HS3 Comparability with Alexa-compatible devices?

[NateR]

Hello all,

Does Homeseer work with all devices labeled as being compatible with Alexa? I'm currently looking into the possibility of getting a wifi-connected oil diffuser, and ran across this one: https://www.amazon.com/iDOO-Essential-Diffuser-Humidifier-Waterless/dp/B06XHZJ9VR/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Ae ntries%2A=0#Ask

Just wondering if I could get it working with Homeseer.

Thanks!

[mrhappy]

Hello all,

Does Homeseer work with all devices labeled as being compatible with Alexa? I'm currently looking into the possibility of getting a wifi-connected oil diffuser, and ran across this one: https://www.amazon.com/iDOO-Essentia...tries%2A=0#Ask

Just wondering if I could get it working with Homeseer.

Thanks!

I think for this particular device what will happen will be that Alexa will talk directly to it as a skill and HS will also talk to Alexa as a skill. The two skills don't expose each other so you won't get any control through HS. It is a pity they don't sell to the UK else I would buy one and have a go at hacking it so I could talk to it from HS, I don't imagine it would be hard to figure out what was going on with it just not something you can do without the hardware.

[jon00]

It is a pity they don't sell to the UK else I would buy one and have a go at hacking it so I could talk to it from HS

Here you go Adam https://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-D...l+Oil+Diffuser

[NateR]

Thank you for the replies.

Ok, so no way of direct communication? I don't have an Alexa (just a Google Home), so using Alexa as a bridge wouldn't work.

[mrhappy]

Thank you for the replies.

Ok, so no way of direct communication? I don't have an Alexa (just a Google Home), so using Alexa as a bridge wouldn't work.

No, unless my understanding is wrong (I'm a relatively new user of Echo devices) it's not really a bridge. The Echo is more of a gateway to pass data to multiple systems and is not set up allow those systems to talk between each other.

As Jon00 (who should have a commission from NatWest!) points out they are available here so I will get one and give interfacing with it a go. If I do have success I will post back here with the hows and requirements.

[NateR]

No, unless my understanding is wrong (I'm a relatively new user of Echo devices) it's not really a bridge. The Echo is more of a gateway to pass data to multiple systems and is not set up allow those systems to talk between each other.

As Jon00 (who should have a commission from NatWest!) points out they are available here so I will get one and give interfacing with it a go. If I do have success I will post back here with the hows and requirements.

Hi mrhappy, any updates on this?

[mrhappy]

Hi mrhappy, any updates on this?

I forgot to be honest but I am not afraid to get one and give it a go still, your link appears to have expired but the one Jon00 linked to is still up. There appears to be a few different makes but all have a similar feature set (even if they have different external structures) so wonder if they have a common hardware core. I shall get one and give it a go.

[NateR]

I forgot to be honest but I am not afraid to get one and give it a go still, your link appears to have expired but the one Jon00 linked to is still up. There appears to be a few different makes but all have a similar feature set (even if they have different external structures) so wonder if they have a common hardware core. I shall get one and give it a go.

Ah, I just want back and looked at the one I linked (working link: https://www.amazon.com/iDOO-Essentia...sion%2A=1&%2Ae ntries%2A=0) and the reviews aren't super great now.

Just searched for "smart diffuser," snd there's now a wider variety of diffusers available. Some now have Google Home compatibility (I don't recall running across any previously), so even if they don't work with Homeseer it wouldn't be a total loss. No rush/pressure to try that one out now - I'll probably look to get one with Google Home compatibility, since that's my primary reason for wanting to get the previous one working with Homeseer. I just woke up with a stuffy nose this morning and it reminded me I hadn't gotten one yet

[mrhappy]

Ah, I just want back and looked at the one I linked (working link: https://www.amazon.com/iDOO-Essentia...sion%2A=1&%2Ae ntries%2A=0) and the reviews aren't super great now.

Just searched for "smart diffuser," snd there's now a wider variety of diffusers available. Some now have Google Home compatibility (I don't recall running across any previously), so even if they don't work with Homeseer it wouldn't be a total loss. No rush/pressure to try that one out now - I'll probably look to get one with Google Home compatibility, since that's my primary reason for wanting to get the previous one working with Homeseer. I just woke up with a stuffy nose this morning and it reminded me I hadn't gotten one yet

I've ordered one from eBay so it is coming across on the boat but might take a couple of weeks.

I'm still anticipating that quite a few will have common hardware/firmware and just a different outer case. I was searching around for a couple of keywords and the PCB for a Sonoff relay device (ESP8266 based) came up when I was searching for the diffuser and that had a main relay (could be used for the transducer) and a three bit IO output (that would provide 7 binary values + off) which could connect to the LED. Who knows but I shall let you know - any alexa/google home integration is likely to be done on the server side rather than in the device.

[mrhappy]

I've ordered one from eBay so it is coming across on the boat but might take a couple of weeks.

I'm still anticipating that quite a few will have common hardware/firmware and just a different outer case. I was searching around for a couple of keywords and the PCB for a Sonoff relay device (ESP8266 based) came up when I was searching for the diffuser and that had a main relay (could be used for the transducer) and a three bit IO output (that would provide 7 binary values + off) which could connect to the LED. Who knows but I shall let you know - any alexa/google home integration is likely to be done on the server side rather than in the device.

Well I wasn't a million miles away, it is ESP based and using the possibly dubious ewelink app (I would imagine any of the similar units are the same). I am making some slight progress at interfacing with it and I will let you know how I get on.

[NateR]

Well I wasn't a million miles away, it is ESP based and using the possibly dubious ewelink app (I would imagine any of the similar units are the same). I am making some slight progress at interfacing with it and I will let you know how I get on.

Nice, man! Appreciate you going to the trouble - I'll keep an eye out for an update.

[codey]

I'm also interested in this, i've got one branded as SSG, works great with alexa, if homeseer could also talk to it that would be fantastic

[mrhappy]

I got it working however it would not be without it's difficulties were you to follow this approach, the existing firmware on the units seems to connect to the iTead cloud service. You can impersonate that apparently to only talk to your server by sending data to the unit however I could not get it to work reliably to establish a connection with my PC.

I traced out the tracks on the board and all that was happening was the PSA-B module (which is an ESP8285) was sending serial data to chip U3 on the top board which then is controlling the LED's/water level sensing/ultrasonic humidifer. Attaching a logic analyser and expecting some hard work I found that in actual fact all that was being sent was 19200 baud serial data, a bit of debugging with the app and I had the command set.

I then flashed the module in the unit with the ESPEasy firmware and set that up as a serial server, then from HS I can send data along on the port as per the command structure (which provides feedback but is not that important to have two way comms) just from a script in HS.

So it can be done just with some difficulty, the problem I have in recommending this is that I don't know whether or not the commands are standard across the units, I expect they probably are similar or the same (because of the same options and how they are marketed) but could never be sure of that, once you flashed the firmware it's a bit late as you can't go back to how it was!

I am going to write it up at some point as I couldn't find anything about these on the net and I am sure they will be of value to someone.