Amazon Echo

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Amazon Echo

1 | ... | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ... | 80

6487 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 524

Trusted

#1561581 29-May-2016 10:57

SumnerBoy: I am so impressed by ha-bridge. A single jar which is completely self contained. Just run it up and connect to port 8080 and start seeing up devices. Using with openhab means you can control just about anything and it is lightning quick.

This has turned my Echo from a gimmick to something i use everyday. Even the wife lives it, she is able to turn on the tv, avr and sky whilst she has her hands full work our 4 month old.

Agreed. I even managed to get my Dlink power module controlled by Alexa. The Dlink has Alexa support but it's a skill, not a smarthome device and requires quite wordy controls.

Since there is no native support for the Dlink in OpenHAB I followed this set of instructions.

http://rhapen.czweb.org/2016/04/11/d-link-smart-plug-dsp-w215-with-openhab/#comment-5

This was written obviously for Unix but managed to get it working for Windows. If I could find a way to install node.js on a Pi already running OpenElec (I tried and it complained saying I should use Kodi repositories) I would move everything to run on my Pi 2. Might be worth picking up another Pi just to run openHAB.

Also if you want to play with Alexa there is a web emulation available here

https://echosim.io

It doesn't do music or have the great microphones of course, but it does do the home automation and other Alexa functions.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 165

#1561587 29-May-2016 11:17

Totally agree sumnerboy in fact I removed the old armzilla ha bridge and upgraded to the bwsystems ha bridge a couple nights ago after seeing your post. I then ditched Yonomi and added harmony hub in and configured. Way better! I don't really like IFTTT or Yonomi purely because I don't like the idea of allowing 3rd parties the ability to see my devices etc. plus keeping it all "local" is faster and puts me back in the drivers seat.

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 165

#1561787 29-May-2016 16:38

Ha, just read this - and exactly why I don't particularly like sites such as IFTTT or Yonomi...

http://nzh.tw/11646957

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 165

#1575834 17-Jun-2016 15:44

And just after I say I don't like cloud services... just installed this

Alexa marries Roger

Talk to Alexa to control your house from your mobile!

https://rogertalk.com/

Works mint.

networkn

Networkn
32446 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 14982

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1717342 8-Feb-2017 18:58

How do we get the Alexa app on the iPhone if it's not in the app store?

pedrogarcia

250 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 67

Trusted

#1717343 8-Feb-2017 18:59

networkn

Networkn
32446 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 14982

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1717355 8-Feb-2017 19:25

pedrogarcia: Sign in with a US account

Not an easy solution for this particular person.

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 165

#1717370 8-Feb-2017 20:16

Create a separate gmail account, US based.

LimitlessLED

216 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#1726147 25-Feb-2017 16:02

I want to start setting up 2 Amazon Echo Dots in my house, and I am going to write some blogs how to set it up on a $9 OrangePI mini Armbian PC.

I have 2 questions.

1. What are the phrases I can use with Amazon Echo dot?

All I currently know is how to control my LimitlessLED lights using Siri (using a nodejs program called homebridge)

Can I get the same type of phrases going with Alexa? what does alexa take?

"Siri, Turn all lights off"           (sends command to homebridge turns all my lights off)
"Siri, Turn Rumpus room lights to 50"     (50% brightness)
"Siri, Turn Lounge lights blue"    (Blue)
"Siri, Turn Dining room lights ON"
"Siri, Turn Rumpus Wall lights ON"     (50% brightness)

with siri/homebridge/limitlessled I just type the names of the rooms into homebridge and siri knows them all with no learning required, is that the same with Alexa? or does it only know preset room names?

2. How far can echo dot hear me, do I need 2 in my kitchen/dining/lounge large area? I am thinking of just getting one for my master bedroom, and one for the centre of lounge/dining/kitchen.

Thanks,
Hamish,
-LimitlessLED.

chimera

511 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 165

#1726257 25-Feb-2017 21:01

LimitlessLED:

1. What are the phrases I can use with Amazon Echo dot?

All I currently know is how to control my LimitlessLED lights using Siri (using a nodejs program called homebridge)

Can I get the same type of phrases going with Alexa? what does alexa take?

"Siri, Turn all lights off"           (sends command to homebridge turns all my lights off)
"Siri, Turn Rumpus room lights to 50"     (50% brightness)
"Siri, Turn Lounge lights blue"    (Blue)
"Siri, Turn Dining room lights ON"
"Siri, Turn Rumpus Wall lights ON"     (50% brightness)

with siri/homebridge/limitlessled I just type the names of the rooms into homebridge and siri knows them all with no learning required, is that the same with Alexa? or does it only know preset room names?

Historically, Alexa could do one hell of a lot, but now its moreso just "on/off/dim" commands. A lot of the other commands are reserved for various products that integrate with Alexa. For example, I used to be able to say "Alexa, open the garage door" and "Alexa, close the garage door" but that doesn't work anymore so I have to say "Alexa, turn on the garage door", "Alexa, turn the garage door off". Likewise with the front door, "lock" / "unlock", but now on/off. It works, but kind of a pain. Pity the wife isn't wired into the open automation, "Alexa, turn on the wife"...

Since you use Homebridge and Siri, I assume you use Apple's Homekit. You will still need some form of home automation software if you have Alexa. Most use OpenHAB. All your examples above work with Alexa just fine and if you use OpenHAB 2, there is now an official binding for Alexa that has been certified by Amazon.

https://community.openhab.org/t/official-alexa-smart-home-skill-for-openhab-2/23533

If you use OpenHAB 1.8, then you'd need to install an HA bridge.

https://github.com/bwssytems/ha-bridge

(pointless going 1.8 now, all efforts are concentrated on OpenHAB 2.0)

For controlling multiple lights, then you can simply group the items and turn the group on or off. Alternately, you can create a 'dummy' item in OpenHAB and use it in a rule to turn multiple items on or off. For example, I say "Alexa, turn on bedtime" and she closes the garage door (if its open), closes the hall blinds (if they're open), locks the front door, turns the TV off, turns all outside lights off and turns all living area lights off.

2. How far can echo dot hear me, do I need 2 in my kitchen/dining/lounge large area? I am thinking of just getting one for my master bedroom, and one for the centre of lounge/dining/kitchen.

She can hear extraordinarily well at distance, including over the top of other noise. I have a single Echo in my Lounge, which can service my entire kitchen/dining/lounge area. In fact, if its quiet and I yell loud enough, she can hear me from about 20 metres away. I suspect the DOT has the same range as the Echo, just obviously smaller profile and speaker.

networkn

Networkn
32446 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 14982

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1726281 25-Feb-2017 22:58

Well, I have a strange problem. I have an Echo, which has been working fine, and now a dot on the same account in a different location.

Since installing my dot, my echo is acting super weird. We set timers at home and they don't go off. Alexa will acknowledge the timer being set, but 1 minute later when asked time remaining, says no timers are set!

LimitlessLED

216 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#1727323 27-Feb-2017 18:49

chimera:

Historically, Alexa could do one hell of a lot, but now its moreso just "on/off/dim" commands. A lot of the other commands are reserved for various products that integrate with Alexa. For example, I used to be able to say "Alexa, open the garage door" and "Alexa, close the garage door" but that doesn't work anymore so I have to say "Alexa, turn on the garage door", "Alexa, turn the garage door off". Likewise with the front door, "lock" / "unlock", but now on/off. It works, but kind of a pain. Pity the wife isn't wired into the open automation, "Alexa, turn on the wife"...

Since you use Homebridge and Siri, I assume you use Apple's Homekit. You will still need some form of home automation software if you have Alexa. Most use OpenHAB. All your examples above work with Alexa just fine and if you use OpenHAB 2, there is now an official binding for Alexa that has been certified by Amazon.

Thanks Chimera,

I came across two solutions today.. looks like the light commands can be sent directly from HA-bridge to the LimitlessLED bulbs via a simple script if needed...

one is using a simple nodejs script to turn the lights on/off/brightness

http://codecorner.galanter.net/2017/02/24/full-control-of-your-limitless-ledmilight-v6-bulbs-from-amazon-echo/

and the other is using domoticz (similiar to your OpenHAB idea above)

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=113569&page_no=51#1712876

I will try the OpenHAB2 out, and I will try out the nodejs ha-bridge script. I will see which works out better.

Cheers,
-Hamish.

mattwnz

20259 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4524

#1727329 27-Feb-2017 19:08

networkn:

Well, I have a strange problem. I have an Echo, which has been working fine, and now a dot on the same account in a different location.

Since installing my dot, my echo is acting super weird. We set timers at home and they don't go off. Alexa will acknowledge the timer being set, but 1 minute later when asked time remaining, says no timers are set!

What does the app say about the timers status, when you connect that way?

LimitlessLED

216 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#1727341 27-Feb-2017 19:33

chimera:

Alexa could do one hell of a lot, but now its moreso just "on/off/dim" commands.

Graham from Wellington found a way to get colors on Amazon Echo by hacking the dim command... very cool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOWdbQ3_oJc

smbunn

107 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#1729023 2-Mar-2017 16:49

I have had my Echo for about 1 month. Setting up for NZ time is now trivial as it is in settings, but of course without a US zip code if I ask "Alexa where am I" she replies with "You are in Seattle".

I have a Harmony Smart Hub and using the US blue harmony App for Alexa all I have to say is "Alexa turn on the TV" and she powers up my media center, turns on my amp, turns on my TV, sets my TV to HDMI 1, turns my amp to PC input and starts media center on the PC, starts Live TV and chooses channel 3. There was a lot of issues with getting my wife and daughters to accept spoken commands but they now use Alexa for TV and my Spotify premium account. Its cool to say "Alexa play New Zealand Hot Hits on Spotify" and have Alexa turn on the amp, bluetooth's to my amp and hence my speakers and start Spotify all in one go. Not that I listen to Hot Hits...but anything to get the family to use it :-)

I have DLink smart plugs and these work perfectly, no special command I can just say "Alexa turn on the lights" and it knows only one smart device is called lights. I don't have to say "Alexa ask Dlink to turn on the lights"

I have a garadget smart garage door controller on my ancient Merlin garage door unit which works perfectly. I use IFTTT to link this to Alexa and can just say "Alexa trigger the garage door open" and away it goes. I also have IFTTT work via my phone so the garage door opens when I arrive home on my bike.

I have just bought 6 Itead Sonoff WiFi power switches at NZ$7 each including postage from DHGate. They work perfectly with Alexa but I am about to hack them using 'esp easy' so I can link them into HAB.

I am really hanging out for a truly NZ aware Echo, but Amazon have been non-committal. In the meantime I am just enjoying tinkering.

I assume you have all said "Alexa, self destruct" She has a number of amusing responses.

1 | ... | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ... | 80