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I don't have a build thread. Really, not too much of it is really very unique I don't think. It'll be more interesting when I get a Google Coral and start doing object, people, and facial recognition.
Here are some screenshots of my controller which is a Raspberry Pi 3 with the 7in touch screen and PoE. It's network booted off my main Pi that runs Home Assistant. Makes it easy to add new controllers, just have to stick a card in temporarily to set the network boot option, then it gets everything from the network. Only have to update one image. I also have a Fire HD 10 on the way that I'm going to use as a portable controller if it works out well. I want to put a wall mount and a wireless charger so you just throw it on the wall and it charges and displays info.
The nice thing about Home Assistant is that it's all run locally and other than my thermostats, I don't use any cloud APIs. I mostly have Z-Wave hardware, but have a few Zigbee as well. In addition, I also am wiring all my doors and windows for power and open/close sensors. I built an old Pi 1 to take the signals and send MQTT to the main Pi for open/close events.
I have dimmable light switches, fans, shades, outlets, whole house audio with bluetooth input and output, Harmony TV controller, security camera, temp/hum/motion/light sensors, thermostats, a Pi with a relay board to open/close the garage and soon a sensor for detecting the door position. I want to get a weather station, too. Be very interesting to watch when hurricanes come around. Assuming it's still there.
Sometimes I feel like such a Luddite. Which is weird, since people assume that as the chief engineer of a TV station, I must have some awesome home-automation setup.
Nope. My thermostat, while programmable, isn't networked to anything. Neither are my light bulbs. Or my window shades. Or anything which isn't obviously a general-purpose computing device of some kind.
I feel like such a neanderthal.
I have to actually turn a damn handle to open a window, or reach for a remote on the coffee table to dim the lights.
FML.
I feel like such a neanderthal.
I have to actually turn a damn handle to open a window, or reach for a remote on the coffee table to dim the lights.
FML.
I feel like such a neanderthal.
I have to actually turn a damn handle to open a window, or reach for a remote on the coffee table to dim the lights.
FML.
It's interesting to think that people like you and I will be the only ones able to open a door, cook a meal, etc., in the event of a major network outage.
It's interesting to think that people like you and I will be the only ones able to open a door, cook a meal, etc., in the event of a major network outage.
Such a primitive condition...
Don't count me out. I think a few weeks ago we had someone telling to spend $80+ to.be able to turn on a ceiling fan .....for the room in to which I just walked, so I could do it but an app.
Makes no sense, I like the tactile feel of using real life things
Don't count me out. I think a few weeks ago we had someone telling to spend $80+ to.be able to turn on a ceiling fan .....for the room in to which I just walked, so I could do it but an app.
Makes no sense, I like the tactile feel of using real life things
It's not even a money thing.
A few days ago, I was riding along in a Tesla 3.
It was an impressive car in most respects. Fast, quiet, good handling. But I gradually became aware of the fact that every time the driver (be it myself or the owner) wanted to make a change to any aspect of the HVAC or radio controls, we had to take our eyes off the road, look down to the screen, and align our finger to the icon in order to press it.
It was in that moment that I became aware of the fact that in my own car, I can adjust any setting on the radio or climate control system purely by feel, without moving my eyes away from the road.
It's such a basic and simple concept that I'd never been aware of it, until it was taken away from me.
An interesting photo, taken a few nights ago by the wife of the dude on the left.
26 years ago, the dude on the left hired the dude on the right (who was then a sophomore in high school) to work part-time at a little radio station in a small town in Florida. The dude on the right did not realize at the time that the dude on the left was actually a legend in the broadcast engineering community, who was treating this little radio station as his retirement hobby.
(Things happened in the interim.)
The dude on the left is now totally out of broadcasting, owns a small vacation property in St. Thomas, and he and Mrs. Dude on the Left basically travel the world. (As an aside, I lost my virginity to his daughter, in his own home, which I kind of vaguely suspect that maybe he knew about at the time, and yet we have never spoken of it. He continued to express that he'd be wholly supportive of my marrying Miss. Dude on the Left Jr. for many years, until she ultimately married Mr. deli counter manager at Publix. While I have all the respect in the world for Mr. Dude on the Left, the daughter, while physically attractive, was not of top-tier intellect.)
And this is the point of my whole analysis: How the hell is it that the two of us have the exact same hairline?
It was an impressive car in most respects. Fast, quiet, good handling. But I gradually became aware of the fact that every time the driver (be it myself or the owner) wanted to make a change to any aspect of the HVAC or radio controls, we had to take our eyes off the road, look down to the screen, and align our finger to the icon in order to press it.
It was in that moment that I became aware of the fact that in my own car, I can adjust any setting on the radio or climate control system purely by feel, without moving my eyes away from the road.
It's such a basic and simple concept that I'd never been aware of it, until it was taken away from me.
Who needs to pay attention to the road? That's what collision avoidance and autopilot are for!
Or anything which isn't obviously a general-purpose computing device of some kind.
I have two issues with most of the home automation stuff out there. One is the unnecessary complexity of it (there's a twitter status feed out there from someone who decided to hook up his kettle to Alex and 8 hours later wound up having to download a software update for his dining room lights in order to eat dinner...), the other is a lot of it is very poor quality software, from unknown vendors, riddled with security holes, and providing no visibility into what it's actually doing. I don't particularly want my thermostat uploading data to an unknown server in China, or joining a Russian botnet.
That said, I DO have my sprinklers controlled by a python script running on a Raspberry Pi, which downloads the schedule from Google calendar. It's perhaps a bit more complex than really necessary, but at least I have a lot visibility into it and can update the software as I like.
As someone who lives in the lightning capital of North America and a location occasionally effected by tropical weather, I prefer analog switching for many devices. We've already had to replace the home air conditioning air handler blower motor because it is not a simple AC current motor. It contains a printed circuit board populated with a multitude of delicate components that change the current to DC and vary the output constantly. It only survived two years where the previous motor didn't fail in 20 years. The service technician indicated that they fail regularly due to voltage drops and cost $800 plus labor to replace. The OG fan motor would be about $100 to replace and seldom fail.
I have two issues with most of the home automation stuff out there. One is the unnecessary complexity of it (there's a twitter status feed out there from someone who decided to hook up his kettle to Alex and 8 hours later wound up having to download a software update for his dining room lights in order to eat dinner...), the other is a lot of it is very poor quality software, from unknown vendors, riddled with security holes, and providing no visibility into what it's actually doing. I don't particularly want my thermostat uploading data to an unknown server in China, or joining a Russian botnet.
It's been my experience that those who are into home automation at a hobby-level tend to design for maximum complexity.
Originally Posted by sixshooter
As someone who lives in the lightning capital of North America and a location occasionally effected by tropical weather, I prefer analog switching for many devices. We've already had to replace the home air conditioning air handler blower motor because it is not a simple AC current motor. It contains a printed circuit board populated with a multitude of delicate components that change the current to DC and vary the output constantly. It only survived two years where the previous motor didn't fail in 20 years. The service technician indicated that they fail regularly due to voltage drops and cost $800 plus labor to replace. The OG fan motor would be about $100 to replace and seldom fail.
True, but without those complex electronic controls, the unit would consume 1% more electricity. So by spending $800 plus labor every two years, you're saving nearly $40 per year in energy costs, PLUS the manufacturer of the unit gets to place a sticker on the unit saying that it's Energy Star certified!
I must admit i DO like my Ecobees. But i specifically got the Ecobee 3 Lites so i didn't have that bitch Alexa in my house. I ONLY wanted their HVAC control methods and datalogging. I have a strange HVAC setup in my house and the old Honeywell controllers just weren't cutting it. Between the thermostats, replacing a window, 2 exterior doors, and rebuilding patio door, i've cut the electric bill by about 70% the rolling 12 months average the previous owners had.
That is why I roll my own stuff. IoT network is completely segregated from my home network. I'm still a little worried about the thermostats until I can isolate them to only talk to Daikin and Ecobee since they could still be used in a bot net, but they are at least restricted from talking to anything on the local network and throughput is restricted to the internet. HA requires certs for any connections and is limited by IP access controls. Remote access to HA requires VPN and a client cert.
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