Anyone using Echo, Dot ot Alexa in RV's?

GordonThree wrote:

timjet wrote:
Gordon, can you suggest a book that a beginner can get to learn about this stuff.

The fundamentals should be in books but the meat of the subject is too new, and too fluid, it only exists on the web. The WiFi chips I use are ESP8266, they are not Arduino but can be treated as such from a programming standpoint.

Fundamentals (books):
C programming, C++ programming (for embedded systems) look at O'Reilly books
Javascript O'Reilly again
Any sort of "getting started" type for Arduino, Home Automation, Smart Home, etc

Hands on learning:
Get an Arduino kit, they're really inexpensive
Get a Raspberry Pi kit, also inexpensive
Spend hours on YouTube, Instructables.com, Google watching and learning about what others have done

Once you have the basics and understanding of what things do, there's lots of examples out there you can more or less plug together and accomplish your desired result. As with anything else, there's no such thing as an original idea, it's all been done before and hopefully someone's published a website on how to do it.

Thanks Gordon.

We have an Echo in our MH. It's great for playing Jeopardy, setting timers, helping me spell and doing math problems without a calculator.

But the best thing about it is the ability to add items to our shopping list without washing our hands, finding our phones, turning on the phone, pulling up the shopping list on the phone, then typing in the items. Paper lists were even more inconvenient.

Now, whenever one of us sees something that needs to be purchased, we simply say, Alexa, add XYX to my shopping list. The items immediately appear on both my phone and my wife's phone. My wife and I both love this function.

timjet wrote:
Gordon, can you suggest a book that a beginner can get to learn about this stuff.

The fundamentals should be in books but the meat of the subject is too new, and too fluid, it only exists on the web. The WiFi chips I use are ESP8266, they are not Arduino but can be treated as such from a programming standpoint.

Fundamentals (books):
C programming, C++ programming (for embedded systems) look at O'Reilly books
Javascript O'Reilly again
Any sort of "getting started" type for Arduino, Home Automation, Smart Home, etc

Hands on learning:
Get an Arduino kit, they're really inexpensive
Get a Raspberry Pi kit, also inexpensive
Spend hours on YouTube, Instructables.com, Google watching and learning about what others have done

Once you have the basics and understanding of what things do, there's lots of examples out there you can more or less plug together and accomplish your desired result. As with anything else, there's no such thing as an original idea, it's all been done before and hopefully someone's published a website on how to do it.

If this had existed 25 years ago, i would have been all over it

I used to work on industrial machine controls
And did a lot of PLL work (Programmable Ladder logic)

Gordon, can you suggest a book that a beginner can get to learn about this stuff.

gutfelt wrote:

GordonThree wrote:

Nothing off the shelf. Although China does have some WiFi controlled 12v relay modules that could be made to work without much trouble.

Here are a few modules I have made for automation:
Link

The lights, except for awning are just on/off like you guess, interrupt the 12v supply... Same thing for the pump. The fans are speed controlled, so I can tell Alexa what percentage I want them running at. The awning I can tell Alexa a color, brightness, etc.

so those controls in the link respond to alexia voice commands via wifi? is there much programing involved for being able to vary fan speeds etc ;;you don't need the plug in devices like we use on the 120V systems ?

Alexa talks to a small computer called a Raspberry Pi, which I have wired in to run 24x7 off the trailer battery. The Raspberry then talks to the modules I built using an industrial protocol called MQTT. Each of the modules also contain tiny computers that have built-in WiFi. The Raspberry also gives me a web page based control panel that works even if Alexa doesn't have Internet (Alexa always needs Internet). The control panel has switches that are the same as many control panels found in RVs.

Yes, there's a lot of programming, but it doesn't need to be very complex. The WiFi switches you can buy from China via eBay contain the same tiny WiFi enabled computer (ESP8266), so you don't need to build the hardware for simple on/off control. You can just upload a simple program and get them talking fairly easily.

Check out youtube for more ideas, search for esp8266 mqtt

GordonThree wrote:

gutfelt wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
The first Alexa i bought was a Dot for my RV. Along with a usb battery I had already, it was nice to sit it on the picnic table for music. Also handy to ask it about the weather and news, without having to break out the phone.

I also have it setup to control various outdoor lights, two vent fans and the water pump.

where did u get the 12 v controllers for the fans and the pump and how were u able to wire the controllers into the fans and water pump
I assume u interrupt the main 12V power supplys to do so ?

Nothing off the shelf. Although China does have some WiFi controlled 12v relay modules that could be made to work without much trouble.

Here are a few modules I have made for automation:
Link

The lights, except for awning are just on/off like you guess, interrupt the 12v supply... Same thing for the pump. The fans are speed controlled, so I can tell Alexa what percentage I want them running at. The awning I can tell Alexa a color, brightness, etc.

so those controls in the link respond to alexia voice commands via wifi? is there much programing involved for being able to vary fan speeds etc ;;you don't need the plug in devices like we use on the 120V systems ?

gutfelt wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
The first Alexa i bought was a Dot for my RV. Along with a usb battery I had already, it was nice to sit it on the picnic table for music. Also handy to ask it about the weather and news, without having to break out the phone.

I also have it setup to control various outdoor lights, two vent fans and the water pump.

where did u get the 12 v controllers for the fans and the pump and how were u able to wire the controllers into the fans and water pump
I assume u interrupt the main 12V power supplys to do so ?

Nothing off the shelf. Although China does have some WiFi controlled 12v relay modules that could be made to work without much trouble.

Here are a few modules I have made for automation:
Link

The lights, except for awning are just on/off like you guess, interrupt the 12v supply... Same thing for the pump. The fans are speed controlled, so I can tell Alexa what percentage I want them running at. The awning I can tell Alexa a color, brightness, etc.

Time to get a phone that is a wifi hot spot.

GordonThree wrote:
The first Alexa i bought was a Dot for my RV. Along with a usb battery I had already, it was nice to sit it on the picnic table for music. Also handy to ask it about the weather and news, without having to break out the phone.

I also have it setup to control various outdoor lights, two vent fans and the water pump.

where did u get the 12 v controllers for the fans and the pump and how were u able to wire the controllers into the fans and water pump
I assume u interrupt the main 12V power supplys to do so ?