could work. 1.3k for the gateway and 1.3k for each switch.

Are there other cheaper options?

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[oj88]

Looking to control my light switches via app and Google Assistant.

So far I'm reading that Xiaomi's Aqara light switch paired with the Mi Smart Gateway could work. 1.3k for the gateway and 1.3k for each switch.

Are there other cheaper options?

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About the only Xiaomi smart product I have right now is one Yeelight Gen1 Color smart bulb and two Mijia Xiaomi-Philips white smart bulbs. I've only read up about the Aqara line and I personally have no experience with them.

Yeelight, Mijia and Aqara are all subsidiaries of Xiaomi that carry smart home devices. However, their respective products are very different from each other and some are only available for certain markets. Yeelight has the most international support and natively works with GH and Alexa, no hub required. The Mijia bulbs also doesn't need a hub but requires you to use the Mainland China server for them to work with the Mi Home app. The only big problem is, those Chinese servers don't have integration with GH or Alexa. I was able to make the Mijia bulbs work with Alexa but the undertaking requires a bit of coding on a Raspberry Pi. But essentially, outside of China, they're not consumer-friendly.

Aqara is sort of a mixed bag... I wouldn't consider them for use in the PH either. First of all, they only have square wall plates for light switches and power outlets. We typically use the rectangular, US-standard wall plates so unless you're designing your walls around these square plates, they probably won't fit. Aqara is more popular with UK customers as they use the same square wall plates. Anyway, if you choose to use Aqara products here, expect the UI to be "weird" at best, as they're "Chinese-first". Be ready to see unexpected Chinese characters or spoken language anywhere within the UI. Besides, Aqara-Google Home integration is still sketchy.

I'd choose SmartThings before I'd consider Aqara, IMO. SmartThings has more community support as well as 3rd-party product support. They are on the expensive side, though. For a budget smart home, I'd still go with Broadlink (for IR/RF control including wall switches) and smart switches and/or plugs that use the Smart Life, eWeLink, and Magic Home Pro cloud services. They're bang for the buck if you don't care much on the not-so-simple setup process (as compared to the Apple-like SmartThings setup).

Good luck on whatever poison you choose.

[jut703]

About the only Xiaomi smart product I have right now is one Yeelight Gen1 Color smart bulb and two Mijia Xiaomi-Philips white smart bulbs. I've only read up about the Aqara line and I personally have no experience with them.

Yeelight, Mijia and Aqara are all subsidiaries of Xiaomi that carry smart home devices. However, their respective products are very different from each other and some are only available for certain markets. Yeelight has the most international support and natively works with GH and Alexa, no hub required. The Mijia bulbs also doesn't need a hub but requires you to use the Mainland China server for them to work with the Mi Home app. The only big problem is, those Chinese servers don't have integration with GH or Alexa. I was able to make the Mijia bulbs work with Alexa but the undertaking requires a bit of coding on a Raspberry Pi. But essentially, outside of China, they're not consumer-friendly.

Aqara is sort of a mixed bag... I wouldn't consider them for use in the PH either. First of all, they only have square wall plates for light switches and power outlets. We typically use the rectangular, US-standard wall plates so unless you're designing your walls around these square plates, they probably won't fit. Aqara is more popular with UK customers as they use the same square wall plates. Anyway, if you choose to use Aqara products here, expect the UI to be "weird" at best, as they're "Chinese-first". Be ready to see unexpected Chinese characters or spoken language anywhere within the UI. Besides, Aqara-Google Home integration is still sketchy.

I'd choose SmartThings before I'd consider Aqara, IMO. SmartThings has more community support as well as 3rd-party product support. They are on the expensive side, though. For a budget smart home, I'd still go with Broadlink (for IR/RF control including wall switches) and smart switches and/or plugs that use the Smart Life, eWeLink, and Magic Home Pro cloud services. They're bang for the buck if you don't care much on the not-so-simple setup process (as compared to the Apple-like SmartThings setup).

Good luck on whatever poison you choose.

Thanks for shedding light on the topic. I initially brought up Xiaomi because it was the only brand I recognized among the stuff for sale on Lazada when I searched "smart light switch".

I guess I'll take a step back here and ask what the necessary stuff are for controlling your lights via app and voice control (similar to my aircon query previously).

My setup has pin lights, cove lights, and general lighting in the living room/kitchen, plus general lighting in the bedrooms. These are all already wired to the wall switches, which I'd like to convert to smart switches to be able to control remotely.

My end goals are:
1. Turn of all the lights via voice command or app so I don't have to get up when I'm already lying down in bed
2. Create presets (i.e. only some lights are on when I'm watching TV) that I can activate via app/voice command
3. Turn lights on/off even when I'm not home

What needs to be true for these goals to become a reality, and what's the most cost-effective but safe (don't wanna burn down the house with low-quality switches) way to do it?

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[oj88]

Thanks for shedding light on the topic. I initially brought up Xiaomi because it was the only brand I recognized among the stuff for sale on Lazada when I searched "smart light switch".

I guess I'll take a step back here and ask what the necessary stuff are for controlling your lights via app and voice control (similar to my aircon query previously).

My setup has pin lights, cove lights, and general lighting in the living room/kitchen, plus general lighting in the bedrooms. These are all already wired to the wall switches, which I'd like to convert to smart switches to be able to control remotely.

Let me put a few things out of the way first.... pardon the rather long read.

There are several ways to make your lights, smart:

1. Replace standard bulbs with smart bulbs - This is the fastest and easiest option. Most smart bulbs can be turned on/off, dimmed, or change color and/or scenes (dancing lights, etc.), via the app or a digital assistant (Alexa or GH). The downside is cost. The cheapest quality smart bulbs are from Yeelight. "Cheap" is of course relative and they still cost around P1k a pop from online shops like Shopee. If money is no object, there's also the Philips HUE system.... can't go wrong with those. Another disadvantage is the bulb needs continuous power. Therefore, you will need to keep the physical light switch turned on for every smart bulb it's connected to. If somehow, a family member or visitor turned off the physical switch, the smart bulb will lose power and you will no longer be able to operate it remotely.

2. Keep your standard bulbs/light fixtures and use a smart switch - There are two sub-categories of smart switches:

a. WiFi Smart Switch - These switches can be controlled manually, through the app, or digital assistants. As these switches are active switches, you will be able to see the realtime status of the switch (whether it's on or off) in the app. You can even ask GH the status of the switch and it will tell you if it's on or off. The downside is, the switch will very likely require a Neutral wire to keep itself powered up. The Neutral wire is an electrician-speak for having 220V supply available on every smart switch location in your home. To put things into perspective, houses made in the last century does not have a Neutral wire available on light switches as they're not needed. So it stands to reason that some wiring modifications are required in your house electrical to use this type of smart switch.

b. Neutral-less RF Smart Switch - Similar capabilities as above but does not require a Neutral wire. It works off the residual electricity available on the light circuit for its own power. These are passive switches and are usually controlled via 315 or 433MHz RF (not WiFi) and requires a hub. The downside is, as these are passive, there's no way to remotely determine if the switch is on or off through the app or GH.

These smart switches are on/off only. They are not capable of dimming the light. But just to be complete, there are expensive ones available on Amazon or eBay that can dim. They also work via RF, but uses a different protocol such as Z-Wave or Zigbee. These too, requires a hub.

Now, on to your questions:

My end goals are:
1. Turn of all the lights via voice command or app so I don't have to get up when I'm already lying down in bed

Any of the approach I mentioned above will work. Further, you can also set timers or schedules. I believe a random setting is available that will randomly turn on/off your lights while no one's around to give your home the effect that somebody's home. You can also use a 3rd party cloud service such as "If This Then That" (IFTTT) to create conditions and triggers to do things like turn on your lamp shades whenever your GH or Alexa alarm goes off or turn your colored bulbs purple when it's about to rain... things like that.

2. Create presets (i.e. only some lights are on when I'm watching TV) that I can activate via app/voice command

There are two ways you can do this; Create a Scene or a Routine (in GH or Alexa).

3. Turn lights on/off even when I'm not home

Same response as your #1 question. This can be done, and more, using the respective apps.

What needs to be true for these goals to become a reality, and what's the most cost-effective but safe (don't wanna burn down the house with low-quality switches) way to do it?

As always, I can only speak based on my own preference and experience. That said, I can never recommend enough Broadlink products for replacing the standard light switches and Yeelight Color v2 for smart bulbs.

My plan is to use Broadlink TC2 light switches for the MAIN lights in ALL rooms (the lights you typically turn on when entering the room). I then use smart colored bulbs for accent lighting, lamp shades or where a colored bulb is desirable (ie. corner lighting). Right now, I mostly only have the cheap Chinese knock-off smart bulbs but I might replace them with Yeelights in the future for reasons of safety.

To start you off, you only need the following:
1. GH or Echo (Alexa)
2. Smart bulbs of your choice (as many as required)
3. Broadlink TC2 switches (as many as required) and one (1) Broadlink RM Pro hub to control them
4. A mobile device to install, run, and configure the necessary apps
5. WiFi and internet

That's it.