TechLife Australia – September 2019

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automation

A GUIDE TO THE BASIC TOOLS OF THE

[NATHAN TAYLOR ]

UP UNTIL RECENTLY, home automation had

been a tough business, best left to professionals

and hard core enthusiasts. A dizzying array of

incompatible protocols and devices made most

home automation projects absurdly complex,

requiring weeks of research just to get started.

Now, with the rise of home assistants it has

become much easier to create an automated

home. It doesn’t require any special knowledge:

just a place to get started.

WHAT CAN I DO WITH AN

AUTOMATED HOME?

So, let’s back up a minute. If you’re a home

automation neophyte then you may be

wondering what all the fuss is about. “I’m fine

with manually flipping a light switch,” you may

be thinking, but home automation is really

about much more than that.

Home automation is about making your

electronic devices work together and work

smarter. Typically it involves creating a set of “if

then” rules for the devices in your home: if the

TV is turned on then close the curtains and

dim the lights; if the motion sensor detects

movement outside after 1am then start

recording on the camera; if it’s 10pm, turn off

the hot water heater; if the owner is nearing

home after work then start the coffee brewer.

You create the rules, and the possibilities are

limited only by your imagination – and the

availability of hardware that supports

automation.

THE ECOSYSTEMS

Although automation has become much easier

in recent years, we’re still a long way away from

the “everything works with everything” utopia.

There are still “ecosystems” at play, and not

every device supports every ecosystem – though

many of the most popular devices (like the

Philips Hue lightbulbs, Belkin’s WeMo devices,

August Smart Lock, ecobee devices and so on)

will support all the major platforms.

At the heart of nearly every home automation

system is a controlling device, a hub that

controls all the other devices and is the brain of

the operation. Historically these were custom

PCs running specialised (and expensive)

software, but nowadays we have a much cheaper

andeasiersolution:homeassistantslikethe

AmazonEcho,AppleHomePodandGoogle

Homemakeidealautomationhubs,withvoice

controlbakedinandnowwithappsandservices

designedtosupportautomation.

Yourchoiceofecosystemwillthereforepretty

muchboilsdowntowhichhomeassistantyou

prefer,andthethreemostprominenthome

assistantsalsodefinethethreelargestecosystems.

We’lllookbrieflyat themhere.

TRADE.

On Amazon, select the option to create a new

Routine, then set up a trigger (“When this happens”)

and one or more actions to take in response. Setting an Automation in Apple Home.

The Echo is cheap and

very capable.