The age-old combination of physical locks and keys, although reliable, also comes with a few drawbacks, such as when you lose the key or you want to share access with someone else remotely. Davide Gomba has recognized this and built the MKR Keylock project as a way to address some of these shortcomings.
Starting with an existing electronic lock module, Gomba installed it in his door before identifying the circuit responsible for triggering it to open. Once found, he connected the line to a relay that, when triggered by a GPIO signal, will unlock the bolt. An Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 was then attached to a 4×4 keypad, a small buzzer for signaling an incorrect code, and another relay that runs to the doorbell for remote ringing. Thanks to the MKR board’s Wi-Fi connectivity, the firmware configures an MQTT client that listens to a few topics: “/code” to set the keypad code, “/open” to override the locking mechanism, and “/alive/status” that reflects the real-time status of the lock.
Over on the web side, Gomba made a new Home Assistant integration that operates on the same topics as a controller. From a webpage, users can then toggle the lock or provide a new code for the lock to check against.
Want to bring your own door into the IoT era? More information about this IoT lock can be found here on Hackster.io.
In 2021, the average household had 25 connected devices, a massive increase on previous years, driven in no small part by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. And in 2023, the number of smart homes worldwide looks set to hit 195.8 million.
We’re living through a fascinating time for technology in general, with new breakthroughs hitting the headlines all the time, and the home automation industry is especially exciting.
In this article, we’ll dive into some of the main ways home automation is changing in 2023, some of the biggest current trends, and what’s on the horizon.
Emerging trends in home automation in 2023
2023 so far has been a big year for home automation, and there looks to be more to come. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting emerging trends this year.
On top of that, the tech behind these gadgets is also developing fast, with new features emerging all the time. Today’s voice assistants are already a far cry from the first few generations of Amazon Alexa gadgets, and are capable of integrating with multiple devices and recognizing a range of different voices.
Edge computing and local processing
“Edge computing” refers to when data processing and analysis take place closer to the source of data generation (locally) rather than on centralized cloud servers somewhere else.
In the context of home automation, this means IoT devices can process the data they generate right there and then. This has a number of advantages, such as:
Low latency, because the data doesn’t have to travel all the way to a data center and back. This means tasks can be performed much quicker, and even in real-time.
Better bandwidth efficiency and reduced costs because only relevant information is shared over the network.
Better scalability, making it easier to add more devices to your smart home network.
Let’s check out a few examples of edge computing at work in smart homes.
Voice assistants like Amazon Echos with built-in processing capabilities are capable of handling voice commands locally, making them much more responsive and able to function smoothly even with the internet connection is unstable.
Security cameras can analyze video footage locally instead of sending that data to the cloud for analysis. This makes it easier to detect and report suspicious activity with much faster response times.
Managing things like lighting and temperature even when offline, keeping your working and living spaces in the most comfortable state at all times.
AI and machine learning
AI is a hot topic right now, and at times it can be hard to separate the truly exciting developments from the hype.
When it comes to home automation, though, AI holds a ton of promise.
Energy efficiency: AI can track the energy usage in your smart home appliances and make adjustments to ensure nothing is being wasted. It can also detect problems and unusual activity and take steps to correct any issues.
AI can add a touch of personalization to your smart home by learning your preferences and making automatic adjustments to things like temperature, lighting, and music.
Predictive maintenance: AI can monitor your smart home devices and predict when faults and issues are about to occur, helping you avoid outages and make repairs before they’re needed.
Sustainable and eco-friendly automation
We already briefly talked about how technologies like AI can help your smart home devices function more efficiently. In fact, smart heating and cooling systems, used correctly, can save users 50% of their energy consumption in some cases.
But that’s not the only way home automation can help you live more sustainably. For example, you can integrate your smart home with green energy sources like solar — something that’s becoming more common around the world.
What’s in store for the near future?
Now we’ve explored a few of the exciting things happening in home automation right now, let’s turn our gaze to the near future.
What can smart home owners look forward to over the next few years? This is where things get really interesting, as the rapid development of smart technologies mean things are changing fast.
Continued growth of 5G
5G technology looks set to grow in both popularity and sophistication throughout the next decade.
According to Ericsson’s 2022 Mobility Report, 5G subscriptions will reach 4.4 billion globally by the end of 2027, and account for around 48% of total mobile subscriptions.
For smart home owners, this means even faster connectivity, lower latency, and support for increasingly powerful and sophisticated IoT devices that aren’t possible just yet, as well as the opportunity to build more complex and connected smart home networks.
Augmented reality and virtual reality in smart homes
The AR and VR market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 13.72% between 2023 and 2027, which has a ton of exciting implications for home automation.
One example here is smart home maintenance. Augmented reality apps can make it much easier to repair faulty devices by providing real-time, 3D instructions that are far clearer than any manual or YouTube tutorial. AR can also be used to improve home design by helping you visualize how new furniture, decorations, and layouts will look before committing to them.
Even better security and privacy features
Keeping our families, homes, and possessions safe is always going to be a primary concern, and smart technology here is developing in some really interesting ways.
One example is the use of biometric tech to improve home security. The global biometrics market is projected to hit $83 billion by 2027, with voice recognition alone expected to reach $27 billion.
What does this mean for smart homes? Biometrics can be used to identify people with extremely accurate levels of precision, allowing you to enter your home with just your fingerprint, a scan of your iris, or even a voice command — while keeping everyone else out.
Other promising trends in smart home security include advances in data encryption and privacy controls to keep your IoT devices secure.
AI-powered home health monitoring
Keeping track of your vital signs and health metrics is more than just a hobby for fitness enthusiasts — for older people and those with health issues it can literally be life-saving.
Wearable devices like smart watches can track key health data, issue reminders to take medication, and alert emergency services when things go wrong. These devices can even be used to monitor individuals’ movement patterns and predict falls and other accidents.
We’re still some way off fully automated health care, but this is a step in the right direction.
Entire smart cities
Cities around the world are getting bigger, and that means they need to get smarter.
Home automation isn’t just for houses and apartments — it can be scaled up to the size of a city, a trend which is well underway. The global smart cities market is expected to grow at an annual compound rate of 13.13% until at least 2028.
Smart cities use technology like 5G, the Internet of Things, and AI to build more efficient, safe, and pleasant environments for millions of people to share. These technologies drive features such as:
Better connectivity for everyone, like accessible WiFi anywhere in the city including on transport.
More efficient and better-connected public transport systems, including more intelligent traffic management based on constant monitoring using sensors.
More efficient usage of energy, based on tracking usage and minimizing wastage.
Better waste management, using sensors to measure how full waste bins are and issuing alerts when it’s time to empty them.
Staying ahead of the smart home curve
With so much happening so fast, with no signs of slowing down, staying up-to-date with home automation tech can feel like an impossible task.
However, there’s a lot you can do to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and access these incredible benefits as they roll onto the market. Let’s check out a few ideas.
Keep your network current
Your home automation devices are only as good as the network they run on. That means a robust and up-to-date home network is one of the best investments you can make in your smart home.
Consider upgrading to a Wi-Fi 6 router, or the even more advanced 6E router. This will open up new possibilities when it comes to 5G and bring a new level of speed and slickness to your IoT network.
Another option is to set up a mesh network — a collection of connectivity sources around your home instead of a single router — to provide better coverage.
Keep your devices maintained
With the rate at which home automation technology is advancing, devices that were brand new just a few years ago are quickly becoming outdated.
This is especially true for firmware — it’s essential to keep your devices updated at all times to ensure they’re optimally secure and can take advantage of new features and capabilities.
Remember that your devices won’t last forever, and have some kind of plan in place to review and replace any older technology.
Stay informed
One of the best ways to keep pace with the rapidly changing world of home automation is to join online communities and attend events.
Of course, it’s not always feasible to travel huge distances to attend conferences and expos just to learn more about your smart home devices, but you can learn a lot from joining the right forums and online groups. These can help you get quick answers to questions, gain inspiration for future projects, and stay up to date with all the latest news and advice.
Here are some ideas:
r/HomeAutomation on Reddit, a subreddit dedicated to home automation with tips, questions, and shared projects.
Arduino’s community and forum: a place for Arduino users to gather and talk about their own projects, share guides, and discuss challenges they have encountered.
There’s also an extensive list of Facebook groups, YouTube channels, and blogs to explore, and specific technologies and devices often have their own dedicated support groups and online spaces.
Get into DIY
What better way to access the next generation of home automation technology than to build it yourself?
Today it’s easier than ever for total amateurs to build their own IoT devices and home automation projects, with nothing more than some simple components and a bit of basic coding knowledge.
At Arduino, we help people get started with their own home automation journey. Our products are built to help everyone from complete beginners to advanced makers create their own smart home technology and share it with the world.
Contact us to learn more about this and how to get started.
3D printing, the stuff of science fiction only a few short years ago, is becoming more widely available all the time. Buying your own 3D printer to keep in your home is now fairly accessible, with entry-level printers available for just a few hundred dollars.
But why would you buy one? It’s easy to think 3D printers are still a niche toy, exciting for a few enthusiasts but largely useless for the general population. But this couldn’t be more wrong — 3D printers have a wide range of very practical uses for everyday households.
In this article, we’ll take a look at why 3D printing is so useful and some of the many reasons to consider adding a 3D printer to your own smart home.
Why 3D printing is so useful
It’s fast and convenient. With a 3D printer, you can produce simple objects, creations, and components for existing items in a fairly short amount of time — much quicker than ordering the same things online or heading to a local store.
You get a ton of control over what you print. Need a very specific shaped object to repair a broken item in your home? It may be impossible to buy what you need anywhere, but a 3D printer allows you to create exactly the right size and shape you need.
It’s relatively affordable. As mentioned, basic 3D printers can be had for fairly cheap nowadays, and printing — for smaller objects, at least — costs very little.
It’s sustainable. It’s much more sustainable to print your own things than order them across large distances, and this is especially true for niche items that might need to be shipped across the globe to reach you.
Using 3D printing in your smart home
So what can you use a 3D printer for? There are many potential uses for a 3D printer in your smart home, and they range from practical tasks like repairing broken furniture to more creative hobbies. Let’s take a look at some of the main reasons to own a 3D printer.
Create useful items for your home
3D printers are perfect for creating small, useful items to use around the home. Some examples are coasters, decorations, lampshades, stationery, and small kitchen tools. This is a great way to combine practical use with a fun creative hobby, putting your own personal spin on the little items you use every day.
Repair items
You know that table you have that just never sits right? The door handle that doesn’t quite match the others in the house? The light switch that doesn’t fit exactly flush with the wall?
3D printing is the perfect solution to many of these small defects and faults. Because you have so much control over what you print — 3D printers can print according to virtually any instructions — it’s easy to create components to fix and spruce up the objects and appliances around your smart home.
Education
3D printers aren’t a regular fixture in classrooms around the world just yet, but it’s only a matter of time. These machines allow students to take a more hands-on and creative approach to their learning. Some examples could be:
Science projects like creating models of the solar system of the structure of an atom
Geography work like printing detailed models of mountains or volcanoes
All kinds of product design work
Creative work like art
Arts and creative projects
Creative projects aren’t just for the classroom — many people own 3D printers purely for their own artistic work. There’s almost no limit to what a 3D printer can do in this area, and with a little experience, it’s possible to create truly beautiful and incredibly detailed works of art at home.
Build your own smart home with Arduino
3D printing is just one aspect of a smart home. There’s an almost endless list of things you can do with the right home automation tools — from growing a smart garden to keeping your pets entertained and fed.
Everybody loves a good BBQ. Getting your family and friends together on a long summer day and evening, cooking delicious food and having a great time as smoke drifts through the air — it’s the perfect weekend activity.
BBQs can also be stressful, however. Anyone who has ever tried to host one will know the challenges of managing multiple meats at once, trying to avoid any overcooking (or undercooking) disasters, and keeping track of all that equipment.
Automation can help run your BBQ much more smoothly, minimizing any mishaps and making sure everyone has the best experience possible. In this article, we’ll look at how home automation can improve the BBQ experience and share some examples from Arduino’s Project Hub.
How home automation improves BBQs
Keep track of different items. Automation makes it easier to manage multiple meats and other food items at the same time, notifying you when something is ready so you don’t get overwhelmed by tasks and neglect any of your cooking.
Stay on top of temperature by measuring each piece of food and ensuring it’s at the perfect point.
Create a more welcoming outdoor area with things like automated lighting, heaters, and even a smart garden.
Easy cleanup with robots and other tools to leave your grill and other tools sparkling clean.
Arduino community member Duncan Barbee knew that the most flavorful way to grill is to use charcoal to heat your smokers. While propane and electric smokers give you better temperature control, they lose that unique and delicious charcoal flavor.
But charcoal heaters present many challenges. You need to constantly stay on top of the temperature, adjusting the vents on a regular basis to make sure everything is just right as the charcoal level changes in the smoker.
Barbee wanted to build a project that gave him the best of both worlds — the tasty charcoal flavor with the ease and convenience of an electric or propane smoker. He developed a controller that monitors the temperature in the smoker and automatically adjusts the airflow to the charcoal to maintain the correct temperature at all times, allowing him to sit back and relax as the perfect charcoal-based BBQ unfolds.
Robert Korn had already created a sous vide controller using Arduino and a handful of other components, with great success. He chose to apply the same model to a smoker and devised the Smokerduino, which ensures perfectly cooked meat every time with minimal effort from the chef.
Roger Theriault and his wife enjoy making cheese and yogurt at home, but this is a long process involving a thermometer and lots of waiting around. To cut some steps out, he built his own smart thermometer to monitor the temperature of the food and beep when a specific temperature was reached and it was time for the next step.
However, when the device stopped working, Theriault decided to upgrade it instead of simply fixing it. The new iteration of the thermometer uses Alexa devices too, enabling him to easily monitor and control everything cooking in the kitchen or outside in the smoker.
The way it works is fairly straightforward — just give Alexa an instruction and it will find the recipe and instruct the given device to start from step one of that recipe. It also draws on the data from the recipe to monitor the temperature and make any notifications or adjustments needed.
Better BBQs with Arduino
Monitoring and controlling cooking is one of the most useful and rewarding use cases for home automation. Arduino’s products make it possible to assemble detailed and advanced projects to take your BBQs to the next level.
Check out the project hub for some more inspiration or visit the home page to learn more about how Arduino works.
Let’s face it — mornings can be tough. Even the earliest risers and the most enthusiastic morning larks sometimes struggle to drag themselves out of bed and attack the day. The good news is that automation can always save things.
By using home automation wisely, you can save time in the morning, cut out tedious tasks, and start the day on the best possible note. In this article, we’ll look at why automation works so well in the morning and share some morning projects from the Arduino community.
Morning is the best time for automation
Home automation has a ton of benefits at all times of the day, but it’s especially useful in the morning. That’s because the first few minutes and hours of the day are usually where we need to save time the most.
Automation helps save precious seconds off your AM routine by helping you rise earlier, save time on important morning tasks, and manage your time better. As a result, you get less stress and more time to focus on enjoying the start of the day.
Now, let’s take a look at some projects from the Arduino community that members built to improve their own mornings.
Morning automation examples from the Arduino community
Alarm clock
Arduino member galoebn had had enough of struggling with slow, difficult mornings. To solve the problem, they made an alarm clock that really worked.
The clock uses a motion sensor, so it notices if you get back into bed after hitting the snooze button. If so, the alarm will go off again, but if you stay out of bed for a certain period of time, the alarm won’t sound anymore.
Best of all, this project is fairly easy to construct at home with just a few components including a clock module, a motion sensor, a buzzer, a small button and an Arduino.
Coffee machine
In the morning, there are few things better than a steaming cup of coffee to get the day started. However, coffee takes time to brew, and there’s no feeling more frustrating than realizing you don’t have enough time to prepare your morning cup of Joe.
Arduino member Thomas sxt was so tired of this feeling that he decided to build his own automatic coffee machine to take care of this part of the morning routine, ensuring a hot cup of coffee was waiting for him every morning.
The machine works via an app, allowing you to choose your coffee size, and can even be controlled by voice.
Curtain control
Throwing your curtains wide open is a great way to start the day. Our bodies are programmed to respond to natural light in the morning, and it helps us wake up naturally and get energised for the day ahead. Of course, climbing out of bed to open the curtains is less fun.
Arduino member JayV decided to solve the problem by designing curtains that automatically open in the morning and close in the evening according to your pre-set instructions. The project also comes with a manual override, just in case you want to take a mid-day nap.
Your curtains need to be the right design to work (JayV’s old curtains had a simple looping rope) but it should work with most models.
LUMOS: Smart lamp for better sleep
Smart lighting isn’t just about creating a more comfortable home environment, it can also give us great control over our daily routines and even improve our health.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, we are surrounded by sources of blue light. It bombards us from our TVs, smartphones, and laptops, and this blue light causes our bodies to produce more cortisol which makes it more difficult to fall asleep. More than 20% of the world population is sleep deprived, and this is very likely linked to the fact that many people spend huge portions of their day around unnatural blue light sources.
To tackle this problem in his own home, Arduino community member Jonty came up with the LUMOS smart lamp. The lamp mimics the natural light of the sun as it passes overhead each day, generating bright blue light in the morning and warmer amber light (which has been shown to encourage melatonin production and get us ready for sleep) in the evening.
This lamp even pairs with WiFi and uses machine learning to adjust the light to match your sleep schedule.
Have better mornings (and evenings) with Arduino
Arduino makes it possible to gain greater control over your environment and optimize your daily routine to be as healthy and productive as possible. The ideas shared in this article are just the start — with the right set of components and some basic knowledge there’s almost no limit to what you can do with home automation.
One of the wonderful things about living in the modern world is having full cupboards, pantries, and wardrobes. But this privilege also comes with downsides — managing all the various items we own can be a headache and can lead to confusion and stress.
The good news is that storage doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, with the right tech solutions, we can make our storage spaces much smarter, so they actually help us stay more organized and even give us guidance on how to use our space better. Many of these solutions can be built at home with just a few tools.
In this article, we’ll explore the concept of smart storage, and why it’s so useful, and we’ll share a few examples from the Arduino community from people who have built their own smart storage projects.
What is smart storage?
Smart storage is when we use tech to make your cupboards, wardrobes, and pantries more intelligent and useful. The right solutions can give you alerts and updates when certain items are running low, suggest things to use or throw away, and even fill out a shopping list for you.
Smart storage can help us manage our spaces better, use what we own more efficiently, save money, and get inspired. Now let’s take a look at some examples of smart storage projects from our Arduino community members.
Smart pantry
With just a handful of materials, Arduino member Md. Khairul Alam designed this smart pantry to keep track of the items in his kitchen and ensure he never runs out of what he needs.
The challenge
Unless you have the pantry of a Michelin Star restaurant, it’s pretty unlikely that you have all the ingredients you need in stock all the time. When you decide to cook a certain recipe, it’s fairly common to find that one or two items are running low in your pantry.
A quick trip to the grocery store can fix this, but of course, it’s all too easy to forget a certain item, buy the wrong thing instead, or fail to get enough of what you need. Can smart storage save us?
The smart storage solution
Khairul decided to fix the problem by building his very own smart pantry, designed to keep track of ingredients and make sure nothing ever runs out. The project works by monitoring every item in the pantry, and if something is running low, it automatically orders a replacement using Amazon DRS.
This project is a great way to remove human error from the process of keeping our cupboards stocked. The best part is it’s easy to do yourself at home with just a few simple components and tools. Check out the full project and instructions here.
Smart wardrobe
An overflowing wardrobe is a good thing — it allows you to mix up your outfits and dress well whatever the occasion. However, packed wardrobes can also be tricky to manage, and it’s easy to lose track of clothes or end up filling space with items we no longer wear.
Arduino user Tan See Youu decided to fix this problem by building his own smart wardrobe.
The challenge
People today own more clothes than ever before. However, you probably won’t wear all of them. Over time, certain outfits tend to get forgotten and fall back into the murky depths of the wardrobe, never to see the light of day again.
In areas with high humidity and warm climates like Singapore, clothes that are left for a long time in the wardrobe can even become moldy.
The smart storage solution
Tan See Youu’s smart wardrobe helps you manage your clothes and keep track of where everything is, displaying this information on a smart screen. The wardrobe can also push this data into the cloud and share it with your phone via a mobile application.
The app can even provide suggestions on what to wear today based on the events in your calendar and the current weather forecast, and it comes with a dashboard showing which clothes you wear most frequently and which outfits you have neglected.
If you haven’t worn a certain item in a while, the app can offer suggestions for second-hand platforms or charity organizations so you can send it to a better home if you choose.
Tan See Youu didn’t invent smart wardrobes — they have existed for a while — but his project shows that it’s possible to build your own with relatively few resources and at a low cost. Learn more about the project here.
How Arduino makes smart storage easier
Arduino’s IoT Cloud makes it possible to create your own home automation projects just like the ones we looked at in this article. You can build useful devices with relatively little materials needed to start, making your life easier and your home more efficient.
Find out more about the IoT Cloud and how the Home Automation initiative can give you many ideas to improve your daily life.
Being able to design your own custom smart home device is a great way to both have fun experimenting with various hardware/software and to escape the walled IoT device ecosystems that so many users find themselves trapped within. One maker who goes by mrdesha came up with a smart heater solution that utilizes the new Arduino Oplà IoT Kit to provide voice functionality to their room heater.
In terms of hardware, mrdesha’s project is quite simple as it just needs a few parts to function. The main component is the MKR IoT Carrier board from the Oplà Kit, along with the MKR WiFi 1010 that fits into it. Because the Oplà has two relays onboard, a pair of buttons on the heater’s remote were connected to the common (COM) and normally closed (NC) terminals, allowing for a single GPIO pin to digitally “press” each button.
Over in the Arduino Cloud, three variables were created that control various aspects of the heater, including on/off, set high-power mode, and set low-power mode. These variables are also all compatible with the Alexa integration, meaning that a user can simply tell their smart home speaker to adjust the heater automatically.
If you’re working from home and you have children, you’re probably finding it all pretty demanding at the moment. Spreadsheets and multiple tabs and concentrating aren’t nearly so manageable without the dedicated workspace you have at the office and with, instead, small people vying relentlessly for your attention.
And that’s not to mention the horror that is arranging video conference calls and home life around one another. There’s always the danger that a housemate (young offspring or otherwise) might embarrassingly crash your formal party like what happened to Professor Robert Kelly live on BBC News. (See above. Still funny!)
Well, Belgian maker Elio Struyf has created a homemade solution to mitigate against such unsolicited workspace interferences: he built a status light that integrates with Microsoft Teams so that his kids know when he’s on a call and they should stay away from his home office.
DIY busy light created with Raspberry Pi and Pimoroni Unicorn pHAT
The light listens to to Elio’s Microsoft Teams status and accordingly displays the colour red if he’s busy chatting online, yellow if his status is set to ‘Away’, or green if he’s free for his kids to wander in and say “Hi”.
Here’s what you need to build your own:
The Pimoroni Unicorn pHAT has an 8×4 grid of RGB LEDs that Elio set to show a single colour (though you can tell them to display different colours). His Raspberry Pi runs DietPi, which is a lightweight Debian distro. On top of this, running Homebridge makes it compatible with Apple’s HomeKit libraries, which is how Elio was able to connect the build with Microsoft Teams on his MacBook.
Elio’s original blog comprehensively walks you through the setup process, so you too can try to manage your home working plus domestic duties. All you need is to get your five-year-old to buy into your new traffic-light system, and with that we wish you all the luck in the world.
And give Elio a follow on Twitter. Fella has mad taste in T-shirts.
Project Alias, the newest creation of Amsterdam-based maker Bjørn Karmann, allows you to rename your home assistant and, more importantly, paralyse the device’s always-on listening function — for better security.
Alias is a teachable “parasite” that is designed to give users more control over their smart assistants, both when it comes to customisation and privacy. Through a simple app the user can train Alias to react on a custom wake-word/sound, and once trained, Alias can take control over your home assistant by activating it for you.
Always-on home assistants
Love them or hate them, devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo have become a staple in many homes, thanks to people’s desire to automate mundane chores. I mean, why think about vacuuming my home when my Echo Dot can tell my robot hoover to do it for me?
However, despite their convenience, one concern remains for users of most off-the-shelf products: the always-on, always listening function.
But how do you get something to do your bidding without it always listening for your commands?
Introducing Project Alias
Bjørn Karmann’s Project Alias serves two purposes: it lets you rename your assistant however you see fit (hello Trogdor!), and it paralyses the device’s always-listening function, taking over command. Then, instead of Amazon/Google/etc. listening to the comings and goings in your home, it’s a headless Raspberry Pi 3A+. And as the Raspberry Pi doesn’t need an internet connection in order to do its thing, the only one listening to you in your home is your significant other, your kids or, in my case, two obnoxious house bunnies.
Bjørn has provided a STL file to let prospective Project Alias makers 3D print their own modern-looking case for the 3A+. And the setup tutorial and complete code are on his GitHub.
Once the add-on is built, you simply access the Project Alias trainer via your phone’s browser and tell your home assistant its new name.
And there you have it: an augemented home assistant that does your bidding without you needing to be concerned about who is listening at the other end.
Other potential names for your home assistant
Now you have Project Alias set up on your Amazon Echo or Google Home, here are some names we think you should use:
Das neue Smart Heizen Paket von devolo besteht aus einer Home Control-Zentrale, zwei Heizkörperthermostaten und einem Raumthermostat. Die Zentrale ist der Mittelpunkt von Home Control. Über sie werden sämtliche Aktionen im Smart Home gesteuert. Die beiden smarten Heizkörperthermostate verfügen über einen batteriebetriebenen Motor und ersetzen die gewöhnlichen Thermostate. Die Installation ist kinderleicht und in wenigen Minuten erledigt. Das Raumthermostat im Smart Heizen Paket von devolo ist eine komfortable Möglichkeit, die Raumtemperatur einfach per Knopfdruck zu steuern.
Immer die richtige Wohlfühltemperatur
Nach der kurzen Ersteinrichtung werden die Bausteine des Smart Heizen Pakets auf einfache Art und Weise miteinander verknüpft. Dies gelingt auch ohne Vorkenntnisse spielend leicht und schon nach wenigen Minuten ist die Wohnung oder das Haus gut auf die kalte Jahreszeit vorbereitet: Zeitsteuerungen für jedes einzelne Heizkörperthermostat – je nach Wochentag mit anderen Zeiten und Temperaturen – sorgen dafür, dass jederzeit die richtige Wohlfühltemperatur herrscht. Das Bad ist morgens schön warm, genauso wie die Küche und das Esszimmer. Tagsüber geht devolo Home Control dann automatisch in den Sparmodus. Rechtzeitig zum Feierabend ist es dann aber gemütlich warm und zur Nachtruhe regelt Home Control wieder auf die optimale, gesunde Schlaftemperatur herunter. So verbindet das neue Smart Heizen Paket von devolo angenehme Komfortfunktionen mit einem smarten Energiespareffekt – das schont den eigenen Geldbeutel und die Umwelt.
Heizungssteuerung ganz einfach: automatisch, manuell oder per App
Natürlich behalten die Bewohner zu jeder Zeit die Kontrolle über ihr Smart Home: Ist es mal zu warm oder zu kalt, lässt sich die Temperatur einfach per Raumthermostat oder direkt am smarten Heizkörperthermostat anpassen. Darüber hinaus können Nutzer per Home Control-App die Temperatur in den eigenen vier Wänden auch aus der Ferne steuern. Wer beispielsweise auf dem Rückweg von einem herbstlichen Spaziergang ist, kann schnell per Smartphone dafür sorgen, dass das Wohnzimmer beim Eintreffen bereits gemütlich warm ist.
Jederzeit flexibel erweiterbar
Wer sein devolo Home Control-System später erweitern möchte – beispielsweise für noch mehr Energieeffizienz oder um die Bereiche Komfort und Sicherheit – der kann das jederzeit tun: Eine einzige Home Control-Zentrale kann bis zu 238 verschiedene Bausteine steuern. So kann das Smart Home Schritt für Schritt mit den Bedürfnissen seiner Bewohner wachsen. Tür-/Fensterkontakte sorgen beispielsweise für mehr Sicherheit, verhindern aber auch gleichzeitig, dass Energie verschwendet wird: Ist ein Fenster geöffnet, können sie automatisch die Heizkörper im Zimmer abschalten. Für noch mehr Sicherheit und zusätzlichen Komfort bietet devolo weitere Komponenten wie beispielsweise Bewegungs-, Rauch-, Luftfeuchte- und Wassermelder, Funkschalter, eine Alarmsirene und smarte Steckdosen an.
Preise und Verfügbarkeit
devolo Home Control ist ab sofort im Handel verfügbar. Das Smart Heizen Paket ist zur unverbindlichen Preisempfehlung von 329,90 Euro erhältlich. Die Nutzung der Home Control-App ist kostenfrei und es fallen keine zusätzlichen monatlichen Nutzungsgebühren an. devolo gewährt eine Garantie von drei Jahren auf alle Produkte.
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Bjørn has provided a STL file to let prospective Project Alias makers 3D print their own modern-looking case for the 3A+. And the setup tutorial and complete code are 
