After Hours
The house is the test lab.
This isn't the day job. It's what happens after five o'clock, when the habit of asking “can these talk to each other?” gets pointed at the house. Some of it has since wandered into the HomeSeer store with CyberLogix as the seller, which was not exactly the plan. No clients asked for any of it. The house did, repeatedly.
HomeSeer plugins
The house runs on HomeSeer. Some of the devices needed persuading.
HomeSeer has been running the house since the HS1 days. When a device had no plugin, or had one that phoned home more than it needed to, it got a new one. They share a common kit, so the whole family behaves like one product, and every one of them runs here daily before it goes anywhere near a store.
Roku
Simple protocol, complicated reality. Local control, firmware that changes without telling anyone, and discovery traps.
Read the write-up In the HomeSeer storePlex
Teaches HomeSeer who is watching what, so the lights know the movie has started before you do.
Read the write-up In the HomeSeer storeHDHomeRun
Network tuners, guide data and viewing activity, turned into something the house can act on.
Read the write-up In the HomeSeer storeAstrolabe
A local, offline astronomy engine. Twilight, eclipses, space weather, and the sky with no subscription required.
Read the write-up In the HomeSeer storeEmporia
A few smart plugs that became a two-way energy manager, and an unfinished hunt for local control.
Read the write-up Submitted to the storeJellyfin
Session updates fast enough to feel native, without making the fast path something it depends on.
Read the write-up Submitted to the storeEmby
Shares most of its code with Jellyfin and, it turns out, rather fewer of its assumptions.
Read the write-up Heading for the storeVoice Announce
Announcements through the Echo devices already in every room, and spoken phrases that trigger events going the other way.
Read the write-up Heading for the storeAV Control
Brands, protocols, zones and even infrared, translated into one common HomeSeer language. One plugin to rule the rack.
Read the write-up Heading for the storeLutron Caséta
Local control through the bridge, on the principle that the bridge usually knows best.
Read the write-up Heading for the storeWemo
The Wemo cloud is gone. The hardware never got the memo. Local control and setup for a second life.
Read the write-up Heading for the storeSleep Number
The bed has a REST API. Presence, comfort settings and bedtime routines join the automation system.
Read the write-up Heading for the storeOpenSprinkler
Safer credentials, correct schedules and local control, for the one system where a bug gets the driveway wet.
Read the write-up Heading for the storeHubspace
Reverse-engineering an undocumented cloud without pretending any of the guesses are facts.
Read the write-up On the benchSensorBridge
Started as a weather station and two freezer probes. Now it reads the water meter and worries about the freezer.
Read the write-upEvent Studio
Every HomeSeer event in plain English, why it did or didn't run, and which ones never could. It changes nothing without asking.
Write-up on the wayMosaic
Live dashboards for wall kiosks, tablets and phones, room by room. The tablet on the wall finally earns its spot.
Write-up on the waySwitchboard
The phone system as HomeSeer devices: caller ID, who is on a call, click-to-dial. Speaks 3CX today, and is learning other languages.
Write-up on the wayWebhooks
HTTP calls in both directions. If a service can send a webhook, the house can react to it, and tell other services when something changes.
Write-up on the wayAPC UPS
Smart-UPS units over their network cards, so the house knows how long the battery will last when the power doesn't.
Write-up on the wayRedfish
Servers with iLO, iDRAC and friends as HomeSeer devices. Temperatures, fans and power draw for the rack in the closet.
Write-up on the wayElsewhere on the bench
Things that escaped the plugin folder.
Not everything stays a HomeSeer plugin. Some of it gets out.
Astrolabe on the web
The plugin's astronomy engine with the house removed. Planets, eclipses, occultations and satellite passes, for anywhere.
Take a look On the drawing boardA smarter garage door
A magnetic encoder, an ESP32 and an infrared light curtain, so the door knows exactly how open it is and what is in the way.
Read the write-upThe full write-ups, including what broke and why, live on Steven's personal site . They are long. That is deliberate.
Back to the day job
Got something at work that won't talk to anything else?
Same instinct, with a contract and better hours.