Siri, Ask GoPiGo: Where Are You?

GoPiGo
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Scenario:

  • User: “Siri, Ask GoPiGo: Where Are You?”
  • (voice from the livingroom) “I’m in here.”
  • User: “Siri, Ask GoPiGo: What Are You Doing?”
  • (voice from livingroom) “I’m watching for motion.”
  • User: “Siri, Ask GoPiGo: How is your battery doing?”
  • (voice from livingroom) “My battery is currently at 9.2 volts”

What It Takes:

  • Siri speech interface (iPhone, iWatch, AppleTV Remote, HomePod, HomePodMini, iPad)
  • HomeBridge for Raspberry Pi running on RaspbianForRobots
    HomeBridge On GitHub
  • GoPiGo3 with speaker
  • GoPiGo3 HomeKit Accessory Definition <-- The missing piece!
  • GoPiGo3 Accessory configured in User’s HomeKit

Yo, Dexter slash ModRobotics: Is Someone working on this?

I’m guessing “Alexa”, and “Hey Google” would be possible as well.

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We were. I had something working with Alexa (not Siri) but we never published it. Alexa was just too hard to set up to get it working consistently. That was about 2 years ago.

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@cyclicalobsessive
Have you tried it? Does it work?

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I have not tried.

I just installed an Ecobee thermostat with three room sensors, which supports HomeKit if I can figure . I’m a little slow with the the fanboy technology

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You and me both. I’d rather spend time helping here or teaching Charlie some new trick.

I have a brother though, in a motorized wheelchair, that thinks this stuff is the hottest thing since Triple Banana Splits were invented:

“Alexa: Turn on the bathroom light”
“Alexa: Turn down the air-conditioner”
“Alexa: Add eggs and milk to my grocery list”

His aid has access to his lists so that when she goes shopping for him, she can get what he needs.

I busted his onions about getting this stuff when he did, but now that I can see how it helps. . . . :wink:

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And his is a perfect example of useful complication worth the cost.

To minimize building costs our house was built with the air filter / air return 7 feet up the wall by the front door, and with the thermostat also by the front door.

Every 2 months I have to climb a ladder with a giant vacuum cleaner to get the surprisingly copious dust off the air return vent, descend with the vacuum in hand, then climb again to retrieve the also surprisingly dusty filter, down without ingesting too much dust since I have allergies to house dust (and severe allergies to the pampas grass that folks seem to think should decorate their yards with), and then return up with the pristine filter.

But the real nasty turns out to be that the thermostat is by the south facing front door, in an area where no one ever exists. Try as I have to balance the system so that every room cools as equally as possible when the AC is running, the control system decisions for when to run and when to stop are useless, so we have had to manually manage this thing on an hourly basis for the last 20 years.

I finally managed to convince my wife that spending $250 for a new thermostat system would improve her comfort. Well actually, I think she decided I needed a new toy and went along with my pleading.

The new thermostat system allows ignoring the temperature at the thermostat by the hot door, and using the temperature in variable combinations of motion sensor and temperature sensors. I’ve been able to get the temperature to be much better regulated, but I’m not convinced I have found the secret algorithms to improve the “wife’s comfort” yet.

I didn’t want Alexa, Hey Google, or Siri features but the company thinks we can’t live without that added complexity. We’ll see.

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We should call that “Husband’s Razor”. Wives are inherently dissatisfied and nothing we can do will change it.

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… the blessing (and occasionally curse) of the marriage of two perfectionists (well one and one retired)

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