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Unbelievable Alexa Experience -- GOOD

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    Unbelievable Alexa Experience -- GOOD

    So, I bought an Amazon Echo for my wife for Christmas (even she won't believe that)and while she was not around, I spent a few minutes setting it up.

    I was blown away with the voice recognition. Right out of the box it was responding with stuff like weather, play songs, Pandora, etc. Great recognition, even from the next room!

    The reason I was interested in the Echo was that voice recognition for home automation has always been the holy grail, and it has never worked very well. I've always given up. All the reports were that the Echo voice recognition was superb -- and it is!

    I had scanned several threads in the past about several approaches to getting HS3 to work with the Echo, all sounding cumbersome to set up and maintain. The smoothest approach seemed to be via IFTTT through an available plugin.

    Well, I finally had some time to play with this today.

    Now, I had no IFTTT account, no MyHomeseer account, and knew nothing about them. About the only thing I had accomplished before today was to register the Echo and initial configuration (straight forward).

    It took me less than 30 minutes to do the following:

    I went to the IFTTT site, created a userid, and browsed the triggers and channels. Saw there was an Alexa/Echo trigger, tried to connect to it, asked for my Amazon credentials, and I was good to go. Browsed to the HomeSeeer channel, tried to connect, it gave me detailed steps to create MyHomeseer account and connect. Nothing to it. Tired to create a recipe, selected Alexa as trigger, one of the options was if someone says: "Alexa Trigger", I selected it. Then I selected Homeseer as the THAT in the recipe, one of the options was to run an Event, selected that and it gave me a list of all of the Events from my installation. Selected it, and that's it. NO IFTTT plugin.


    It took me less than 30 minutes to set all of this up, and now I can say either:

    Alexa trigger Christmas tree ON

    or

    Alexa trigger Christmas tree OFF


    and they both work everytime, very quickly.

    Can't wait until wife opens present, we go through a few things like get weather, play music, and then I say: Alex Trigger Christmas Tree OFF

    WAF definitely going up!

    tenholde
    tenholde

    #2
    You have been assimilated. ;-)

    Comment


      #3
      There is hope. Maybe not quite yet. He hasn't started talking about how HomeSeer needs to be assimilated into the Amazon Web Services (AWS) collective.

      When us users start hosting our HomeSeer instances into the AWS cloud and then have HS start taking statistical analysis to when we wake up, drink our coffee, etc, and when HomeSeer starts to give recommendations to all of our partners in terms of .... Ok, it started good and then my joke died.

      Never mind.

      While this does sound promising, I still would prefer to not have cloud services control my life. But it does seem cool.
      HomeSeer 2, HomeSeer 3, Allonis myServer, Amazon Alexa Dots, ELK M1G, ISY 994i, HomeKit, BlueIris, and 6 "4k" Cameras using NVR, and integration between all of these systems. Home Automation since 1980.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by tenholde View Post
        So, I bought an Amazon Echo ...
        Thanks! You inspired me to do this. I had already set up an IFTTT account and had already registered with the HomeSeer channel. So, it took me just a few minutes to set up recipes to turn a light on and to turn a light off with Alexa triggers. Very slick.

        Elliott
        "Living with technology means living in a [constant] state of flux." S. Higgenbotham, 2023
        "Reboot and rejoice!" F. Pishotta, 1989

        Comment


          #5
          I love my echo. I stream music all day long from prime, and voice control over HS is (sorry, keep using this phrase) a game changer. IFTTT control of HS via Alexa is nothing short of Amazing. I have 2 echos - one in the living room and one in the bedroom.
          I have an event call good night that turns off all the lights and locks all the doors - puts the house to sleep. Once I get into bed, all tucked in under the covers, I say Alexa trigger good night and the house goes to sleep - lights out, doors locked, (if I wanted, temp down, etc.).

          With both the HS skill set and the IFTTT trigger via Alexa, we have true voice controlled home automation available to just about anyone at just about any skill level.

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks for posting this. I was able to set this up fairly quickly as well. I really didn't like the "tell homeseer" on the version that HS provided last week and I am struggling with it finding my devices anyways which is frustrating. This way just works (though more setup).

            Question, how do you make it say something other than "sent trigger to ifttt". Would be nice to be a little more custom.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by waynehead99 View Post
              I really didn't like the "tell homeseer" on the version that HS provided last week
              you should try the Echo Hue Emulator. you just say (Alexa turn on the fireplace or lights and it is on before she says ok)

              i just updated mine to the latest version yesterday and it supports dimming as well (alexa turn on kitchen lights to 20%) or just (alexa turn on kitchen lights)

              it looks a bit confusing but it is not bad and you will love how easy it is to add and rename devices

              i see they have removed the form that had the instructions but it wasn't hard to install and i still have the links if you want to try it

              when i have time i still plan on installing Thrags Bridge for the advanced features but i will keep the hue emulator as i don't want to have to tell her to tell homeseer to turn something on or off. i bet we use it about 40 times a day and never use the wall switches anymore

              Comment


                #8
                Can you send the links for the Echo hue emulator ?


                Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                Comment


                  #9
                  Can you send the links for the Echo hue emulator ?


                  Originally posted by usLEDsupply View Post
                  you should try the Echo Hue Emulator. you just say (Alexa turn on the fireplace or lights and it is on before she says ok)

                  i just updated mine to the latest version yesterday and it supports dimming as well (alexa turn on kitchen lights to 20%) or just (alexa turn on kitchen lights)

                  it looks a bit confusing but it is not bad and you will love how easy it is to add and rename devices

                  i see they have removed the form that had the instructions but it wasn't hard to install and i still have the links if you want to try it

                  when i have time i still plan on installing Thrags Bridge for the advanced features but i will keep the hue emulator as i don't want to have to tell her to tell homeseer to turn something on or off. i bet we use it about 40 times a day and never use the wall switches anymore




                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by tenholde View Post
                    So, I bought an Amazon Echo for my wife for Christmas (even she won't believe that)and while she was not around, I spent a few minutes setting it up.



                    Can't wait until wife opens present, we go through a few things like get weather, play music, and then I say: Alex Trigger Christmas Tree OFF



                    WAF definitely going up!



                    tenholde

                    Thanks for the feedback, I guess I shouldn't wait anymore to give my wife the same. Surprise honey more home automation !


                    Sent from my iPhone
                    Tom
                    baby steps...starting again with HS3
                    HS3Pro: Z-NET & 80 Z wave Devices,
                    HSTouch: 4 Joggler (Android Kitkat), 2 iPhone, 3 iPads
                    Whole House Audio: 5 SqueezePlay Jogglers w Bose Speakers
                    In The Works: 10 Cameras Geovision, new Adecmo/Envisalink Alarm, Arduinos
                    System: XP on Fanless Mini-ITX w/ SSD

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I have copied some of this from ultrajones post that is gone now and updated it to the new version

                      1. Download and install Java 8 from http://java.com

                      2. Open a command prompt using Start > Run > cmd, then run:

                      Code:
                      Code:
                           netstat -an | find ":1900" 
                      netstat -an | find ":8080" 
                      netstat -an | find ":5000"
                      Each command above should return nothing. However, chances are you'll see a result for 1900. If you do, then disable the SSDP Discovery service from Windows Services, then re-run the command to make sure it's been disabled.

                      (Or in most cases if you just disable the "SSDP Discovery service" and "World Wide Web Publishing Service" from Windows Services you will be fine) (or you could change the port to an open one if you would rather)

                      3. create a new folder named Echo in C:\ (C:\Echo)

                      4. download this and place it in the C:\Echo folder
                      https://github.com/armzilla/amazon-e...idge-0.2.1.jar

                      5. Create a new text file and paste this into it
                      Code:
                      cd c://echo
                      
                      java -jar -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true amazon-echo-bridge-0.2.1.jar --logging.level.com.armzilla.ha.upnp=DEBUG --logging.file=ha.log --upnp.config.address=192.168.xxx.xxx >log.txt
                      
                      pause
                      (change the IP address to match the IP of the PC running this mine is the HS3 PC)
                      then save changes and rename it to "Echo Java Startup v2.1.bat" and place it in the startup folder
                      if win 10 it should be here C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

                      7. double click the file you just made and it should open the cmd window and start the bridge (you can minimize the window)

                      8. open a web browser and go to http://192.168.xxx.xxx:8080/configurator.html

                      Click image for larger version

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                      enter your Homeseer IP address in the top then
                      type a name you want to say to alexa in the
                      Name field like "Kitchen Light" then paste this in the
                      On URL field:
                      Code:
                      http://192.168.xxx.xxx/JSON?request=controldevicebyvalue&ref=xx&value=${intensity.percent}
                      Off URL field:
                      Code:
                      http://192.168.xxx.xxx/JSON?request=controldevicebyvalue&ref=xx&value=0
                      just change the IP to match your HS3 Computer and change the xx after ref=xx your device ID number (you can find with the tenScriptAid or under the advanced tab of the device or i just hold my mouse over the device link on the device management page and look at the status bar for the id#)

                      if you don't want to enable dimming but want the lights to come on to a set value enter it at the end like this (when you tell alexa to turn on the bedroom lights they will turn on to 50%) (in the link below the ref id is 108)
                      On URL field:
                      Code:
                      http://192.168.xxx.xxx/JSON?request=controldevicebyvalue&ref=108&value=50
                      when you are done you can click test for the on and off lines then click add device

                      when you are done adding devices ask Alexa to discover devices (e.g. "Alexa, discover devices").
                      After about 30 seconds, Alexa should indicate she was able to find x number of new devices.

                      You can navigate Settings then Connected Home in your alexa app to view or delete the discovered devices
                      Last edited by usLEDsupply; December 8, 2015, 10:32 PM. Reason: auto format messed up one of the links

                      Comment


                        #12
                        so amazon echo and hdhomerun prime are now the only 2 things on my xmas/bday list (jan3 is bday)
                        HW - i5 4570T @2.9ghz runs @11w | 8gb ram | 128gb ssd OS - Win10 x64

                        HS - HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435

                        Plugins - BLRF 2.0.94.0 | Concord 4 3.1.13.10 | HSBuddy 3.9.605.5 | HSTouch Server 3.0.0.68 | RFXCOM 30.0.0.36 | X10 3.0.0.36 | Z-Wave 3.0.1.190

                        Hardware - EdgePort/4 DB9 Serial | RFXCOM 433MHz USB Transceiver | Superbus 2000 for Concord 4 | TI103 X-10 Interface | WGL Designs W800 RF | Z-Net Z-Wave Interface

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I have tried a few different voice control option and haven't had much success with any. This is giving me a bit of confidence but would like to verify something before I go spend money on this.

                          1. Does anyone know if this will work in Canada? The Canadian Amazon website doesn't sell it so want to make sure before I get one on ebay.

                          2. Can you program the exact key phrase you want and it will trigger the event. With Siri sometimes she will just google what I says instead of triggering the event.

                          3. How well does it work with ambient noise and how close do you have to be. I tried Kinect and didn't have success when the TV was on.

                          4. Lastly do you get any false positives? Meany events triggering without calling them.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            As to the false positives the echo is extremely good about this. The only time I have had it start to do something on its own is when the echo commercial is on the tv and it says Alexa. Then she goes crazy. As to the other concerns I can't speak to that.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Too bad I will never trust my automation to a cloud provider.

                              Surely the local voice control options can be just as good without needing to round trip through the cloud....if not now, then some day.

                              Comment

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