So I made a pretty simple dice roller for my android phone using Tasker. If you don’t know what Tasker is, it’s an all-around automation app. It’s been around for as long as I have been using Android phones I would guess. I’ve used it for years but have gotten really serious about it in the last year or so. This isn’t a post about Tasker though, although you will need it for this.
I had come across a Task (a set of actions) that would allow you to simulate the roll of a single six sided die. Really it’s just a random number from 1-6 so that part is pretty easy to emulate. I wanted to be able to roll multiple dice and I wanted the whole gamut, 2,3,4,6,8,10,12,20 and percentile dice. I took a little bit of work but I was able to get that part finished. I am currently using Google Assistant Intercept so I can say “roll 2d10” and it correctly recognizes that, gets the random number between 2 and 20 in that case, displays it on the screen and also speaks the answer. Tasker steps are below:
Task: RPG Dice Roll
<How many dice to roll>
A1: Variable Set [
Name: %Dice_number
To: %par1
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
<What type of dice (d6, d10, d20, etc)>
A2: Variable Set [
Name: %Dice_type
To: %par2
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
<Sets the minimum amount. This is easy, it just matches how many dice you are rolling. The minimum number you'll get>
A3: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_min
To: %Dice_number
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
<The rest of the Variable sets puts the max amount you can roll * whatever kind of dice it is, i.e. 3d12 would be 12 * 3.>
A4: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 2
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 2 ]
A5: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 3
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 3 ]
A6: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 4
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 4 ]
A7: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 6
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 6 ]
A8: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 8
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 8 ]
A9: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 10
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 10 ]
A10: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 12
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 12 ]
A11: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 20
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 20 ]
A12: Variable Set [
Name: %HowManyDice_max
To: %Dice_number * 100
Do Maths: On
Max Rounding Digits: 3
Structure Output (JSON, etc): On ]
If [ %Dice_type ~ 100 ]
<Found this one at Soundbible. You can download your own sound file or disable this part.>
A13: Music Play [
File: Tasker/soundfiles/Shake And Roll Dice.wav.crdownload
Start: 0
Stream: 3 ]
<Get the random number between the minimum # set earlier and the max # set earlier and outputs it to the Dice variable.>
A14: Variable Randomize [
Name: %Dice
Min: %HowManyDice_min
Max: %HowManyDice_max ]
A15: Say [
Text: You rolled a %Dice
Engine:Voice: default:default
Stream: 3
Pitch: 5
Speed: 5
Respect Audio Focus: On ]
A16: Flash [
Text: <h1><b><center>%Dice</center></b></h1>
Long: On
Tasker Layout: On
Title: You Rolled a:
Continue Task Immediately: On
Dismiss On Click: On
Show Over Everything: On
Position: Top
Use HTML: On ]
I do have this up on Taskernet as well, you can find it here if you don’t want to input all of that. I would also like to create a series of scenes for this as well at some point but I’m pretty shitty at drawing. I’m thinking animated gifs that show up with the correct number and type of dice and actually show the correct numbers on them. Seems like it would be pretty difficult to implement and would need to include hundreds of images to make it work right. IDK. Going to have to think about that one for a while. I tried using DALL-E and LeapAI to create the images on the fly but it didn’t work worth a crap. Vaguely resembled dice but the background wasn’t transparent and the numbers on them weren’t actually numbers.
Looks like Google Assistant on the Pixel is finally getting proper home functionality, without having to have Google Home. Up until now you could issue commands to the Nest, for instance, from your phone if you had already set it up on the Home. For instance, I already have a few Hue lights and a couple of Wemo devices (only one switch) that I have set up through Google Home. Now though you can do it through assistant, which is awesome.
If you open Assistant and go into the settings, Home control should be there. Since I already have a few devices set up through my home these already appear for me but you can add devices from Nest, Hue, SmartThings, Honeywell, and WeMo, create rooms, and assign a device to each room. Not too bad. Unfortunately Homeseer is not in the list but they are working on it and hopefully will be there shortly. Currently I’m using a workaround with Tasker and Autovoice to coomunicate with Homeseer, as well as IFTTT although that’s a lot slower than HS with the Tasker plugin.
Not everyone is seeing it yet apparently. I have a Google Pixel XL running the Android 7.1.2 beta, with the Google app 6.12.19 and Play Services 10.2.98
One of my projects within my smart home is to be able to monitor home occupancy as well as specific room presence. While the two are similar they end up being very different things. Occupancy is pretty basic. For the house itself I currently have three modes. Home, Out and Away. Away means we are on vacation or won’t be back for some time. Occupancy can be triggered by presence in the house, geofencing on our phones, pir sensors in and around the house and network mac addresses detected.
Presence detection is a bit more involved. I am currently using pir sensors as well as activity on certain devices. For instance, if Eventghost detects keyboard use on my PC in the master bedroom it’s a 75% that the Master Bedroom is occupied. I say 75% because I access it remotely on occasion. That’s where the pir in my bedroom comes in, as well as a relatively inexpensive iBeacon I recently purchased to start playing around with. There are IOS and Android applications for detecting iBeacons so with my phone, if it’s in range of the iBeacon, Tasker will send a message to Homeseer that I’m in the bedroom. So if the PIR detects activity in the bedroom AND my PC is in use someone is in the bedroom. If both of the above are true AND my phone has sent a message to Homeseer then it’s a 99% probability that I am there. I also have an Automatic in my car and use it with IFTTT so plan on adding that in the mix as well, increasing that probability.
The reason I have been starting to dabble with occupancy and presence is because I have been slowly adding a couple of different profiles in my home automation. If nobody is home (i.e. we are on vacation) I want certain things to happen. Lights randomly coming on, the temp set a little bit higher, TVs and stereos off, etc. If we are at home then I want a different set of events going on. Lights on at night when there is motion, etc.
This is really an ongoing process but it’s slowly but surely getting done.
Earlier this evening I cam across Dream Green House. There are a lot of really good ideas there for anyone interested in Home Automation, some of which I have been using for years and some of which allow me to clarify a few of the projects I am wanting to work on.
Speaking of projects, here is a current list of things I am in varying stages of:
Replace the LCD and Digitizer on my Nexus 6 that I use on Project Fi. My screen cracked recently and then there was a cat “accident” lol while I was replacing the LCD and the digitizer was ruined. I have a new one arriving Tuesday.
Finish Projector Screen Frame (provided tommorow is not a very long day at work it’ll be finished before tomorrow evening)
Mount Echo on ceiling (I picked up a custom ceiling/wall mount on Etsy a while back and it’s just waiting for me to hang it. While the Amazon Echo has pretty awesome mics mounting it from the ceiling will allow it to pick up even better. I already have all the tools and hardware, just need to get it done)
Set up events to switch basement speakers. Currently I have a two-zone receiver in my basement hooked up to speakers in the basement as well as my back porch. I also have a Global Cache IP2IR down there to control it. Just need to set up a couple of HomeSeer events that will allow me to change zones if someone wants to, for instance, play music through the Chromecast (hooked to one of the inputs on the receiver) through the back porch speakers. I have everything I need for this, just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Finish occupancy for all phones – mqtt, owntracks, etc. This is more time consuming and intensive because it means multiple events, virtual devices, etc. I will be completing it one person at a time so this one will take some time.
Setup Mystic on RPi 2 or 3 move to basement. Currently the Bulletin Board System I am using is Synchronet. I have it running on a Windows laptop stuck inside a TV cabinet in my bedroom. It’s slowly dying. I plan on using a Raspberry Pi 3 and put it in my basement. I currently have everything I need for that (except time).
Setup (may need new one) Emulator on rpi. I picked up a bunch of different parts for this over a period of time and plan on scrapping the inside of an old OG Xbox and mounting everything in there. I was going to use my RPI 2 for that but ended up using it for an instance of Alexa so the only thing I’m lacking is picking up yet another RPi.
Magic mirror for bathroom. Another soon to happen project that I have most of the parts for. I was originally going to use a Nexus 7 for this (and still may). I have everything I need for this although lately I’ve been toying with the idea of using yet another RPi and the LCD from the laptop that my BBS is currently using.
Fix living room lighting. When they built my house the electricians did a SHIT job. The wires are not obviously standard or marked, making it difficult to find the neutral or traveler. I installed a Zwave threeway in my living room and while I can control the overheads from the MAIN switch (or remotely), the remote switch doesn’t work and I have no idea why. I had to step away from this for a while because I was getting so frustrated. I picked up a wiring book/tutorial thing a while back and I’m going to read it a couple of times prior to tackling this again).
install other z-wave switches. I have three or four Z-wave wall switches that I haven’t installed, including another threeway for the stairs off the foyer. Need to get these mounted.
set up temp controller, redo wiring around house. Several years ago I used a 1-wire network of Dallas/Maxim temp and humidity sensors in every room in my house. The controller (a Midon Design Temp05) died on me about eight years ago and I never replaced it. Most (but not all) of my wiring and sensors are still in place and I picked up a used Temp08 a couple months ago. Going to hook that back up.
Look into hooking up cell phone to Homeseer. I want to be able to use HS to send/receive text messages and phone calls on a GSM phone. Currently I am using email to SMS but if for some reason my Internet connection is down that’s useless. It also is slow at times.
Look into setting up cell phone for BBS. I want to hook up a GSM phone to allow connections to the BBS as well. Currently it’s Telnet or HTML but it would be nice (and nostalgic) to allow dial-up connections again.
Fix my daughter’s RPi Amazon Alexa. I set up Alexa on a Raspberry Pi 2 a few months ago but was not very happy with the end result. Need to redo the entire setup. While this is at the bottom of this specific list it’s actually much higher on my todo list.
Fix Apple Homekit integration. I currently have a homekit bridge running on my HA server but for some reason it’s not working right. I am not all that knowledgable about anything to do with iPhones or iPads so this is a bit of a learning curve. In addition to wanting my oldest daughter to be able to control the lights using Siri, we have an old iPad first generation that I have loaded a touch screen interface on and need to mount in the kitchen. My current plan is to jailbreak it and add Siri to this as well.
So in Part I I touched on most of the hardware I’m using and some of my software. I keep coming across stuff I missed and I’ll mention some of that here.
So on to how all this works together. Down among the creepy crawlies that inhabit my garage and basement along with my son’s defunct 1990 Firebird lives the brains behind my house. Homeseer. It’s a piece of software that I’ve been using since 2000. I have tried probably 50 or 60 different packages over the years and also some dedicated hardware solutions (such as the Wink Hub) and not a single one of them can do everything that Homeseer can. Nothing even comes close. Unfortunately that also means a bit of a learning curve. You can just set up the hardware, the software and a few plugins and actually have a pretty decent automated home but for the depth of control I like it takes a bit of time (16 years worth lol)
A small portion of the 500+ devices shown on the web page of my automation software.
Homeseer is extended using plugins (as well as VB scripting if you want). The plugins I am currently using are
BLGarbage (this just helps to keep things running smoothly)
BLRF – for X10 RF signals
Blue-Iris – controls and receives information from Blue Iris, which is running on a PC in my bedroom. This is the heart of my CCTV security.
EasyTrigger – better event triggers. More on events later.
HSTouch Server – for touchscreen clients including Android and iPhone smartphones, windows clients (my Asus touchscreen) and tablets.
JowiHue – Sends and receives information to my Hue Bridge. This is the part that failed in the video in part one. That or the bridge itself. It definitely is not as reliable as Zwave lighting and while the Hue lights are cute they will end up being replaced.
NetCAM – Allows for snapshots of my network cameras. Now that I’m using the Blue Iris plugin I’ll be retiring this soon.
Random – Using this with some of the other plugins and text to speech so that when Homeseer talks with us it will use different phrsing and words and not always sound the same. I haven’t really done much with this yet. Never enough time.
Restart – Allows me to restart Homeseer if needed without having to remotely log into the server.
RFXCOM – I touched on this one earlier. It pulls in info from my Oregon Scientific weather sensors (including the ones that aren’t connected to the base station due to compatibility. Some of the sensors have died over time so I have replaced them with cheaper ones, which the base station doesn’t read. I upload all of my weather data to Weather Underground and WeatherBug. The software that I use for that (VWS) sends most of the info and I use a VB script to send the missing info that RFXCOM picks up. RFXCOM also receives the RF signals from my old X10 security sensors that I haven’t repleaced yet.
SCBULLET – A pushbullet plugin. I have it set up but not doing much with it yet as far as notifications
Tasker Plugin – There is so much I could say about this. I saw a quote from someone on the Homeseer forums that goes something like “Tasker, for a Home Automation enthusiast is like hitting a drug addict in the face with a big bag of crack”. Tasker is awesome. When I go to listing some of the things I’m able to do we’ll touch on Tasker.
TextSeer – a simple receiver for sending controls to homeseer over the web. While I can use JSON to do the same thing, TextSeer allows me to use HTTP GET with my BBS software and other stuff. It makes it very simple.
UltraGCIR3 – this allows me to control my IR stuff. TV, receiver, etc.
UltraMon3 – Monitors stuff on my network. I have this running but don’t really use it as much anymore. I have switched to a more robust set of scripts and local control over each computer in the house.
VWS – pulls in the info from my weather station.
The Oregon Scientific Base Station. The VWS software is running on my PC and sends it’s info to services in the cloud as well as to CSV format which the VWS plugin reads
weatherXML – Weather information but much more than that. Alerts, maps, etc.
X10 – While X10 is very old, not 100% reliable and a bit outdated, I still have switches and motion sensors that have worked for the last 16 years. In the past I’ve used the X10 CM15 controller, the Applied Digital Ocelot (I think this one died due to a lightning strike several years back) and am currently using a TI103 X10 controller. One of the reasons I am moving over to Zwave is that even though I have a coupler wired into my breaker box and another one plugged into my dryer the X10 does not always seem to send the signals to the switches and other appliances. For instance, if you open my side door (which we let the dog out of at night) my side and front porch lights come on and will then turn off after 15 minutes of no motion. My front porch is Zwave and always immediately responds. The side porch is X10 and sometimes it’s immediate, sometimes it’s four or five seconds and occasionally it just never switches on. That’s a no-go as far as I’m concerned for an automated home. It’s also the reason I don’t want my shit cloud controlled. When you hit the light switch it should just immediately come on. There should never be a delay.
XBMC – I use Kodi on my bedroom PC occasionally and this allows me to control it when I do. More on that…
Z-Wave – I used to use an Aeon Labs Zwave controller but updated last year to a Homeseer Zwave Smartswitch+
Kinect – This plugin is actually running remotely on the Asus touchscreen in my living room.
Alexa plugin – I mentioned that Homeseer has Echo support built in. It does. What this plugin does is allow me to use ANOTHER instance of Alexa on my bedroom PC without having the Echo in there. It runs remotely like the Kinect plugin. I can have as many instances of this as I need. With it getting warmer there will be stuff we’ll be working on in the garage (where my Homeseer server is) and I will probably install Alexa on that too. The only caveat to having software instances of Alexa rather than the Echo or Dot is that it doesn’t support media (Pandora, etc) but there are workarounds for that.
I think that’s all of the plugins I am currently running so here are some of the things the system does.
There are currently two (really three) voice recognition systems at work in my house. One is Alexa. As seen in the video and countless other ones on Youtube the recognition is awesome and there is a lot of stuff you can do. “Alexa, tell Domino’s to order my Easy Order” worked great last night when it was just me and Tootsieroll eating dinner. Obviously I can also control my lighting, TV and somewhat my thermostat. It does have it’s limitations though. I currently have 581 devices attached to Homeseer. Not all of those are hardware obviously. Some are virtual devices that control other ones. The Echo (Alexa) can control stuff that is able to be specifically controlled by Off, On, Dim or it can set heating or cooling to a specific temperature. You can’t chain commands with it.
The second voice recognition system I use is Homeseer itself. I have a little piece of software running on each PC and laptop called HomeSeer speaker. It acts as a remote text to speech client for Homeseer and can send announcements to all or specific clients. I can also turn on the recognition so in addition to “Alexa”, “Jarvis” lives in my house. With Jarvis I can tell Homeseer to turn on the air in 15 minutes and set it to 72. Or I can set the virtual device “Alarm” to “home” in twenty minutes. There really isn’t much I can’t do with Homeseer Speaker. The problem with Homeseer Speaker’s voice recognition that I’ve found over the years is that it sucks balls. It’s an awesome idea and a great back end but the implementation is so fucking awful it’s basically unusable. That’s why, even though Google Now and Alexa work through the Internet, I use them anyway.
That brings me to the third one I mentioned above. I use Tasker on my Nexus 6 as do my wife and youngest daughter. My oldest has an iPhone so she’s shit out of luck. With Tasker and a couple of plugins I can say “Ok Google, turn on the TV, change to FireTV, lock the front door (yeah, I found one on eBay that hopefully will be here soon) and dim the living room lamps”. Yeah, that’s where the awesome sauce kicks in. Can’t do that shit with Alexa. It does mean that your phone has to be with you but who doesn’t always have their phone. Or does it? On my todo list is adding Tasker to the two Nexus 7s in my house so we don’t have to have our phone with us. Oh by the way, my Moto 360 is also connected to Tasker through my phone so as long as it’s in range and they are both connected to wifi, I can just talk to the watch like Dick Tracy.
That’s Me!
Some of the other things Homeseer does?
If it’s between November and March and the temperature is under 59 outside the heat kicks on the a specific setting, It’s a little lower at nighttime. From May to October it’s the air that kicks on but as I mentioned earlier, only if the windows are closed.
When you open the door to the basement stairs the lights kick on in the stairway as do the ones in my basement and garage. If it’s the garage door the same thing. They cut off after fifteen minutes, IF no motion has been detected. If I flip the lights on, off, on they are overridden and will stay on until I cut them off.
If it’s nighttime and motion is detected outside by any of my motion detectors the flood lights and porch lights cut on until no motion has been detected. Same thing if Blue Iris detects motion on the cameras. Lights on. When I open the side door at night the porch lights come on and then go off fifteen minutes after no motion detected. If the front door is opened at night the foyer light, front porch lights and driveway floods come on and then will turn off fifteen minutes later if there’s no motion. That’s particularly useful when I leave for work at 6:15am and my hands are full.
When the washing machine is in use and then stops (watts in use) it tells everyone in the house, hey, the clothes are finished. Put them in the dryer. Once it has been out of use for a period of time it completely cuts the power to the Zwave switch. You know that most appliances still use a minute bit of power even when not in use. Not my washing machine. Or my daughter’s monitor for that matter, which she tends to leave on. Eventually most of my appliances will be hooked to Zwave switches as well. Even if I just save 50 cents or a dollar a month when you have 50 items running, TVs, monitors, washer and dryer, etc…it all adds up.
If motion is detected in the house when we aren’t at home it sends the wife and I email alerts along with pictures. If the basement windows are opened it sets off and alarm and starts flashing lights around the house. If my CO/Smoke detector in the kitchen (the only connected one I have so far) goes off it of course sounds, but my basement alarm sounds, all the lights start flashing off and every speaker in the house starts shouting shit about fire or carbon monoxide and it also sends us emails and text messages.
My basement control center. After 16 years of hooking shit up it’s embarrassing the wiring mess I have down there. On my todo list for this summer is to clean it up and rewire everything.
When I get close to the house my driveway and porch lights come on at night and the system announces Daddy’s home. It drives my dog nuts.
If we are on vacation and motion is sensed anywhere outside random lights go on and all the outside lights go on. It also sends the obligatory emails and text messages along with pics.
I’m in the slow process of writing a series of Alarm Events so we can set an alarm when we leave to trigger other events.
I have a counter set so it has started tracking when we change the HVAC filter and it will tell us when it needs to be changed.
Less automation but more information, Homeseer scrapes my BBS for info and I can see who is logged in, how many calls I’ve had and other various info. It also pulls in a few RSS feeds so I know when the last show has been updated and I can download the torrents, pulls in horoscope and also news feeds. It’s supposed to read me the top headlines when my alarm is dismissed in the morning and also tell me if it’s a holiday but I’m debugging that I guess.
If there’s a NOAA weather alert for the area it announces it to everyone.
That’s most of the items currently. 90% of it happens whether there’s internet connection or not.
I have a streaming music server on a Raspberry Pi and my entire music library on an NAS. It runs Subsonic, a streaming server. It doesn’t get much use but that’s mainly because I have set up obvious clients for everyone. Unlike Pandora, iHeartRadio, Play Music or Amazon, no internet needed. There are clients but I just mainly use the html interface and can cast it to any of my chromecasts oh by the way.
Subsonic web interface login
There are a thousand other things my automated home does and can do that I can’t think of at the moment but the stuff above gives a good general idea anyway.
Some things in varying stages of completion I have that will be added shortly include,
A smart mirror. I actually have all of the materials next to my desk for this. Basically it’s a see through mirror with a Nexus 7 behind it that supplies pertinent information for day, camera feeds, etc. Voice controlled. There are more intensive projects out there that I’ve seen that use a raspberry pi and touchscreen monitor but I went the cheap route. Still a wow thing. I haven’t decided when I’m going to place it.
A Raspberry Pi based emulator running Nintendo and Super Nintendo games to mention a few. That’s 90% complete. I thought I had an old NES in my basement that I was going to gut and put everything inside but I can’t find it (I think it didn’t survive a rare spousal purge of crap) so I’m going to gut my old Nintendo Xbox 1 and put everything inside.
Mounting my projector to my bedroom ceiling and running the wires (I am thinking about living room actually). It will take the place of my bedroom television. It has HDMI inputs so I can hook in my chromecast. I have a ceiling mount and another FireTV stick on the way (my poor poor discover card.) I will also be able to control it with IR and in turn run it via voice or touch screen control via phone. The extra TV I’ll either hook to my desk or set up a gaming station next to my daughter’s computer in the living room and hook up the unused Xbox 360. Nobody here does a lot of console gaming but it’s nice when there’s company.
Front door. I managed to get a steal on a Zwave motorized deadbolt. It’ll be here eventually and I’ll add it into my system. Probably have it unlock when I drive up. Not trigger by motion but by our phone’s proximity. Nice to be able to remotely let people into the house as well without having to give them a key. It was an open box deal but I can return it if it doesn’t work.
A software based alarm system. I mentioned I was working on that but it’s a long way from completion. I’ve barely touched on the capabilities of Blue Iris as well as the scripting that Homeseer provides so this will be a fairly robust system. I’m not willing to pay monthly fees for monitoring so this is the next best thing.
Incorporating using more JSON into the interface so I will have more control of the automation aspects through the BBS, my web site, and all of the internal stuff. We use Plex in addition to Kodi because it just works well with browsers as well as the FireTV Stick. I have eventghost on most of the computers and will be adding more control over/from that as well.
More/better voice control options.
Touch support. I have rudimentary touchscreen clients on our phones and in the kitchen but I need to update the screens and provide more control.
I have a shit ton of old stuff I need to sell that I haven’t had the opportunity to list but will soon. If you’re looking for any of this stuff let me know and we’ll work out a deal. This includes an iPhone 5 no idea the size, HTC One (AT&T), Samsung Galaxy S3 (Verizon), Two Moto X (original, 2012 I think), an Ipod Touch and a Gameboy Color. Automation stuff includes an Applied Digital Ocelot and SECU16-IR. I think the IR controller is good but I haven’t been able to get the Ocelot to work. Many x10 switches, lamp and appliance modules, door/window sensors, in-wall switches, universal modules. Some are defunct but most are still in fine working order. They are from various manufacturers. Mostly X10 but some Radio Shack and a couple others as well. Most of that I’d prefer to just sell as one lump deal but I will consider selling seperately. A couple of netpads. Slow and Old. Considering throwing linux on them and using as netcams if I don’t sell them.
SO I’m a big gadget geek. As far as phones, while there is nothing wrong with Apple products my personal preference is for Android. The platform is much more extensible and I can do 1,000 more things with my Nexus than I ever would be able to with Apple. But…this isn’t about that.
I came across and article this morning entitled “The Perfect Smart Home: What our editors are using” over at Android Central, one of the sites I frequent. Each of them lists what they are using in their smart home and why. The question I had when I read the article is what about each thing makes their house smart? Each of the items, in itself, is pretty neat and I own several of them. The problem is that by themselves none of them make the house smart, at least not by my definition of the word. There are a couple that come pretty close, mainly Smarththings, but even that has it’s limitations. Most of them are limited by being able to connect to the Internet, for starters. What if you lost your internet connection? Most of the folks using these products are shit out of luck, including if you use Smartthings. From their web site:
Any locally executing SmartApps or Device Type Handlers still send events to the SmartThings cloud. This is necessary so that the mobile application can accurately reflect the current state of the devices, as well as perform any cloud-required services (e.g., sending notifications). In the event of an Internet outage, the events will be queued and sent to the SmartThings cloud when Internet is restored.
So what am I using? First off, bear in mind I’ve been using Home Automation for 16 years now and have used some really good (and some really crappy) products. For the most part I try to get things off of eBay or cobbled together from the parts that seem to inevitably collect around the desk of a gadget enthusiast.
Before I go into my set up we need to touch on why I don’t think a bunch of awesome gadgets make your house smart and what does. To begin with, it’s the controller. To have Home Automation, as opposed to Home Control, your house needs to do shit without you necessarily directing it to. All of your stuff also needs to work together. For instance, if one of us turns on the AC and there is a window open my house (HomeSeer) immediately turns it off and says something to the effect of “There is a window open, I have turned off the HVAC. Shut the windows and try again.” Eventually I’ll add logic which will cut it on once the window has been closed but for now we have to tell HomeSeer to turn it on once they are shut.
Here’s a quick video I shot right after I ready the article.
You’ll notice in the video that I am also using Alexa, which was mentioned in the Android Central article. I managed to get the Echo and remote while they were only being introduce to Prime members, for $99. If I had realized how cool it was I would have preordered another lol. As it is, I have an Amazon Dot coming sometime next month. That’s a piece of hardware Amazon is introducing to current Echo owners. It uses Alexa technology but insted of being a big speaker you hook your own speakers up to it. You’ll also notice my living room lights didn’t do dick when I told them to. I’ll touch on that a little later as well.
So here’s the hardware I’m using and then I’ll go on to describe what each piece does and how it fits together.
In my basement:
My basement control center. After 16 years of hooking shit up it’s embarrassing the wiring mess I have down there. On my todo list for this summer is to clean it up and rewire everything.
refurbished Dell Optiplex workstation. It runs the heart of my home automation system, the software Homeseer. Attached to that I have,
RFXCom receiver. It receives signals from my Oregon Scientific weather station I received for Christmas a few years ago. It also receives signals from a few other weather instruments as well as X10 security devices. I used to have the X10 Door/Window sensors on everything as well as a couple of glass break sensors. I’m now down to 4 window sensors as it’s an unstable and outdated technology that doesn’t always work. I have a shitload in a box I’ll be selling on eBay shortly if anyone is interested.
W800RF32 receiver AND a MR26a receiver for redundancy. These two pick up X10 RF signals from my few remaining X10 motion sensors as well as X10 remotes and stick-a-switch things. The W800 also receives X10 security device RF but I’ve found the RFXCOM and homeseer plugin does a better job. I am also slowly replacing the X10 motion sensors with Zwave as well. The timeline on that is just when I find a good deal on eBay or when they go on sale for deep discount at my local Home Depot.
HomeSeer Zwave Smartstick+, this is what controls most of my lighting. Zwave devices are slowly replacing X10 for reliability reasons as well as speed.
A shitty Samsung SDR-4001 CCTV system I picked up at Walmart a couple of years ago. Currently has four cameras attached. It’s locked down and you can’t access it with anything other than old versions of Internet Explorer and the Samsung software. However, I recently found a program that will pull in the video feeds. Blue Iris. More about that shortly.
Zwave door/window sensors on all the windows and the back door. Zwave light switch in the basement and a couple of GE Link light bulbs in the garage as well as the basement stairs.
Aeon Labs Zwave energy monitor directly attached to the breaker box.
In the living room:
Amazon Echo. Alexa. As Phil noted in the article I linked to, Alexa is one of the most exciting things to come out in the area in a long time. She’s sexy. So much so that they are literally flying off the shelves and besides being able to buy them through Amazon they are also available at Home Depot and Best Buy to name a couple. The voice recognition is so much better than the other system I use (part of Homeseer) that the devs from Homeseer added support. The one and only downfall to the Echo is that you have to be connected to the Internet. So I have redundancy and also use the Homeseer voice control as well.
really need to get that wiring cleaned up lol
A Global Cache GC-100-06 IR controller I got for a steal off eBay last week as a matter of fact. In the past I have used the USB-UIRT, eHome IR receivers (Windows Media Center) and an Applied Digital SECU16-IR (attached to the X10 controller I was using at the time.). The Global Cache controller works over the network and is a small form factor among my components.
Don’t mind the wires lol. I need to straighten that mess out.
The overhead light/fan is a Zwave switch. Lamps are Hue bulbs (just white, no color). While the Hue bulbs are pretty cool and I will probably eventually get a couple to play with, they are overly expensive and not 100% reliable. Again, something else that depends on the cloud.
Honeywell Zwave thoermostat
Xbox 360 Kinect (minus the Xbox360 which is put up on a shelf somewhere) connected to an Asus touchscreen laptop.
Foscam IP camera
JVC AV receiver and Vizio 42″ TV. Both controlled by the GC100-06 and Homeseer or obviously their own remotes. Hooked into them I have a Chromecast, a Chromecast Audio and a FireTV stick. The Chromecast Audio and FireTV stick are probably the two coolest things I’ve added over the last year besides the Echo. I used to have a huge Windows PC running BeyondTV and later, Windows Media Center. Now you can’t even see the devices I use.
Two of my last four X10 Window sensors.
Various Zwave motion, security and environment sensors.
Almost forgot, a Wink Hub (like Smartthings) and the only thing it still controls, a Quirky Pivot Power Genius
In the Kitchen:
Two more GE Link bulbs
Zwave light switch for the sink lights
Chromecast Audio attached to a pair of speakers that sit on top of the cabinets.
Petsafe Wireless Fence.
a couple of X10 lamp and appliance modules which control the pet’s water fountain and the lights inside my china cabinet.
mounted on the wall next to my light switches a Nexus 7 with a few things running, Homeseer HSTouch software, Google Play Music (to cast audio to the speakers) and IP Webcam Pro which in turn is picked up by Blue Iris, as are the rest of my cameras in the house. I’m actually going to be replacing this with an old iPad at some point soon.
In the bedrooms I have mixed Zwave and X10 lighting, another Vizio TV that’s controlled by a Global Cache itach IR controller, various X10 and Zwave motion sensors, door/window sensors, etc. In my laundry room there’s a GE Link bulb and a Zwave appliance switch plugged in to my washing machine and then the wall. It monitors energy consumption as well as some other stuff that I’ll touch on in part II of this article. Yes, I’ve managed to write so fucking long that I just decided I should split this up into two parts.
There’s a Wemo switch hooked to my upstairs Wifi Router (there’s another on in the basement. due to wifi connections I had to create two networks. The second one is basically just working in Access Point mode). I have it controlled through IFTTT and in turn, Homeseer (which also allows for built-in IFTTT integration).
Another Chromecast attached to my bedroom TV and a Chromecast Audio on my bathroom speakers. Once I get the Echo Dot I’ll stick the Chromecast Audio upstairs for the girls.
So how does all this crap fit together and what can it do? You’ll have to wait for me to finish typing Part II.
