Anyone using Echo, Dot ot Alexa in RV's?
We're enjoying Alexa in our home and our kids are using multiple units as intercoms between rooms in their homes. We can call their homes by just saying "Alexa call XXX" and we converse on Echo not ou...
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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
