Make "Alexa" Control ANYTHING!
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- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- How to control your Raspberry Pi with an Amazon Echo (Alexa). Home automation can be cheap using a relay module instead of buying expensive "smart home" switches and outlets.
Materials used in this project (amazon affiliate links):
Echo Dot - amzn.to/2usgntT
Raspberry Pi - amzn.to/2upw7je
Touchscreen - amzn.to/2usgBBf
8 Channel Relay Module - amzn.to/2gWP1Jk
Mini Keyboard - amzn.to/2us9fho
Camera Remote - amzn.to/2usEEjT
Cheap Camera Jib - amzn.to/2upkRDb
"Fauxmo" Original File
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The nice part is you can control anything using this method. Any input that raspberry pi accepts can be used as feedback to control any output. The echo adds voice recognition and an audible response.
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That is ridiculously cool. This is the first time I could really imagine how useful it could be. Turning lights on and off is cool and everything, but when you're recording there are so many things that need to be just so. Having it set up to all be ready to record like that is fantastic. Great job Mike.
Thanks!
a how to video series for the pi, relays, outlet, and Alexa integration would have been great.
Finally.. Home automation that actually does what it says.
ManCraftingTM same
A word of caution: the relay board you are using is rated at a fairly low current. More importantly, it is designed to be used with non-inductive loads. What this means is that anything with a motor runs the risk of burning out the relay, especially when starting or stopping the motor. Ideally for high power motor-type loads you should use the relay to power a contactor which is capable of switching an inductive load. Otherwise, a very interesting video. Thanks.
He probably doesn't care, and will find out the hard way, if he hasn't already by now. lol
A very easy solution that I did is to have the relays switch 24 v to field relays(Usually RIBs)
would a capacitor do the trick? help kick on the motor like on an ac unit.
I too commented the same thing, I had done this mistake in the past
Super cool project, man! Your explanation of the project was also super clear - I really appreciate the time you spent to overlay appropriate B-roll to get your point across effectively.
Coop772 I didn't expect to see you here lol
Thanks!
Same
As a full-time middle-level programmer, I am extremely impressed and inspired!
like the features, setup was difficult for some of my devices (August Door lock, ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxhB5YOMNj04GuoAosExygP4cH-dKeb4aB Bose speaker)... but all switches and outlets (5), thermostat, tankless water heater. Unfortunately all I can do is turn on/off Bose. It doesn't support volume or changing channels, but I believe that is due to the particular speaker I have.... Worth getting if you already have other devices to use it with... I don't sit around and ask Alexa questions much so that doesn't really matter to me....
SAFETY POINT: I believe those relays are 10 amp, maybe 12 amp, but it appears that your only fuse is your fuse box so a 15 amp fuse. Also, is the wire on the switched side of the relay 14 gauge (good for 15 amps at 110v)? The 110v plug socket you are using is a 15 amp socket. You can, without thinking about it, plug in a 15 amp device (your compressor, for example), and the circuit between your input power (which is rated at 15 amps), and your wiring/relays can start to melt without triggering your circuit breaker until after a possible fire. Sure, it works now... but someday it will melt down (a fire). AT MINIMUM, you need to put in fuses to limit the amps you can pull in the design of the circuit. In this case, assuming your limiting factor is a 10 amp relay (maybe it is the wire), you should put a fuse between your power source and the relay. You could put a 10 amp fuse on each wire that goes to the plugs which will allow any one plug to go to 10 amp. IF THAT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE, imagine this: You have a big thick power wire to the left that provides power which can handle a 15 amp load. It has a circuit breaker (fuse) that trips if it gets a load much more than 15 amps. To the right, you have normal household plugs with big thick power wires that can draw up to 15 amps each. You can probably plug in a compressor (lots of draw), and some small stuff with less draw (a light, your music, etc...) without tripping the circuit breaker. Two compressors or a compressor and a heat gun... that will trip the main circuit. Now, what you did is put some really thin wires and relays in between (let's assume your relays and/or wires are rated for 10 amps). When you plug in that compressor that is drawing 13 amps, those little wires/relays start to melt (getss a little to hot). The circuit breaker in your panel doesn't trip because it is fine up to 15 amps. You either need to: 1) Make everything 15 amps, 2) Add inline fuses to protect the 10 amp relays/wires, or 3) if you have a dedicated line back to your panel (i.e. your power source is not shared with other outlets in your garage or later in your trailer) you can change to a 10 amp circuit breaker.
Mike Wrobel also should have proper grounding.
Yes, Halberdier25 is correct. I missed the grounding. It should have proper grounding. That would just be a pass through of the ground wire which goes from the plug socket all the way back to the breaker. I am not sure what code says where you are, but those plug sockets probably should be ground fault too. Ground fault is required in my garage, so I would assume the same for that outbuilding. Definitely in the camper you are building too.
Mike, So if I want to do something similar
1) what gauge wire should I use for 10a draw? The circuit that I would attach this to has a 15a breaker and all 12gauge wire (At Least the romex is labeled 12gauge in my wall and in my comms closet)
2) . If I do a project like this would you recommend having a certified electrician come and inspect afterwards?
+The Destroyer I think, that you are missing the point. The purpose of the video was to present some of the countless possibilities what you can do with the Alexa, not how to properly wire the electrical boxes.
Secondly, if you worry about the insurance check your electrical appliances at home. I bet half of them don't have UL certification. Especially cheap Chinese cellphone chargers or brick power supplies.
All of mine do have UL, I am aware of the standard. I don't fuck around with electric fires. Neither should any of you.
Great video. I am a home theater and automation installer and am currently working on the entire house being voice controlled from echo units. Great job on what you've accomplished!
I don't if anyone else picked up on this, If you turn a piston type compressor off "at the wall" it does not discharge the air pressure in the cylinder if it was running when the power was pulled. When the power comes back on the motor has to push the piston at full pressure from the bottom of its stoke, You will burn out the motor and as others said the low amp relays. a piston type compressor has a mechanical shut off button/valve that discharges the air between the piston and one way valve on the tank. Other than that great idea and video and I have all the kit laying around here to make this (hence I found your video) the only difference in the UK we are 240volts or twice the size of the sparks !!!
Mike: Alexia, turn on recording
Alexia: F U Mike, I'm tired of doing your bidding. Nailgun attack!!
Mike: Alexia, open the garage Door.
Alesia: I'm sorry Mike, I'm afraid I can't do that.
You remind me of my mom trying and failing to use alexa, cause she never remembers the right name. Alicia, play pink floyd.... silence.
Mike, sounds like your echo dot doesn't really operate as a normal echo dot anymore, right? You had said it simply is receiving the voice commands. Or does it still retain all of its normal functions?
Robert Lopez aq
John Fleming yes!
You really think other people can do that, that is ingenious. I really wasn’t going to watch your video however I’m really glad that I did. I give you a big two thumbs up for your ingenuity. I was blown away by what you could do. You can come to Phoenix Arizona and do that for me any day the week I thought it was fantastic.
Check out Home Assistant (Hassbian) and build a couple of NodeMCU that sends sensor data via MQTT to Home Assistant. Super easy!
This is such a cool start. I'm excited for all the projects and creativity that come out of this! I'm really glad she's able to hear you over the fan noise.
I was like "why make it so hard" but then you made some really good points. sintergation is our passision. keep up the great work and thanks.
While this video by itself demonstrates how much creativity you have, you've included one of the best tips that I'm hoping to spread to other Alexa video publishers. In your demo, you use the Trigger word of "Echo" instead of the common "Alexa." When I started to learn how to develop an Alexa skill I spent a lot of time viewing How-to videos. I can't believe how many people use the default Alexa trigger in their video's. It makes my Alexa go nuts everytime she hears her name. At least the developer video's haven't made my Alexa set a 10 minute timer or order a black hat but they really need to come up with a special triggeor some other solution for Alexa demos.
Damn!! I was reading your comment out-loud and set off Alexa six times!!
This is so ridiculously awesome. I'm working on a cargo trailer conversion as well and was wondering about doing the same thing (also with Alexa, since it has the best voice pickup). Thanks for doing all the legwork and proving this is doable!
Bob spoke about this video on the Making it Podcast and... wow. I'm really glad he did! I work in an IT Ops role as a day-job and we're looking at setting up some Alexa stuff to make our lives easier.. this is really going to help with that. Thanks man!
Good luck, it's been working great so far!
WOW!!! Hooda Thunkit! I'm just about finished building a woodworking shop and I see MANY uses for this. Really glad I spotted it in the Up Next list. Really good work and thanks for sharing...
This is fantastic and I would image you could have a sister channel that was dedicated to this technology and endless expansion. My only recommendation would be research how to properly route wires/cables. This will help you in the debugging process when you go full scale and ultimately all your views to freeze reframe and do thier own projects easier. Great job!
Appreciate your effort on building these things. Definitely lots of patience required
Thank you for sharing! I noticed you switched from the default Alexa wake word to the Echo wake word. I think you'll find the Amazon Dot's far field performance will improve if you orient it horizontally instead of vertically. Good tips from some other commenters about electrical safety.
honestly your shop has god level potential... please show us the light
GREAT INTEGRATION JOB !!! Congratulations Mike
Very neat! Thanks for sharing
Be careful with the compressor on that relay board. Those relays are usually only good to 10A and a compressor will likely pull more than that especially at startup
Good point. I actually use a little porter cable pancake compressor that draws a max of 10A.
Is it possible to connect the small relay to trigger a heavy duty (over 10 to 20 amp)relay?
Do you know if it's possible to get a relay board that will handle a higher amperage? I've got a 220v 3hp motor on my compressor, I'd love to work out a setup like this that could handle it.
The hell? I was trying to picture a 10A audio compressor. Note to self: always watch the video before reading the comments.
OTOH my 10A pancake compressor leaves my pancakes paper thin.
You could also take some real high amperage relays and switch THEM with your small ones.
Nice video. I used the Sonoff 4 Channel WiFi hub. Same thing, only "Plug and Play" 4 channels, $30 Quick and simple, but I guess we miss some of the satisfaction of doing it ourselves. I automated my RV, Start/Stop Generator, Extend/Retract Awning, Various lights, Various Echo Dot on/off (to conserve battery power), TV antenna, Stereo, etc. Tempted to check out the Rasberry Pi to find out what I might be missing . . . .
You explained this so fast and so thorough its impressive
Incredible stuff. I know the Amazon Echo only plays a small roll in all of this, but Amazon needs to get you on their engineering or product development teams asap.
At 2:34, that would be a two gang box Mike. Don't cut the tab on the neutral side of the duplex receptacle, you'll just have to wire it back up again. And of course, all of the 120 volt stuff needs to be in a box. You know, the whole high-voltage thing and all.
Other than that, what a great project!
Cool side project. An easier way to do it is to buy a wimote power socket on amazon and then plug in any peripherals into that socket. Can still be controlled using Alexa, Google home mini and alike
This is already the future! I still find it a shame that every single new house built out there is not smart-ready. these companies (Amazon, Belkin, Google, Samsung) should devise some strong standards and partner with hardware stores so that now any house infrastructure has a "smart component".
Yes, I was thinking about that too. Of course lighting would not need 120VAC, 12VDC would handle LEDS. They could all be addressable. Where will we be in the next 20 years.
William Terry youre absolutely correct. I was thinking of standardizing a plug for decorative LEDs as well which would be placed in various strategic spots
Mike! This is awesome! Now I have to find something to use this with. You are really an impressive maker! Thanks for geeking out with us!
Great to see you upload, glad you guys got to take some quality family time around Europe (jealous).
Have you done a shop tour video?
Is there a RV progress update video in the works?
I hope you guys start pumping out content again, I've missed it!
This is awesome. I definitely am going to think about something like this when I set up my shop. Great demonstration of innovative DIY shop tech.
Nice one mate cheers , ignore other people saying could use a smart plug etc... They are missing out on the feautues of RPI Gpios
you're my hero hahaha. Literally one of my favorite things to think about and some times do, is engineer solutions to really simple problems. I once planned to hook a game controller's vibration motor wires to an arduino, to cause it to trigger a button push to automate something in a game lmao.
Great video, Mike! I have had multiple idea streams going for automating different aspects of shop and home and your solution would solve most of the basic steps I'm looking at. Thanks for the info.
This is so cool it's literally what I've been looking to do. To have a completely custom entertainment car system.
Nice!
Hi there, than you for showing me what can be done with Alexa, Raspberry Pi etc. I’ve been using Nodemcu modules to control various outlets, switches etc and using the Sinric Skill and website which is very easy to use. Thanks again for an alternative solution.
Sonoff. $5 Alexa compatible WiFi switch without needing a middle man like a hub or pi.
Jason Kloos ..i have an echo device, how can i get it to control the sonoff switch without a hub?
You do need to use the Itead (Sonoff) online server unless you upload new firmware to the Sonoff devices.
I'm using Blitzwolf sockets myself. They come in 2 varriants, 10A and 16A. The 10A socket is really small, just slightly bigger than the connector itslef and only between $8-$10. It makes it much more versatile (and safer to my opinion) because you're not in the need to modify your powersupply and it stays movable and interchangable this way so it's worth the extra money I think. You integrate them into your wifi network via the "smart life app" (somekind of cloud), give them a name and integrate them into Alexa. Should work the same with these Sonoff switches I guess, the're quite similar. Then you can give them orders by speech, adjust commands or combine them together and create routes. The states of the switches is traced with this "smart life app" so hangup a cheap tablet and you can also manually switch them.
Sonoff switches are great. I use many of them in my house and they all work extremely well. I can just ask my Google home to turn the lights on and off.
Is it possible to do it from different networks? Let's say Alexa is at home and Sonoff is at office? Or it only works on local networks?
I suspect the current you are drawing for your compressor may be too much for the relay. You may want to double check the current on the relay compared to the compressor. You may get arcing between the contacts that will burn the contacts and then increase the resistance thus increase the heat in the relay causing it to catch fire, or the contacts may weld themselves together. Cool project. You should check into the esp8266. It is a WiFi enabled arduino and will plug into your relay board. I bought one last week for about $9. you can then re-purpose the raspi and screen for something else.
It nice. Add 25 Amps slave relay uL listed put it all in side of an listed enclosures to keep the safety factor up to code. Fuses will clear a fault to ground fast whereas the circuit breaker has to cycle it time up to trip current. Your control Circuit shall be fused. Perhaps 3 Amps... thanks for sharing... peace
Thats super slick but beyond my geek abilities. Those wire quick connectors you have under the outlets... I used those once for a dehumidifier and they melted so be careful!
Awesome video man, you're an inspiration. It's a bummer that this is what it takes to even begin exploration into the potential of modern tech. It's immensely aggravating that there's so much potential in the devices coming out, but then I open the alexa app and it's like it's for children. It's patronizing on like.. five different levels.
Anyway awesome work, appreciate ya
This world needs more people like you bro!
I appreciate your using "Echo" and not "Alexa"....my Echo would be going crazy during this. :-) Way cool stuff.
Any idea if you can simulate the Echo LED light ring whilst using the Pi as an Echo?
You literally could do the same stuff with the Alexa routine section on your Alexa app and some Bluetooth plugs but this looks cooler so good vid homie 😁
I love that track pack
Nice, I'm planning on modifying my house to have X-10 or better mains controllers in the walls. I can then manage it without relays or be tied to a physical limit (8 relays). Was also thinking of using PI Zeros as it's $10 and can me managed over wifi anywhere so adding to Pool pumps etc.
The only problem with these is that it doesn't detect if you've override it and it'll say OK but it's already on. Doesn't seem to be a big deal could in some applications it might be an issue.
Having some feedback to Alexa to give it some sort of error or feedback would've been nice.
You are awesome! This is cool. I was grinning this entire video. Thanks.
I believe you can accomplish this (controlling many devices at once as well as each device individually) by simply using the Wemo app. Simply set-up a group and place all devices in the group. Create as many different groups as you want or need.
As one example, I have an Amazon Echo Dot in my studio. I call one of my groups Studio. I say, "Alexa. Turn on Studio." This starts-up one particular hard drive, a laser printer, a fan/heater, three separate lamps, etc...
In the house, I have an Amazon Echo where I tell it, "Alexa. Turn on all lights." and, of course, "Alexa. Turn off all lights." I set the thermostat (Nest) using Alexa and much more. Oh yeah, check out IFTTT (If This Then That) for some of the dandy recipes.
Except what you showed, I don't know all of your project details nor your specific goals in all cases. But, I thought this information may help (and maybe save alot of cash)... as always, take it or leave it.
I am planning the same thing! Excellent info !
Hi Mike, nice hack for the remote control to get the camera going!
i was wanting to figure out how to connect siri to my raspberry pi to do stuff and maybe even access the gpio pins - now this is cool, faking the relay board for a smart device
5:56 MY GOD YOUR BACK
Yea, that's the fun of working outside during the summer in Florida...
The Pi seems to be major overkill. Ethernet equipped Arduino or an ESP8266 if you want to be wireless, MQTT firmware, and a few lines of code. The Echo can issue MQTT commands if you script a skill, right?
Your mentions of Alexa and "discover' were setting off my Amazon Echo during the video. ;)
I was expecting it to happen before I started the video though. I was glad to hear that you used the word "echo" as your wake word. For the Echo Dot in my office/studio I used the wake word "computer". Now if only I could get it to talk in the voice of Gene Roddenberry's wife aka, the voice of the computer on "Star Trek".
Couldn't you do all that with off the shelf Echo compatible plug switches? You would have to make some kind of IR interface for starting/stopping recording, but maybe a harmony remote would be able to do that.
I saw a deal the other day for 4 switches for $22.
i have these switches and i can tell its really easy to set up and all so yeah i agree with u
You can get a mic, and the Alexa software for the raspberry pi. Saves having to have the Echo Dot connected
I think this can be done a lot simpler by using a smart home hub (such as SmartThings) and z-wave outlets along with routines that you can trigger with Alexa to perform multiple tasks at once. The only thing I'm not sure about is the camera remote but there are smart relay modules so that could probably be done as well. I'm not sure which method is cheaper though.
this in on point sir. your control panel gave me a few ideas for my project. thanks for sharing this. do you happen to have a wiring diagram for wiring the multi-relay unit? i have a 16 channel relay i cant seem to get wired up.
Imagine what a team of engineers with a big budget could make with a project like this.
Lucaasss pfp?
While always cool to see folks kitting up controllers ... can easily pair Insteon hub (starter kit includes hub & couple plug in controllers at around $50) ... then an Alexa skill add and you can control hundreds of devices power easily.
That's awesome Mike!
Use a noise cancellation on your microphone. One microphone for for room noise. Invert the wave and subtract it from your voice microphone. Compressor will be cancelled from your voice waveform when you sum the two microphones together.
I just got an echo and was wondering how it would work in a shop environment. Good info
Thanks for the setup.
Nice setup. You could also ditch the echo and have the alexa assistant inside the raspberry pi with a software installed. But like you said, it's probably more difficult for you than just having an echo beside it.
great video, thanks for taking the time to tell us how you did it
Would be dope if you could make a mechanism for changing film settings. Like one for overhead shot, one for whatever shot, and use Alexa to transform it for you.
So I can across this video from 2 years ago. How did you make out controlling slides and monitoring tanks and such? I would be very interested in seeing it and making a setup like this for my rv. I've checked inCommand and Lippert industries. Neither of them would help. Please let me know how you made out.
I was looking for something just like that. Pretty awesome! Thanks :)
Nice video. But you could use a Broadlink RM pro to do all you are doing without messing with relays and scripts. All you would need is RF power socket adapters (even older cheap ones you can use in any outlet) or any IR device (not sure if your Canon camera has an IR receiver but many cameras do). There's a skill for the Broadlink RM pro. So you wouldn't need the relays, raspberry pi or the touch screen. Everything could be done with Alexa skills and voice commands.
But no challenge! And missing the learning experience!
I liked the video up to the point you stopped saying echo and said Alexa do this or that and MY Alexa started searching for stuff! LOL Seriously though, that's a pretty cool project. I have one of those relay boards and plan on using it to control some antennas for my ham radio HF rig.
This was a "why didnt I think of that moment". Thanks for the great video and Idea!
Is it possible to use the relay for a 12V DC switch instead of 120V AC?
yes
Can you please explain/post how you tied multiple scripts for the bush button and to only have the relay close for that second to simulate pushing the button?
You could use sonoff, they're about 3~5dollars each and work directly with Alexa, i think it's way easier, except for the camera button
Why do you have a wheel clamps stack on your mobile home in your garden ? Anyway, you did a good job !
could you please create instructables for this video, how did you acheive all this. thanks.
Whooo! You are awesome! This is totally something I would do and possibly something I could REALLY use.
Really impressed, thanks!
Is there a way to integrate rasberry pi to turn on smart plugs through Alexa. Or in other words, can rasberry pi send signals, temp or humidity data, to alexa to turn things on/off?
Really cool. Thanks for sharing!
Will the device show up on the Alexa App? If i want to turn something on and off or check to see if I remembered to turn something off I can just check the Alexa App?
Very cool. Automated trailer would be sweet
So let me make sure my understanding is correct, I could fully automate everything in my RV using Echo? I know it works off both 12V DC and 110AC. Didn’t know if it was even possible to do that.
Great work, ... I like your camera setup
I've tried this with a Pi Zero and a WiFi adapter and it just doesn't discover the Pi. They are on the same network. Please can someone help! ? (It's a gen 3 echo dot)
Great work man! well explained! Thanks!
That was mind blowing...
Hello this is a great video. Is there anyway you can make a how to step by step on how you got it to work? I been working on this for the last 2 days and can same to get it to work right. I have the Alexa dot 2nd gen and a 4 channel relay board and a raspberry pi 3 and I can't seem to get it to work.
If your house phone answering machine has the monitoring feature (such that you can hear the messages as they are being left) then you could talk to Alexa from anywhere.
Excellent video, thank you. Can you have an interface running on a tablet displaying the Raspberry pi io so you then control it manually? I was thinking something like a Home Assistant?
a how to video series for the pi, relays, outlet, and Alexa integration would have been great.
It works though the same thing could be achieved using something like a number of Sonoff smart sockets or Sonoff inline switches (really inexpensive) and some routines in Alexa.
Awesome, just Awesome! Well done dude.
Do you know how to connect a Concord 4 alarm system to alexa.. or do you know how to connect my hardwire contacts that are on my doors and windows to alexa.
Dear sir, when i am trying Alexa turn on lights then she reply i didn't find any lights, but when i use alexa ask batman turn on light then working ... why sir please help me thankyou
Coolest hack I've seen for a long time
Pls make a full tutorial for this it’s a really cool project