Software / Automation

Building a Smarter Garage Door: Precision Positioning and Obstruction Detection

What if your garage door could report its exact position, open to a chosen percentage, and detect obstructions throughout the doorway? I'm exploring a custom HomeSeer-integrated system using a magnetic rotary encoder, ESP32 controller, and infrared light curtain, with an emphasis on accuracy, local control, and safety.

Voice Announce for HomeSeer: Getting Ready for Public Beta

Voice Announce is preparing for public beta with features that connect HomeSeer and your Echo devices in both directions. Make announcements, trigger events with spoken phrases, control music, respond to timers and send notifications that wait until you’re ready. The plugin now installs its companion service automatically, while a separate, limited Home Library preview adds Plex, Emby and Jellyfin playback.

Emporia: Energy Monitoring In HomeSeer

What started with a few smart plugs turned into a two-way energy manager, a cloud API deep dive, and an unfinished hunt for local control.

How a weather station and two freezer probes grew into a local wireless sensor bridge for HomeSeer.

SensorBridge started with a few AcuRite sensors and a USB radio. A few weeks later, it tracked weather, read the water meter, and learned when a freezer’s warming pattern might mean trouble. Here’s how it came together, what real-world testing uncovered, and what’s coming next.

Building Space Weather for Astrolabe, and a Little Holiday Planning

Could you see the northern lights from your backyard tonight? A forum request sent me into solar forecasts, magnetic geography, and a few unexpected bugs. Here’s how Astrolabe’s new space weather features came together, plus how its holiday calendar can keep HomeSeer routines in season.

What If Alexa Could Actually Work With HomeSeer?

Not just announcements. Not just routines. The goal now is two-way interaction, context-aware notifications, and eventually an AI-driven layer that can turn Alexa into a real HomeSeer interface.

HomeSeer: Why I’m Still Here

HomeSeer: The Platform Behind All of This

The Platform Behind All of This

Astrolabe Follow-Up: Apparently “Accurate Enough” Wasn't

A HomeSeer plugin’s unexpected journey from twilight to precision astronomy

Shared Plugin Architecture: Thirteen Faces, One Product

How a growing plugin family became a deliberately designed suite

AV Control: One Plugin to Rule Them All

Turning brands, protocols, zones, and even infrared into one common HomeSeer language

Astrolabe Plugin: Bringing the Sky Home

Building a local, offline astronomy engine for HomeSeer

Alexa TTS: Giving the House a Voice

Local orchestration, isolated cloud state, and announcements through the speakers already in every room

Emby: Shared Code, Separate Truths

Why sibling platforms still need their own verification

Jellyfin: Fast Enough to Feel Native

Fast local session updates without making the fast path a dependency

Plex: Teaching HomeSeer Who’s Watching What

Turning media sessions into durable, useful automation

Roku: Simple Protocol, Complicated Reality

Local control, silent firmware changes, discovery traps, and the limitation that grew into something bigger

OpenSprinkler: When “Better” Has to Mean Something

Safer credentials, complete device support, correct schedules, and local control where failure gets wet

Hubspace: Following the Breadcrumbs

Reverse-engineering an undocumented platform without pretending guesses are facts

Lutron: When the Bridge Already Knows Best

Local control, graceful compatibility, and the lesson that device identity must never move

HDHomeRun Plugin: Teaching the House What the TV Is Doing

Turning network tuners, guide data, and viewing activity into automation

Sleep Number: When the Mattress Joins the Automation System

Turning presence, comfort settings, and bedtime routines into useful automation

Wemo Plugin: After the Cloud: Bringing Wemo Back to Life

Local control, provisioning, and a second life for perfectly good hardware