Automated AV control and other Home Automation

[superczar]

Continuing from another thread

Will have to look into these.

However I've done some proof of concept on home automation like turning on/off lights using Arduino, Relays and self developed Android app.

I thought we were talking about that type of home automation where we can control all electrical appliances etc.

I think we are deviating from original topic. Can we start another thread on Home Automation please?

Here are some details of the setup

Controllers:

1. Voice via Amazon Echo (e.g. Alexa, Turn on TV; Alexa, turn on Kitchen Speakers)
2. Phone App
3. Browser (as in the screenshots)
4. Physical Remote (Harmony- remains in sync with selection from other controllers - e.g. switching on movie via voice would also mean that the remote knows that play/pause buttons = Kodi on NUC control/TV means play/pause = Airtel DVR control)

AV automation:

1. workflow (e.g Turn on movie will switch on tv, AVR, Sub, switch input to NUC, switch AVR input to NUC)
2. Mood Lighting (e.g. playback on TV will turn living room lights to 50% and warm white, playback on media player will turn lights to 10% and cyan, pausing playback will turn lights back to full)
3. Zone playback for music (transfer music playback from phone/plex to any of the 4 speaker zones viz Living room, Bedroom, Kitchen, Garden)
4. Persistent playback (pause a movie in living room - move to bedroom - start playback from paused point)

Other Home Automation

1. Automation for all lights including 8 full RGB spectrum and approx 20 controllers
2. 7 weather sensors- Maintaining weather records (for geekiness) and other useful stuff (turn lights to cooler shade when temperature >25 and warmer shade when temperature <20)
3. 4 Motion Sensors - Useful for say switching on Porch lights when motion detected outdoor between 10PM and sunrise; or recording camera feed if motion detected during night/weekday office hours
4. Camera feeds - Accessible outside home as well on the phone + snapshots if motion detected during Home being locked
5. Utility sensors - Capturing power usage in real time with historical charts and usage patterns

All of this was done at a fraction of the cost demanded by professional agencies while offering significantly greater control and granularity of control.
The core is based on a linux based automation server called domoticz and a combination of off-the-shelf devices (like Amazon Echo, Harmony hub, LIFX bulbs, milight bulbs) and some DIY components (esp8266/relay boards/sensors)

Since I am home alone tonight , Let me also try capture a video and post it

Edited: Here are a couple of Videos
Alexa with Living Room - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IcMojTEqc4
Kodi with Domoticz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_30OYR2TRPk

 

[sud98]

Can you give more details on the core,the costs and how did you build it?

Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

 

[superczar]

Added Video as it's hard to explain through text -

- Alexa with Living Room - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IcMojTEqc4
- Kodi with Domoticz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_30OYR2TRPk

The core is running on a NUC running domoticz although Raspberry Pi works as well
Mine was on RPi for the first one odd year after which I moved it to an Intel NUC for stable full time production usage
The software at the core is Domoticz

It's hard to add up the costs as it has all come up over the last 3 years with pieces being added -Maybe around 1L but the bulk of the costs has come from the multiple Amazon Echos and LIFX light bulbs I use which are not really necessary for most people..
The core build can be even less than 5-10K for some - cheaper lights like milight also work very well

 

[sam9s]

MODS ...can you merge below thread's "Automation Discussion" with this thread .....please..

http://www.hifivision.com/home-thea...another-htpc-advice-thread-26.html#post710717

 

[sud98]

Mine was on RPi for the first one odd year after which I moved it to an Intel NUC for stable full time production usage
The software at the core is Domoticz

It's hard to add up the costs as it has all come up over the last 3 years with pieces being added -Maybe around 1L but the bulk of the costs has come from the multiple Amazon Echos and LIFX light bulbs I use which are not really necessary for most people..
The core build can be even less than 5-10K for some - cheaper lights like milight also work very well

Would an echo dot do the same instead of Echo as the music playback is not something I am interested?

Also, whats special about the LIFX or Hue or milight bulbs, why are they so expensive? Since LED bulbs are quite cheap adding just a wifi controller cannot be that expensive or I am missing something.

Would the hub that comes with the bulbs be of any use if you use the Domoticz core?

Sorry, too many questions.

 

[superczar]

Would an echo dot do the same instead of Echo as the music playback is not something I am interested?

Also, whats special about the LIFX or Hue or milight bulbs, why are they so expensive? Since LED bulbs are quite cheap adding just a wifi controller cannot be that expensive or I am missing something.

Would the hub that comes with the bulbs be of any use if you use the Domoticz core?

Sorry, too many questions.

Echo Dot - Yes, it would- It'll even do the music thingie - But it does need to be connected to powered speakers- In fact I am planning to order 2 Dots as the new $50 pricing is a steal

LIFX and Hue are both full spectrum bulbs - You can set them to any color/temperature that you want
Milight is a cheaper clone - it does multiple colors but you can't set the most oft used bit - i.e. the temperature of the light (think sunset yellow to cold fluorescent white)

as for the bulb hubs, they are just dumb translation devices.. i.e converting your TCP input (from echo/app etc) to a RF signal the bulb can understand

 

[sam9s]

MODS ...can you merge below thread's "Automation Discussion" with this thread .....please..

http://www.hifivision.com/home-thea...another-htpc-advice-thread-26.html#post710717

HELLO!!! Knock knock??? anyone mod listening .....

 

[sud98]

cant we manually copy/paste those threads and put it in this? I see only 8/10 posts which were relevant.

 

[sud98]

I got Domoticz installed on my Synology NAS (for no other reason other than I dont have a Pi). Now to explore what it can do and what devices do I start with.

What will be a good set of devices to start the experiment with?

 

[superczar]

You'll need some sensors or actuators
If you consider yourself good at DIY (& soldering) and don't want to spend much, Look up ESP_easy and build your own switches/sensors
If you want a simpler way to start, get a Philips Hue (or any of the out-of-box supported hardware - you can see the list in the hardware tab

 

[sud98]

Cant I use it to control and manage the devices to work like a macro based remote would do? For example, start a movie should wake up my htpc/kodi, start TV, change the source, start the pre/pro.

 

[superczar]

you will need an ir blaster for it...
I use a Harmony hub (because I need a physical remote ) but you can achieve the same with an Arduino/ESP8266 + IR module

 

[sud98]

In my new house, my builder is giving a basic version of home automation as part of the base cost which includes cameras in front and back garden as well as a few switch controls. The full home automation for all rooms was an expensive route so I didnt take it. On further research found that the product the builder is using is iYogi Smart Home Solution

Can I extend this solution using any of the tools (Domoticz/Alexa...) or will this be a closed solution?

 

[sud98]

What are your opinions on Control4 home automation? A friend of mine is getting it installed for his HT, will Domoticz give a similar control?

 

[superczar]

What are your opinions on Control4 home automation? A friend of mine is getting it installed for his HT, will Domoticz give a similar control?

Control4 is a significantly more expensive platform - but it is professionally installed and doesn't require the user to do anything setup related.

Domoticz on the other hand is a fairly involved setup - But it gives you far more flexibility than control4 is capable of
I have in fact lost count of the number of devices (probably 35+) hooked to domoticz and I am not even going to get into the count of rules/triggers/scenes/workflows that I have on it

The beauty of domoticz is it can be configured to get around all sorts of interoperability issues while Control4 will work only with devices strictly compatible with it..
My place has a huge mashup of all sorts of IoT devices and platforms ranging from Homekit (Apple), Smartthings (Samsung), Echo (Amazon), LIFX, Hue, Logitech, Z-wave among others as well as several cheap chinese IoT bulbs and switches - Domoticz acts as the central unifier for them all so they can all work seamlessly either through a single app or through Voice (On both Echo and iphone/ipad Siri) as well as be managed as a through a unified automated workflow (as if they were all on the same protocol/from the same manufacturer)

Having said that, If your friend is not technically inclined, control4 may suit his use case better..

 

[sviyer]

I recently got myself a Google Home , Samsung smart-things kit and couple of wall outlets. Also have ordered few Lifx lights.
Just started the home automation journey. I feel a mixed setup is better adapted to the fast changing technology.

 

[superczar]

I recently got myself a Google Home , Samsung smart-things kit and couple of wall outlets. Also have ordered few Lifx lights.
Just started the home automation journey. I feel a mixed setup is better adapted to the fast changing technology.

Indeed - With all sorts of new platforms being launched, it is all the more important that interoperability is given due thought
Here is a video showing Siri, Alexa, Smartthings, LIFX, Hue, Logitech Harmony and Milight playing together nicely with each other

https://youtu.be/FVPuEm0Y_L0

 

[sud98]

My builder is providing some basic home automation which is a smart lock, wifi bell, a few switches. These are based on a chinese company called Wulian which claims in its website its based on zigbee. So can this be extended using domoticz.

 

[heliumflight]

Check this out ...Sonos' existing range of wireless speakers, and with IKEA's Home Smart range of lights and switches

https://engt.co/2LtnHwJ