Amazon Echo - 'local' control of Vera devices

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Good morning,

I’ve seen a couple of threads on Amazon Echo. I’ve just got mine. Can anyone tell me if it’s possible (seeing as my Amazon Echo is on the same network as my Vera) for me to exert a level of simplistic ‘local’ control over my devices by creating a Skill that takes my commands and the end result being the Echo hitting a URL on my local network, like so:

http://192.168.1.237/port_3480/data_request?id=lu_action&output_format=json&DeviceNum=9&serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:SwitchPower1&action=SetTarget&newTargetValue=1&rand=0.2862926507368684

Obviously that URL, when you hit it in a browser, will turn a specific device on. It works fine. There’s nothing clever here.

I’d like to be able to say “alexa, turn giant floor lamp on” or “alexa, turn giant floor lamp off” and have Alexa end up just pushing out that URL on my network. I’m sure there are Cloud-y things going in inbetween, but I also wanted to avoid having the necessity for things like other servers and pieces of hardware, like a Raspberry Pi or something like that. I want Alexa to have a Skill whereby it recognises what I am saying and is set up so that it looks inwards, rather than outwards.

Is this possible?

2

Thinking about it, I suppose my question can be much simpler than me banging on about lights and Vera…

Is there a way of having an Amazon Skill that will recognise your speech and then get the Echo to hit an appropriate URL?

3

There are numerous threads on using Echo with Vera. Have you read them?

The problem is that all of Echo’s processing is done up on the Amazon Servers (Alexi just passes on the stuff she hears). So getting the commands back to your local Vera is not a trivial task. Which is why there are those long threads!

4

Yes, I’ve read them.

I understand that Echo’s processing is done on the Internet, not inside the box itself, but - obviously - something comes back down and what I am asking is whether the thing that comes back down can be an instruction to hit a URL on the local network.

Do you know?

5

If you could, then we would not have needed those lengthy threads! ;D

6

I believe the short answer to your question is ‘yes’.

The medium answer is that I think there are at least three ways to do it:

  1. Fake out something that the Echo already knows how to work with locally (the ha-bridge approach) like the Hue controller. Not sure if the voice in this case goes all the way to Amazon servers or not.
  2. Have your command go out to the Amazon servers as a skill and have it connect in the cloud to the Vera servers (the “native”) approach. As long as you can get your Vera to issue the URL you want, this should work.
  3. Like #2 above, but create your own web server so the command comes directly back to your server without going to Vera. Most complex but gives you the most control.

I would like to be further educated on this topic, so please feel free to correct any errors in this.

7

The short answer to your original question is yes, you can accomplish what you seek in the way you mentioned.

The long answer is good luck. I’ve read the lengthy threads about creating the skill, settings up an AWS account, putting in your credit card number (“which will never be charged” - yeah, right), and everything else. What a convoluted bunch of rigamarole…

I installed the Philips Hue Bridge software on a Linux server that I run for other purposes, let it discover my Vera, exported the scenes and devices I wanted to be able to control, then went into the Alexa app and added the controls to the Echo. Done.

Granted, I have over two decades of experience working in tech, so the bulk of this for me was reasonably straight-forward (and the AWS account and skill was a nightmare). There are definitely ways to accomplish this with things like a Raspberry Pi device, too. Read the threads - the answers are there.

8

I’m not sure you’re correct in this matter. There’s always* a way… what you probably mean is that it’s not there, already, for me to take ‘off-the-shelf’.

  • there’s always an exception to the rule, too. :wink:
9

Yes, that’s well understood, but I did hopefully make it clear that’s not what I was, ideally, looking for?

I have a Vera Edge.
I will shortly have a Philips Hue starter kit (collect it tomorrow all being well).
I, obviously, have the Amazon Echo.

What I want might well be considered insecure in some way, and therefore prohibited, but I would think if I’m OK with the Echo hitting a local URL - within my 192.168.1.x network - then it should be allowed.

That said, if I could utilise another ‘sever’ per se… like my Vera Edge or my Philips Hue Bridge… to do this URL hitting, I would definitely be amenable to that.

That said, again, maybe an externally accessible Vera Scene? I’m thinking aloud, as I’ve not done that kind of thing yet, just kept my basic home automation within the confines of my home… but Vera already provides for all that, right? And that’s the other route(s) that’re referenced… they seem a bit roundabout.

I guess Vera might have some kind of native, streamlined, integration, fully provided by the company, in 2030 or so…?

10

I’m not sure you’re correct in this matter. There’s always* a way… what you probably mean is that it’s not there, already, for me to take ‘off-the-shelf’.

  • there’s always an exception to the rule, too. ;)[/quote]

It actually is there, in an “off-the-shelf” sort of way. But, it’s a LOT of work, a lot of configuration, convoluted, confusing, dated, and will likely cause you a lot of headaches.

You didn’t ask if you could do it easily, just whether you could do it. And that’s where the answer gets muddy. And why you need these ridiculously long threads discussing all of the problems and tweaks to make it work with a “native skill”. Use the HA Bridge method that I mentioned. It took me about 15 minutes to get it all working, and about 15 more to figure out how to get the bridge to auto-start on my server when I restart it (because it doesn’t support the use of RC scripts any more).

11

Yes, that’s well understood, but I did hopefully make it clear that’s not what I was, ideally, looking for?

I have a Vera Edge.
I will shortly have a Philips Hue starter kit (collect it tomorrow all being well).
I, obviously, have the Amazon Echo.

What I want might well be considered insecure in some way, and therefore prohibited, but I would think if I’m OK with the Echo hitting a local URL - within my 192.168.1.x network - then it should be allowed.

That said, if I could utilise another ‘sever’ per se… like my Vera Edge or my Philips Hue Bridge… to do this URL hitting, I would definitely be amenable to that.

That said, again, maybe an externally accessible Vera Scene? I’m thinking aloud, as I’ve not done that kind of thing yet, just kept my basic home automation within the confines of my home… but Vera already provides for all that, right? And that’s the other route(s) that’re referenced… they seem a bit roundabout.

I guess Vera might have some kind of native, streamlined, integration, fully provided by the company, in 2030 or so…?[/quote]

Vera, like most manufacturers, won’t support the installation of additional software on their devices. Additionally, firmware upgrades will negate add-ons that you’ve worked to get operational. You need another server to do this. Add a compatible HA device that can trigger events to your Vera, add a server in the house (like I did), or build a new skill according to the information in the threads.

Vera can’t/won’t play ball with Amazon for a native skill, and Amazon isn’t really interested in making individuals’ skills available that don’t meet any real level of demand.

12

I use the HA-Bridge method as mentioned by ember1205 and it works very, very well, has a huge WAF and does exactly what I need it to do. There’s virtually no lag from when I ask her to turn on/off the lights or ceiling fans or whatever and when they actually turn on, it’s almost instant. It’s very easy to add devices and I can name them whatever I want to get Alexa to recognize what I want her to do. Definitely worth looking into.

13

You could well be creating extra work for your self for absolutely no benefit.

I’ve tried both the bridge method an the native method, the greatest part of the delay between asking vera something and it actually happening is taken up by Alexa having to work out what you’ve just said, for this reason I find an insignificant time delay difference between both methods. I decided to stick with the native method as it was the one I set up first.

The only thing that could possibly make me change my mind is lock control from the bridge method. I can’t see that happening an Dif it did I’d imagine it would be added to the native version just as quick. I think I’ll be sticking with the native version and hoping that lock control is added when the API details get released making that possible.