The best trigger depends…
Bedtime routines… I guess the best trigger is time. But if normal bedtime isn´t static, another variable would have to be added as well. Ie… weekdays one static time, weekend another static time, or perhaps weekend, no bedtime routines at all. It all depends on what kind a behaviour you would like.
Reduce temp - Again, the trigger can be different things… Most often (if it´s a room thermostat) it´ll be the room temperature. But it could be present detection or a combination of both, time of year, season etc…
Untill lately I had my skyline windows triggered from the outside temperature. I changed to inside temperature insted, as it seems more natural. But next step is to add more dependencies like outside weather etc… I already got preset detection for this as well, (windows doesnt open much, if none one is at home/alarm is armed).
It can be hard to figure whats the best way to trigger something. But most often I´ll say, you probably already know the answer. You´ll just have to give it a extra thought or perhaps ask someone else what they think. Rich is very good at this.
Yes, it was the bedtime routine that started me down this whole rabbit warren…it’s a routine for my daughter when she goes to sleep, lullabies on a sonos speaker, low volume, lights down to night light etc etc. It’s not always the same time every night as she loves to mess about so I wanted something to trigger it off.
She has a Sonos One with alexa in so it seemed logical. I just set up a dummy variable in OH, allowed it through myOH and got Alexa to trigger it to ON with a ‘Alexa it’s my bedtime’ command…this then triggers a rule to do everything.
It’s been so successful that it made me realise that the easiest way for me to bring some of my OH ‘tinkering’, (as my wife calls it), into standard family use was via Alexa.
That then sent me down this rabbit warren of thoughts!!!
Things like that tend to burst my brain as well
Using Alexa/voice command for triggering a rule like that is very powerfull as well. The triggering is the simple on/off part. The rule (what to do when triggered and which circumstances) is what makes it complicated.
I’d counter with why you feel the need to recreate this. OH has Sonos integration and Alexa integration, yes. But that doesn’t mean you have to replace something that works with OH. Integrating this with OH shouldn’t break what you already have working.
Kim’s IHC example is a good one. He hasn’t replaced the IHC with OH. Instead he extends that capability by adding openHAB to the mix.
I can confirm, this is pretty easy to do in the Google Home app. I’ve one Group consisting of a Google Home Hub and a Chromecast Audio and there is no noticeable synchronization issues between the two. I’m pretty satisfied with them.
This stuff doesn’t come for free. If time and effort is a concern for you then yes, you will have to share your information with a cloud service like Alexa or Google Home. If that concerns you then you will have to spend the time and effort to set up an alternative. The services you are using are not going to make it easy for you.
So this is something where a little bit of knowledge may put your mind at ease. I don’t use Alexa nor Sonos so I can’t say for sure this is how it actually works. But typically the way this sort of integration is supposed to work is through OAuth2 (or something like this). The key reason I bring this up is if this is used then your Sonos log in information is NOT shared with Amazon. Instead there is a procedure that you go through to authorize the access between the two clouds for your specific user. This access can be revoked at any time (without needing to change your password).
Now, once the access is approved by you, Amazon will have access to all the things that you approved to to have access to (I’m sure you are familiar with that window that comes up saying something like “Alexa wants access to X Y and Z”). But they never get a copy of your password.
It’s small consolation, but it does address the specific concern that you raised.
With the visibility tag you should be able to do something like that in BasicUI. I’m not saying that it would meet your needs, but it is possible. You can easily create Switches or the like and hide or show elements of the sitemap based on the state of that/those Items. This is the standard way to show charts with a different time scales on the sitemap, for example.
You mean Google Asssitant?
It’s probably worth noting that Google is working on a local control API which will let the Google Home devices speak directly with the devices locally instead of going through the cloud. This will obviously require Google to partner with what ever company makes the devices and will be limited to WiFi and BT devices but they have at least recognized the concern and will address it.
Because it’s going to be strictly Google to Device I’m not sure how much utility it will provide in the broader home automation context, but it’s a start.
I find the best trigger is actually lots of triggers. You don’t have to settle on just one. Sometimes a physical button or switch will be most convenient. Other times a voice command will be best. Still others the phone app may be most convenient. So don’t limit yourself to just one trigger. Create several and let the user and context choose the most appropriate trigger.
The absolute best trigger is some event that doesn’t require manual human interaction. Though of course that isn’t always possible or desirable.
I cant have as much info on one screen/display using default habpanel or basicUI… I do have simular setup using BasicUI, but I have to scroll or put several devices/items into several sitemaps. the advantages with using SVG/floorplan like this is to have all info placed in one screen, no need to scroll, change dashboard etc…
Yeah, Google Assistant ofcouse
I look forward to see how they´ll address this. But I dont think I´ll be using whatever they come up with. Openhab suits me fine atm. But if it will be able to connect direct to local openhab, then it could be very interesting.
Interesting thread. My goals are, perhaps, too lofty. Privacy is among my most important goals, so no Alexa/Amazon/Google/Apple anything for me. But this is only one element of a bigger picture in my case.
I have a reasonably unique situation. My plan is, ultimately, to monitor a fully functioning farm which includes “typical” home automation functions, then soil monitoring, local weather, solar power infrastructure, water management, visitor alerts, etc. The ultimate goal is an operating farm with some intelligence behind it to assist in animal and plant management while expending minimal resources. As I get better with OH, the reach of the system is expanding. I’m not sure there’s really an end to it - there’s just building, expansion and testing.
I plan on looking at snips.ai for much of my control next as trying to manage panels spread out over many building and many acres is getting expensive and cumbersome.
Wow, that is a pretty lofty goal…I like the fact that you have an actual need for automation as I think that is vital for success, perhaps that’s part of my problem in that I am just tinkering with ‘nice to haves’…
I’d be interested to be kept up to date on the project, I’m sure lots of interesting bits will come out of it.
