Home Automation

graph TB

    browser["Web Browser"]

    subgraph "Home LAN"

        huebridge["Philips Hue Bridge(s)"]
        huedevice["Philips Hue Lights\nand Accessories"]
        pvhub["PowerView Hub"]
        pvdevice["Hunter-Douglas Window Coverings"]

        subgraph nodered["Node-RED"]

            vue["Vue / Vuetify\nWeb App"]
            flows["Flows\nhttps://github.com/parasaurolophus/home-automation"]
            dnssd["@parasaurolophus/nodered-dnssd"]
            eventsource["@parasaurolophus/nodered-eventsource"]

            vue <-- "WebSocket" --> flows
            dnssd --> flows
            eventsource --> flows

        end

        flows -- HTTP --> pvhub
        flows -- "HTTPS" --> huebridge
        huebridge -- "SSE" --> eventsource
        huebridge -- "mDNS" --> dnssd
        huedevice <-- "Zigbee" --> huebridge
        pvhub <--> pvdevice

        click flows "https://github.com/parasaurolophus/home-automation" _blank
        click dnssd "https://flows.nodered.org/node/@parasaurolophus/node-red-dnssd" _blank
        click eventsource "https://flows.nodered.org/node/@parasaurolophus/node-red-eventsource" _blank
        click vue "https://github.com/parasaurolophus/home-automation/tree/main/dashboard" _blank

    end

    browser <-- "HTTPS /\nWebSocket" ----> vue

Features

Entirely self-contained Node-RED based application
- No clouds!!
- No external configuration outside of ~/.node-red/settings.js
  - Does require configuration of host running Node-RED and the home LAN router in order to support secure access to the dashboard from outside the home^*
- No additional servers or services required other than those provided by the Hue and PowerView hubs
Consolidated dashboard / web-based UI using Vue/Vuetify
- Requires separate build step after cloning repo from GitHub^**
Time and date based automation
- Turn on and off lights based on local sunrise / sunset
- Use special occasion lighting themes based on date
- Open and close window coverings based on sun's local altitude and azimuth on any given day

^*If remote access is not a priority, just leave out the HTTPS related configuration from ~/.node-red/settings.js. Detailed instructions for obtaining and installing certificates and configuring IP reservations and port forwarding on routers are beyond the scope of this web page.

^**An earlier version of this project implemented the dashboard using pure HTML 5 / JavaScript for its dashboard which did not have additional build steps. I admit it. I was led astray by the pretty toggle switches.

Kirk Rader

Home Automation

Features