Seeking advice to get started + want to participate in development

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Hello everyone,

So here it is, I must admit that I am seduced by this version 4.0 of Gladys after following the project in the shadows for several years and having notably supported you on Patreon at the time, without ever really having tested the solution… But today, I really feel like starting by adding home automation to my office to understand everything and perhaps expand this to the entire apartment as soon as I have a better understanding!

But if I am writing to you today, it is to ask for advice on the equipment to adopt to get started, according to the needs described below. Indeed, I must admit that I am lost regarding all the information I have been able to find on the net.

Moreover, being a fullstack developer by profession, I will gladly participate, in a second step, in the development of new integrations for example.

So here it is, I know that this goes a bit against Gladys and its respect for privacy, but for me a voice assistant is very important, so I plan to buy a Google Home to control everything. This seems possible: https://community.gladysassistant.com/t/tutoriel-google-home-dis-a-gladys/4910

For the moment I have:

And for my needs, I would like:

  • To be able to turn on my TV and control my Nvidia shield by voice. Since my TV is a bit old (not a smartTV), it seems that I need to buy a Chromecast?

  • To be able to turn on/off the chandelier in my bedroom currently connected to a single push button.

  • To create scenarios to turn off the office lights when I leave the room, only during specific hours, and vice versa.

  • To eventually have a connected mirror that could display a lot of information including Gladys’ by creating a module. Seems possible: https://community.gladysassistant.com/t/installer-chez-soi-un-miroir-connecte-avec-gladys-assistant/4077

  • To be able to control connected outlets and create scenarios so that I can for example activate the charging of my phone when I sleep, but only 1 hour before my wake-up. To avoid leaving it charging all night.

  • A temperature sensor

These are the things I have thought of for the moment with an outsider’s perspective on home automation. Tell me if you think there is a way to add cool things in an office to have some fun :wink:

And my main question: Based on my needs, which outlets, lamps, etc. do you recommend based on your experience and value for money please?

Thanks in advance to everyone for your answers
Kenshim

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Update:

From what I’ve read on the forum, zigbee2mqtt seems to be a good solution to access a wider range of sensors: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/

With the dongle: https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/4000439492385.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.70f4467cuqsQkR&algo_pvid=f437b0fc-476b-49b6-ac22-4e1489542133&algo_expid=f437b0fc-476b-49b6-ac22-4e1489542133-0&btsid=0bb0600116048820950726895e3aca&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_ (Just need to flash it, I guess?)

But I’m struggling to know if it’s well integrated into Gladys. Does anyone use this solution?

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Hello @kenshimdev!

For the lamp part, Philips Hue are far ahead in terms of quality, a bit more expensive than others but so much more durable and high quality. Otherwise, there are IKEA bulbs that are managed by the same protocol as Philips Hue. Apparently, they are also good.

For this, you need presence detection, for example through motion detection? There are plenty of technologies that work (Xiaomi, Z-Wave), I would tend to advise Xiaomi in your case.

Xiaomi sensors (which work with Zigbee) are by far the best quality/price ratio. Very small, very design, very cheap and very stable!

Zigbee2mqtt is under development, it is not yet integrated into v4 for the moment but it will be.

Be careful, this is a tutorial for v3. It will be possible for v4 as well, but for now it is not possible!

I let other community members complete this post if they have other ideas!

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You have the list of compatible dongles here:

You necessarily need to flash the firmware but it’s nothing complicated, it’s well documented. I myself use a 2531.

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Thank you both for your answers :slight_smile: I’ll look into all of that

Warning, this is a tutorial for v3. It will also be possible for v4, but for now it is not possible!

Oh darn! I admit that it loses a bit of meaning^^