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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: nmur on Sat, 06 May 2017, 06:48:25

Title: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: nmur on Sat, 06 May 2017, 06:48:25
any of you guys have a serious smart home setup going?

i got an Echo Dot and a couple of Xiaomi Yeelights (really cheap) to test out and they're pretty cool

also have had Tasker running on my phone for a while, but it's not doing anything too special. turns on my wifi when i get home, and can turn on my pc via WoL when my home wifi connects, but i've disabled that at the moment as i don't always need it to turn on
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 06 May 2017, 07:15:34
i just want dem auto cooking robot arms..

but i mean, that's super dangerous.. because one broken servo, and it'd cut ur head off.. hahahaha
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: nmur on Sat, 06 May 2017, 08:12:33
i just want dem auto cooking robot arms..

but i mean, that's super dangerous.. because one broken servo, and it'd cut ur head off.. hahahaha
the dangerous one I see is the smart door locks

super convenient if it works correctly, but one misconfiguration or edge case and you risk your house being unlocked for the whole day or something

perhaps better to use in conjunction with a deadlock
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 06 May 2017, 08:18:41
i just want dem auto cooking robot arms..

but i mean, that's super dangerous.. because one broken servo, and it'd cut ur head off.. hahahaha
the dangerous one I see is the smart door locks

super convenient if it works correctly, but one misconfiguration or edge case and you risk your house being unlocked for the whole day or something

perhaps better to use in conjunction with a deadlock



If some one wants to break in.. they go through windows..  why bother picking locks.
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: kmba on Sat, 06 May 2017, 08:30:20
I want to want more home automation, but I think most of the ideas are worthless to me.

MY wifi thermostat is awesome though.  Highly recommend one especially for the lazy. I'd like a smart washer/dryer that notify me when stuff is done.  I'm constantly forgetting about laundry.  However, I never forget my keys or to lock doors, so smart locks are stupid.

Smart sensors are a fine idea to replace older dumb alarm systems, monitor leaking/flooding, tell you if your house is on fire, or if your dog or baby escaped, etc.  Smart cameras too.

Smart outlets.. well.  They're 5-10x as expensive as an ordinary outlet timer, so I have trouble seeing the benefit.
Smart lights.. again, what's the benefit over a $4 timer?  oh they change coooooolors.  ooooo.
Smart fridge.. uhg.  I'm always out of everything and I don't need you reminding me.
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: nmur on Sat, 06 May 2017, 08:59:51
Smart lights.. again, what's the benefit over a $4 timer?  oh they change coooooolors.  ooooo.

imo main benefit of the smart lights is that you can toggle them and dim them remotely, and in groups. i don't care for coloured lights, not planning any raves any time soon. i do, however, like dimming my bedroom light to 20% from my bed and then later turning it off remotely too.
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 06 May 2017, 09:07:55
From being alive long enough, I've come to realize that the house uses me more than I use it..   

So.. IMHO,  we should all move to smaller boxes,  the size of approximately 3x human being..

then there's like a feeding tube right? and some other tubes for other functions..


Oh wait..  Yea. basically we should move to the matrix.. way better..
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: SBJ on Sat, 06 May 2017, 09:24:16
From being alive long enough, I've come to realize that the house uses me more than I use it..   

So.. IMHO,  we should all move to smaller boxes,  the size of approximately 3x human being..

then there's like a feeding tube right? and some other tubes for other functions..


Oh wait..  Yea. basically we should move to the matrix.. way better..
Home automation isn't at a stage where I'd say it's necessary for me.
Also tp4.... why? Move to the Matrix?! You want to be a battery for the robot overlords?! :O
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 06 May 2017, 09:31:27
From being alive long enough, I've come to realize that the house uses me more than I use it..   

So.. IMHO,  we should all move to smaller boxes,  the size of approximately 3x human being..

then there's like a feeding tube right? and some other tubes for other functions..


Oh wait..  Yea. basically we should move to the matrix.. way better..
Home automation isn't at a stage where I'd say it's necessary for me.
Also tp4.... why? Move to the Matrix?! You want to be a battery for the robot overlords?! :O



If they dare plug tp4 in.. the robot overlords would only be assimilated by Tp4.. not the other way around... !!
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: SBJ on Sat, 06 May 2017, 09:47:09
If they dare plug tp4 in.. the robot overlords would only be assimilated by Tp4.. not the other way around... !!
Reverse-assimilation.
So basically you're Neo?
Do you see the Matrix?
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 06 May 2017, 09:54:31
If they dare plug tp4 in.. the robot overlords would only be assimilated by Tp4.. not the other way around... !!
Reverse-assimilation.
So basically you're Neo?
Do you see the Matrix?

stop doing that.. pull ur pants up.. ur making god cry..



sees all ..
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: davkol on Sat, 06 May 2017, 11:44:15
Smart lights.. again, what's the benefit over a $4 timer?  oh they change coooooolors.  ooooo.

imo main benefit of the smart lights is that you can toggle them and dim them remotely, and in groups.
You, but not only *you*.

something something internet of ****
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: madhias on Sat, 06 May 2017, 12:58:30
I have some sensors, but only weather related like temperature and humidity, and a Home Assistant installation running on a Raspberry. The sensors don't need much battery, that's great (https://www.mysensors.org/). And I have one Hue lamp. But no automation at all :)
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: pr0ximity on Mon, 08 May 2017, 13:51:00


the dangerous one I see is the smart door locks

super convenient if it works correctly, but one misconfiguration or edge case and you risk your house being unlocked for the whole day or something

perhaps better to use in conjunction with a deadlock

Don't forget to mention security of the locking device itself. Smart cars' locks have already been known to be vulnerable to simple replay attacks and brute forcing.

As with all closed-source IoT devices there is an extreme lack in oversight on security and configuration.
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: tp4tissue on Mon, 08 May 2017, 13:55:38


the dangerous one I see is the smart door locks

super convenient if it works correctly, but one misconfiguration or edge case and you risk your house being unlocked for the whole day or something

perhaps better to use in conjunction with a deadlock

Don't forget to mention security of the locking device itself. Smart cars' locks have already been known to be vulnerable to simple replay attacks and brute forcing.

As with all closed-source IoT devices there is an extreme lack in oversight on security and configuration.


Only if it works in 60 seconds though no ? hahahahhahahhaa
Title: Re: Smart Home/Home Automation thread
Post by: brianjking on Thu, 07 June 2018, 15:22:40
any of you guys have a serious smart home setup going?

i got an Echo Dot and a couple of Xiaomi Yeelights (really cheap) to test out and they're pretty cool

also have had Tasker running on my phone for a while, but it's not doing anything too special. turns on my wifi when i get home, and can turn on my pc via WoL when my home wifi connects, but i've disabled that at the moment as i don't always need it to turn on


This has to be the only subforum category I didn't go through at all or at least not this deep. Anyway, I use Home Assistant (https://www.home-assistant.io/) (open source) on a RaspberryPi along with various hardware. You can run Home Assistant on Linux, Mac, & Windows as well, however, the Pi is the cheapest and most logical route for me. Over 1,083 components and more components are added roughly every 14 days. I'm unfortunately limited a bit with what I can do as I live in a 1900-1910 or so brownstone in Chicago and subsequently don't want to/can't replace my thermostat for a smart option (Nest and the like) or replace my door locks with something like a Ring doorbell. However, you can check out what I do use and my configuration files on my GitHub (https://github.com/brianjking/homeassistant-config).


Happy to chat about Home Automation with Home Assistant or otherwise here in this Geekhack thread, Slack, or the /r/mk discord.


Cheers!