Suggestions for my setup? Very new here.

[jo34l5]

Been slowly working on my home automation setup over the year buying commercial sensors, but it occurred to me a few months ago I could probably build some stuff with arudino and that eventually led me here.

CURRENT SETUP:

• powerful server which runs homeassistant in docker

• a zwave/zigbee dongle

• few sensors (haven't had much time to mess with rules)

• influxdb, grafana, chronograf installed on another container on the same server

• PLANNED SETUP:
  arduino run sensors in many rooms in my house which include (in order of priority):

• motion

• light

• humidity

• temperature

• VOC

• PM2.5 etc

• sound

I planned on doing

arduino sensors -> (UDP) -> influxdb <- (homeassitant influxdb plugin) <- homeassistant -> (scripts and rules) -> devices

for the automation, and viewing data with grafana as necessary. I was HOPING to set up all these sensors in a single arduino and creating a custom enclosure, have it 3d printed, and mount them throughout my house.

notes:

• I chose homeassistant because it's more popular and I know python well.
• I chose UDP over MQTT, because it eliminated an MQTT broker and probably something like Telegraf to get arduino mqtt to influxdb (I think).
• I know mostly about the upstream computing. The hardware/electronic side I'm very much a newbie.

Any comments? Suggestions? Critiques?
THANKS!

[mfalkvidd]

@jo34l5 your best start is probably to read the getting started guide: https://www.mysensors.org/about

It describes what MySensors is designed for. After reading that, you’ll better equipped to determine if MySensors is useful for you.

[TRS-80]

Well, sounds like you have the basics of a decent system going. The most important thing is probably the interest, and you seem to have that. Everything else can be learned, bought, etc. given enough resources (time, money).

After reading your other thread, it's not even clear MySensors meets your needs, but if it might or you are not dead set on using Wi-Fi (or consider it in combination with other things), then I would encourage you to stick around and read. And I mean read a lot. You will learn a lot here, and you will need it before you will be ready to put together anything that actually has a chance of working. It took me literally years (but maybe you are smarter than me ).

I am not sure I would be shying away from MQTT at this point. In fact personally I am rebuilding my controller and gateway setups recently, and decide this time to go MQTT. I'm sure you have your reasons, but it seems to me that quite a lot of different things are converging on or via MQTT these days, and with good reason. It seems to be a legitimate, quite open, and well adopted standard that is rapidly becoming a lot of the glue between disparate systems. Having said that, there are lots of different ways to skin a cat...

HomeAssistant is a fine choice that many people make. I haven't used it, but haven't heard much if anything bad.

[Humandroid]

This webpage might help [https://www.terabee.com/](link url) there are motion & thermal sensor, or even people counting if you want to check how many people are inside your home (while you are not there… haha)

[jo34l5]

Thanks for the replies. I'll look into it. I'm not set on WIFI in any means, I do have zigbee, zwave, wifi so one of those would have been the most logical to jump off of, AND ill have plug-in power to all my sensor clusters. But also I do like the reliability of mesh-type systems than WIFI (have personally experienced how horrible those wifi bulbs are and those generally turned me off to WIFI but now WIFI looked to be my easiest entrypoint into DIY sensors (TCP/IP, UDP, ports, WPA this stuff I understand somewhat already). But I may prototype two different versions and see how mysensors meets my needs.

Thanks for your help. I'll do more reading.

[Smart Projects ABC]

You have to do some thinking. The sensor that you need must:

1. Support Google Home Assistant or Amazon Alexa. One of these will be your main control interface.
2. In addition, you want sensors that supports ITTT (ittt.com) for more advance automation.
3. The “connectivity protocol” (zigbee, RF, WiFI) they use is the one that suites you the best. I like WiFi whenever possible so that I do not have to have all kind of bridges/gateways for every product.
4. Finally, you might want sensor that support custom firmware. All modern sensors (as products) they are cloud enabled and if you do not like this, you could change this (not with all products).
   For home use, Sonoff products are very good devices to start. Some of them support DIY mode (using REST API), LAN mode (control locally without internet) and even installing custom firmware like Tasmota. Unfortunatelly, it is difficult to have one brand for all your sensors (or am I wrong) :)?

[Sasquatch]

@Smart-Projects-ABC
1- not really. HA can use any sensor with Google Assistant(not sure if alexa was added since I last used it)
2-flash requried? - going back to 2005 is IMHO not the way forward, what kind of advanced automation cannot be done in, say Domoticz or HomeAssistant?
3-as little different protocols as practicable is a good idea
4- I would add: avoid cloud based sensors at all cost for security and future proofing reasons. Cloud based sensor can be rendered useless by vendor deciding it's time to sell you a new one. Having local controller talking to sensors/actuators over WIFI/ZIGBEE/RFM69/NRF24/MagicBeam and allowing remote control over GA/Aexa/an app is more robust solution than every sensor talking to a server in china over different open port and ten talking trough outdated website(ittt.com) to talk to controller over yet another open port....

And yes, with a bit of creativity and couple seeedstudio.com orders you can get every sensor you want on MySensors transport

[TRS-80]

@Sasquatch said in Suggestions for my setup? Very new here.:

avoid cloud based sensors at all cost for security and future proofing reasons.

+1

All that "cloud" means is "someone else's computer."

If you do not understand how anything works and just buy some device(s), you will most likely be at mercy of high priced, proprietary locked-in solutions. But as you increase your knowledge, you (greatly!) increase your options and freedom to make different choices!

At least you are doing research, good for you, keep it up!

@Smart-Projects-ABC said in Suggestions for my setup? Very new here.:

Support Google Home Assistant or Amazon Alexa. One of these will be your main control interface.

I disagree with this. Yes I know vast majority of people will do this because "it's easier." However those things creeps me out, personally I would never have one in my home.

I was able to get full and custom (much better than Amazon/Google, actually) voice control in my system using completely F/LOSS Software and Hardware. Yes it took a little more work to set up. But for me, well worth it. And I actually not only have freedom and privacy, but also quite a lot more functionality than what I see friends are able to do with their proprietary solutions.

[projectMarvin]

@Smart-Projects-ABC
I'm sorry but I respectfully have to disagree with you on every point.

1. The OP is talking about Home Automation and already has a capable server (HA), so any need to directly control/talk to actuators/sensors is a failure.
2. I would consider IFTTT a last resort and only use it if I want to use something that ONLY supports IFTTT.
3. I agree with using the one that suits you best, but I would call WiFi a last resort. However anything beats going through the cloud.
4. I would advise against messing with the FW unless you need to. That's how you break compatibility (and sometimes hardware).
   I would recommend any sensor/gateway/echosystem that allow local control and that you are in charge of upgrading.
   If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh but since the OP already has a HA setup I feel your suggestions are completely wrong.

@jo34l5 Design you HA setup with internet independency in mind and you'll probably end up with a very stable solution that does what you want, when you want it.
You said you haven't spent to much time on the rules yet, this is where I would recommend you spend the most time.

@Sasquatch said in Suggestions for my setup? Very new here.:

avoid cloud based sensors at all cost for security and future proofing reasons.

and stability, and reactivity/delay, and.. I think this list could be endless

[Sasquatch]

Imagine thermostat relying on IFTTT/cloud to work on schedule and your internet fails(winter, someone crashes car into ISP cabinet)...

[alowhum]

Have a look at https://www.candesmarthome.com for a very privacy focussed MySensors based smart home solution

[FORSUNCNC]

Dear all,
Through this post, I admit that I have learned a lot. Forsun CNC is a company specializing in CNC Router. If you have something you want to know about, we can also discuss it together.

[projectMarvin]

@alowhum That link does not seem to work

[rejoe2]

@projectMarvin He might have meant https://www.candlesmarthome.com.

There might be several other cloud-free open-source solutions for home automation. I personally use FHEM which "since ever" has been designed to run cloud-free and allow local control to virtually everything. (downside is: most likely as most (all?) other controller software offering a lot of options and allowing to control everything, you have to learn the underlaying language or at least a lot of specific commands/script instructions). Despite that, if you absolutely desire to involve one of the big internet players, it's possible to also add voice control options (to some extend also locally afaik; I' more focused on automation to overcome the needs for active user interaction).

Beside that: +1 to the statements of @projectMarvin .

[projectMarvin]

@rejoe2 Cool thx!
I haven't heard of either.
FHEM looks promising, anything from Germany generally means it's great (according to my experience). However it seems most forum activity is in German.
Yes I agree, any free solution offering extensive options and multiple hardware support will have a quite steep learning curve.
I do however feel like we are getting off topic

[TRS-80]

@projectMarvin said in Suggestions for my setup? Very new here.:

I would advise against messing with the FW unless you need to

I agree with general gist of your whole post, except this one point.

If we are talking about stuff like {Tasmota, ESPurna, ESPEasy, etc.} this "messing with firmware" is how you achieve freedom / independence from "clouds" / etc. and by now has become quite mundane and easy, even being able to do so over the air, with no need of soldering.

Other sorts of devices may lead to other conclusions where firmware tinkering may be much more difficult.

Of course, technically you are correct by saying "unless you need to." However in my view (apparently yours as well ), independence from "clouds" is a "need."

Cheers!