home-automation

Rhasspy is a loosely connected set of tools for creating a personal voice assistant. Each of the tools, including speech recognition and speech generation, can run on your own computer without sending your private data off to a cloud-based service (although you can still choose to do so).

The components within Rhasspy's pipeline can talk to each other using various methods such as by posting data to a web URL or launching a program in response to a command.

Node-RED is a browser-based programming tool for interacting with hardware devices, online services, and other software that you may be running. Programming is done using a combination of JavaScript and a visual programming language consisting of nodes that receive some kind of data, transform or act upon the data, and then send messages out to other connected nodes. These small programs are called flows.

MQTT servers can be set up in a very permissive configuration, which makes the protocol easy to work with but leaves it vulnerable to mischief by anyone connected within the perimeter of the network.

This may not be a problem if you're just using MQTT for novelty and maybe to turn a lamp on and off. It's also not problematic if your network is perfectly secured from outsiders. However, if you are using MQTT for physical access control or important appliances such as heating and cooling, it is essential to set up a more secure system.

Every electronic device is potentially the weak link in the security of your home automation system. It is important to understand where things can go wrong, how to prevent problems, and what to do when a problem occurs.

Home Assistant is home automation software, primarily intended for installation on a Raspberry Pi computer. It is an ambitious project with an active community.

Some ways people use Home Assistant

If home automation sounds interesting, but you're at a loss for applications specific to your home, here are a few ideas to spark your imagination. Some of these will take a bit of work to set up using additional tools such as . It won't always be easy, but just about anything is possible once you develop a plan and follow through with it.