Google Mini vs Echo Dot

[Manuel Medrano]

Hi all, Happy New Year! This year I have been great, so well that they have given me these two devices: Google Mini and Echo Dot I would like to ask you if you have them at home, if you have integrated them with Loxone and how they are doing. I have a question which to choose from the two. My main idea is to be able to up/down the blinds of the house, turn on and off the lights, set the alarm, listen to music, put the TV, put Netflix on the Chromecast, etc ... Have you integrated this with IFTTT? I know that Voxior exists, but it's very expensive and I wanted to see another alternative ... Thank you all for your comments! Regards!

[John Verdicchio]

I have an Amazon Echo dot. I use HAbridge running on a Raspberry pi. It acts as a Philips Hue brudge. If you can control the object in Loxone with a virtual input it can work with HAbridge and hence Alexa. I've posted how I did the setup previously.

You can't do dimming as dim level is only accessible via the API or app. So any dimming required needs to be set in a mood.

With my new Logitech Harmony Elite I can now turn my lights on with the remote using the same bridge.

You do have the work to add virtual inputs for everything you want to turn on and separate inputs to turn off. But you only do that once per thing.

[Simon Still]

An echo dot that arrived at Christmas. At the moment we have it in the kitchen. I've not linked it to Loxone (yet) but have linked it to the Logitech Harmony that controls the TV/Radio/Audio in that room.

I'm not that impressed so far.  The need to remember a precise form of words is the main issue - "Alexa, Turn on six music".  Also not being able to completely disable all of the in built functionality - Every so often Alexa will just start streaming music from the internal speaker (play six music).  There's a very vague and unhelpful 'for a while after you turn it on Alexa will control the volume' for the Harmony skill - after some period she wont and I've no idea how to get her to control harmony again at that point.  

Switching to some TV channels works, others don't (or get picked up as requests to play directly).  

[Javier Herraez]

I am currently integrating loxone with Google Assistant (i dont have home devices yet) vía Google home app

I am using Openhabian (loxone binding and Google action) as bridge and up to now everything is running smoothly.

Currently I have operational:
Lights control (with rooms): on/off and dimmers
Outlets and switches
Temperature sensors
Thermostats (partial/ongoing)
TTS (partial/ongoing)

The best is asking in the car Android auto the bedroom temperature and then voice command to Start the heating...

[Aaron]

Google Assistant integration is next on my to-do-list so following this with interest.

I remember another thread which suggests using LoxBerry to provide the binding between Google and Loxone. Is there any advantage to using openHABian or is LoxBerry just an interface into it?

[John Verdicchio]

Javier

You mentioned the dimming works with the the openHAB bridge. ie when you say "google lights kitchen on 50%" (or what ever the command is) and the kitchen lights dim to that level? If so, then openHAB have worked out how to use the Loxone API. As openHAB is open source one could have a look at how they got it to work... 

[Javier Herraez]

Yes, dimmers are working out of the box with Openhabian and can voice command the level in %

The bindings, features and limitations are well documented. Even if I have some technical background I am not developer, so no knowledge in the details.

https://www.openhab.org/addons/bindings/loxone/

https://www.openhab.org/docs/ecosystem/google-assistant/#google-assistant-action

I am also indeed using Loxberry for sure, but up to now for different usages, not Google Home integrations.

Regards