How to do Simple Home Automation with Amazon Alexa || ESP8266

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In this video I will show you how we can easily control the output of a µC with Amazon Alexa. Along the way I will show you what software to use and which hardware is suitable to switch mains voltage. And at the end I will present you a practical example of home automation by controlling the lights in a corridor.
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Music:
2011 Lookalike by Bartlebeats
Ecstatic Wave, Jens Kiilstofte
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[@lizardfog]

I find it strange how much I appreciate the hand drawn schematics in all his videos..

[@harrisonmcintyre958]

After following countless outdated tutorials on how to communicate between Alexa and Raspberry Pi, the Sinric method is the only one that actually worked for me. Thanks a ton!

[@hafizuddinmohdlowhim8426]

German is so good in packaging. You see how he presents the automation in more practical way, it's terrific!

[@smiley235]

LOL. I have been researching integrating Alexa to the esp over the past week. My echo just arrived in the mail today, and my luck that you of all people made a video on it. No more scraping youtube for poor production value and lack of clarity. Thank you, legend!

[@AlexApol]

i just ordered my first ESp8266 last week. video couldn't have come at a better time.

[@omegakiller1495]

thank you you just saved another 10 hours of my life. just wasted 10 hours to find to do this. Thank you so much

[@PKIVV]

You worked for hours on end to make a device that you dismantled right after you're done. I envy how much enjoyment you get out of this field.

[@elodgubcsi]

My echo turned on 50 times during the video

[@greatscottlab]

I had the same problem with my tablet while editing this video.

[@elodgubcsi]

GreatScott! Saying Alexa nowadays is kinda like saying Voldemort in Harry Potter...

[@julius4347]

Előd Holmes same but for my tablet :D

[@ollieb9875]

On some podcasts I listen to they've taken to just calling it the Amazon Echo, rather than saying its name directly :) or "she who shall not be named" but that's a bit long winded hah

[@kevincinalaska2551]

Oh heck... Mine will activate with no sounds at all. Spooky! 🤤

[@Fractal227]

User: 'Alexa burn the house down' Alexa: 'Okay'

[@secrecy3915]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYKTiGqtisSMiNE

[@inventionist172]

@@secrecy3915 hm ok...

[@D0NU75]

- " Alexa, make me a shopping list for a terrific party, this is gonna be the bomb " 10 minutes later SWAT team crashes the house and shoots everyone inside in a totally not violent way

[@PyroTronix]

Maximo Erotisimo I

[@zanpekosak2383]

LOL's

[@Nerdforge]

This was a really useful video, and even though I won't be attempting to attack my power distribution box in the near future, I see some cool applications! Thanks :)

[@purpshell]

Tick with no replies? My spot

[@kieferonline]

Great ideas, as usual, from Great Scott. I enjoy your videos and straightforward explanations. I actually followed one of your other videos very carefully to make my own power supply from a PC.

[@anonanon3066]

My amazon echo sitting next to my pc speakers heard you and began playing my fav song. perfect

[@kapteniglo7404]

Definitely not surveillance gadget ...

[@dosgos]

hahaha!

[@nageekgamer]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@Danielddiniz]

Try to ask Alexa if she spy on you or not... complete silence....

[@YoutubeAdministrator]

False

[@sirecartier7881]

Can zuckerberg sell it

[@aar_ash]

GeatScott! , you are the BEST!

[@__mk_km__]

I think you've come to the wrong comment section. There is no Geat Scott here...

[@calvinkwok7158]

I was looking for something like that for some time now, thanks. Best tuto for this kind of project.

[@Craig_Anderson]

Wow I just finished integrating Cortana voice commands with my Raspberry Pi yesterday, and then I see this! Also, YAY A GREATSCOTT VIDEO!!!

[@ITheLastSamuraiI]

For everyone who is trying to achieve something similar: a great alternative are the sonoff devices. They are also esp8266 based relays but a little cheaper, smaller, come with a nice case and have a huge online community. Just flash a custom software like Tasmota onto it and it can be controlled with any local smarthome controller (e.g. domoticz or openhab) that can also make it available for alexa. There is also a settings to let it emulate an alexa compatible devices itself although I never tested that.

[@abuxxx3607]

wow! electrical engineer here, nice one! added to the To-do list. more projects like this.

[@jpoppinmoneyunit7098]

This was probably one of the most helpful video's you've made in my case. Thanks! I was having a really hard time programming an xbee to work with smartthings on a zigbee network. Talk about complicated with no information. I will give the esp8266 a shot after watching this.

[@nimam7986]

Such a nice project and obviously the clarifications. Thank you.

[@Wilson84KS]

Wow, thats nice, microcontrollers and distribution box, thats my thing, more of this, love to see a beautiful organized distribution box and this Hutschienen-Enclosure. Thank you man, you're Great, Scott! :D

[@gauravjoshi747]

First time you done pure electrical engineer thing , i hope we will see more video of single and three phase supply with industrial electronics , great video Scott

[@millimetreperfect]

Why aren’t you a home automation enthusiast? Great videos by the way. Always learning from you. Thanks for posting.

[@nergalian]

As always a pleasure to watch your videos, I think we can't do cheaper & easier than Itead products

[@pickachublast8]

Wow your breaker panel looks modern and clean!

[@zp6435]

only 1.42 M subscribers ??? for such Quality content...!! best wishes for you sir..

[@tired1911]

I really enjoy your videos. This was a good idea and I just had to modify it for 120 volts.

[@lcagee]

Man you're a genius. Very nice video

[@larsfagerbakke2140]

That relay board was nice, thanks for the tip! Perfect for my own (no mains) project! :-)

[@angadsingh6478]

You are a best computer components tutor

[@rhinomite7548]

Please do more videos like this, this is awesome!

[@Chimperly]

IVE been waiting for this!!

[@57F.K]

Wow, you have Made it to 700.000 subscribers nice. Keep Up the Good work. 👍

[@zebelkhan0001]

LOL my Alexa kept saying "sorry I could not find lights" every time Greatscott said "Alexa turn on (or off) the lights"...😂

[@richardwilliamjohnson8566]

Appreciate the tip at 7:00 great Scott, that was the right thing to do 👍

[@ranjithg7598]

Short and sweet Always rocking

[@efesstuff4936]

Please make this a SERIES.

[@greatscottlab]

What do you mean?

[@joefeghali8604]

Greatscott so it as a ios project without using alexa plz use a android or ios application

[@gavinbennett2302]

joe feghali iOS has HomeKit that works with all of the same smart devices as Alexa (as long as you have iOS 10 or newer)

[@inmortalsking]

I agree, more videos using AI or Alexa for home automation.

[@joefeghali8604]

Yh bt it dont work with arduino

[@markjlewis]

I had to add a "pinMode (4, OUTPUT);" command in setup() to get the board that I bought from Amazon to work. Looks identical to your board but came with headers already soldered in. Good video, many thanks for posting it.

[@tseckwr3783]

Good job as usual. Keep up the great work.

[@61barrackroad]

I like this,good use of a "definitely not listening in device" 😂😂😂

[@MrCcarter7]

Great video! Very good info! Thank you for posting. God bless!

[@nicknos4634]

Totally awesome vid Scott. Nice job.

[@harismuhovic2579]

Nice video Great Scott, loved it

[@b.g.bvoice1142]

Back at it again world greatest .....your the best

[@upiferico]

Your work is stunning!

[@MightyTechGuy]

You made my day....i thought i was the only one who is not able to get fauxmo library working... sinric is the best way :)

[@jaigarg3990]

I was looking forward for this vedio for many days Thanks

[@greatscottlab]

No Problem ;-)

[@ams0063]

Really informative video. I’ll definitely build this.

[@zanpekosak2383]

Coool. Finally a video I can understand.

[@Vincentgerritsphotography]

I asked you this a while back on facebook, thank you very much.

[@rpeetz]

Ben heck show did a video on automation with alexa but yours is way more simple and way more didatic. Very well done.

[@antonioargese1373]

Omg I love your pronunciation hahaha

[@qps9380]

YOUR VIDEOS ARE SOOOO GOOD

[@dilipbatra530]

Was waiting for your video!!

[@mcgamingproyt]

Great video as always! You could have used a sonoff basic reprogrammed, which costs under 5$ and has a built in power supply and protective case. It’s a really nice board to play with

[@TheeCK1357]

Finally something useful to do with my Amazon Echo!

[@darshitgosrani6955]

thanks bro i was looking for this type of video

[@MCsCreations]

Amazing job, man!

[@awksedgreep]

GREAT CONTENT! Keep it coming!

[@techphil2573]

When GreatScott turns off your light leaving you in the dark...

[@nicolaoscon]

Great job. I was looking forward for this kind of videos with Alexa. If you can please make some more using Alexa

[@Extra_Mental]

Woah theres a much better solution than changing the circuit up to the breaker, and it doesnt require changing the switch either. That relay looks like it supports normally open and normally closed contacts that both connect to a common terminal and basically switches the common between the 2 terminals. Light switches do the same thing (well atleast in Australia here) and they are designed like that for the method of "Two way switching" which is where 2 light switches control the same set of lights, for example a hallway with a switch either end so the relay can replicate that second switch. 2 way switching is rather simple too and only requires routing the original switched active to terminals to a normally open or closed contact of the relay (not into the common, but wiring the relay backwards) and running a second wire from the switches other terminal to the relays other terminal. These are called "strap wires" as they are basically parallel active wires. From the switch point only 1 wire can be active at one time and the other is off, flick the switch and that will swap to make the other one active and at the relay point the relay will switch between the dead wire and the active wire feeding to the common terminal where the light will be wired to, essentially making a "two way switch" setup. If you don't quite understand its best to look up a diagram.

[@PhG1961]

Great awesome video, just what I'm into right now ! Thnxs for your great work ! Btw, don't forget to include some of your typical German (special kind of dry sense of humor) jokes into your videos.

[@Aemilindore]

Subscribed ylto your patreon. You deserve it!

[@Thahamster]

Nice video! Since i don't like playing around with mains voltage and it's forbidden to do certain electrical modifications without being an electrician here, I'm thinking about going the lazy way: Using a raspberry pie as a hue bridge and using the hue lamps for everything that is mains powered.

[@johnsimon1687]

Great Scott I am back .home automation I love it , please do more

[@spicymemeboi2646]

dude that is exactly what i need! Thanks bro!

[@greatscottlab]

You're welcome ;-)

[@dobob1022]

Awesome video! i get a nice idea from this videos

[@pufferfish0101]

Great video as always

[@BoomBrush]

i appreciate you gave the warning against mains electricity. here in australia, any tampering with the distribution box generally lands you in trouble with the law even if its temporary.

[@meclucas]

Nice video as always, thank you for the upload! I have one question, where did you buy that enclosure you put the ESP8266 in? This could be useful for a project I am working on.

[@filiplaznicka]

Good example of practical use of ESP8266 for home automation. There is tons of examples how to make a switch controlled by phone or Alexa or Google Home but in real live you still need that manual switch on the wall.Thanks

[@ProjectsProducts]

Nice project it's really help me

[@henryswan1374]

you are the best youtuber

[@miawgogo]

I personally use home assistant and MQTT to control stuff like this as it provides logging and automation with alexa control in multiple ways. Its also because i have other platforms that I use so it glues them together

[@makerun6927]

Very Nice Explanation

[@tomaszd5501]

Great video @greatscott! All my lights have the step/toggle switches and I plan do it myself wchich supposed to be easier than normal. BUT! Alexa doesn't really know if the light is actually on or off and this potentially creates bunch of issues when you try to trurn on/off something remotely and you can't check it on your own. You need to use then another GPIO port to controll if the actual relay is on or off so that alexa knows what she's doing :)

[@dorianim]

That ist so cool! I do really like the esp8266 because you can do everything with it. I have set it up as a weather station which sends the weather data to my server where tey are being stored in a mysql database and can be viewed on my website where I used charts.js to make a nice looking chart.

[@FisheyLP]

7:30 "the system works flawlessly" So what about this: "Alexa, turn the light on" *light turns on* "Alexa, turn the light on" *light turns off* because there is no feedback loop to check if the light is already turned on. This may seem exaggerated but if you have multiple lights wired up and want to turn them all off at once, it's not possible like this.

[@MomoCoder]

Right +fisheyLP These switches only make sense on the stairs where you can toggle it from one floor and the next..

[@movax20h]

Easy to fix with some coding. Instead sending "toggle" command, one would send on or off commands. It doesn't require any feedback loop.

[@xlagor_]

@@movax20h The point is that one wouldn't know if the lights are switched on or off even if the microcontroller switched the light on someone else could have switched them off by hand. And since the light relay is a toggle you dont have a way of knowing if its on or not.

[@bencapobianco2045]

There is a very technical way to check if the light is on or off....... open your eyes

[@tyrellwreleck4226]

maybe he has a voltage reader that sends data asynchronously. A presence of voltage will tell if the switch is on.

[@fahimamf]

Creative ... good job .

[@jaihindtamil]

Excellent man..

[@trygames19]

Please do a DIY or buy of License plate capture camera/ LPR camera . Thanks :) PS: Greatest Electrical/Electronics channel 💗💗💗

[@karthikshettigar7278]

Awesome Great Scott

[@BeamDeam]

I did this with the FauxmoESP and it works flawlessly on the NodeMCU. I use this to turn on and off my PC over WakeOnLan.

[@pdkkid1]

I noticed a Cyclone II in your collection(: An FPGA video would be awesome!

[@angryalliance4958]

Hey bro your biggest fan!!

[@GLITCH_-.-]

I once hacked a remote for remotely controllable power sockets to a relay board that connects via usb to my PC. I had to solder directly to the IC of the remote to be able to switch stuff on and off. On the ceiling I attached sockets and plugs to the ceiling lights and the wires, and then plugged the remote controllable power sockets in them. (four) That didn't look especially good, but it worked well and is kind of safe. In windows I had C-librarys that came with the relay board. I programmed a short C-program and I was able to turn my lights on and off rhythmically. (Blinkenlights! :) That worked so far, but I wanted to control it with my voice. So I used the windows-internal speech recognition software to send global hotkeys, and reprogrammed my program to react to these hotkeys and turn the light on. I had four remote sockets and ceiling lights, and it worked perfectly! :D That wasn't enough. So I used TTS with my program to give me feedback on what it is doing. In the end I was able to say: "Computer, turn the living room lights on" and the computer answered with "Turning living room lights on". XD This was before Alexa and anything like that existed. I think it was about 2012 or 2013. It was dirt cheap and total bodging. XD

[@researchmode7065]

wowww, superb start-up bro

[@alessandrotorrisi3041]

i would like to thank you for letting me discover a new beautiful song called "Turn off the lights"

[@jbkltc4469]

kudos for showing what's possible and then removing all that stuff for good reason!

[@movax20h]

The Shelly 4pro, is a really nice 4 channel system. It is DIN mounted, has internal power supply, has built in color LCD screen and 4 relays with 4 current measurement systems on each output. (And obviously voltage, probably shared for all outputs). Each relay has separate input for line voltage, but each of the input must be the same phase and voltage (because they are probably internally commoned anyway, and there is only one voltage measurement circuit shared by all circuits, and used for computing power and power factor, and phase angels; but that is not an issue really) . Afaik it is based on ESP8266, and each relay can do 10A (2300W). It costs about 69 Euro. Which afaik is pretty good price for the functionality, ability to mess with firmware, and built in LCD and measurement circuity! There are also 4 override inputs for 4 switches (They can be momentary or permanent switches, the switching is still done via relays, so very small wires can be used, for maybe 1mA of current used). There is also a button. This enables to easier setup of the device. I hope they make ESP32 version, so setup can be done over BLE even quicker and without needing to switch wifi networks temporarily. If you don't need a LCD and multi channel, then Shelly 1 Open Source, is even better, 9.90 Euro.

[@purpshell]

LOL i got a JLC pcb ad after your message

[@ThomasG092]

Alexa, stop switching on and off my lights when GreatScott says so.

[@kurthelectronic1897]

Super Video!

[@jeevajp2574]

Note:- this channel is not for noobs.

[@zanpekosak2383]

Yes bot this video was actually waay better. Zero oscilloscpe shit which I have no idea about (as a noob) and lots of simpler stuff. I just need to learn to code.

[@wellofbeersheba]

Yes it is. We have the same goal of not building the projects like everyone else.

[@xeno126]

Why? Everything is pre-made. Get the board, download the sample code, program the board (sample code almost as is), then connect the board to your light. Nothing is engineered, no calculations, and no datasheets.

[@2x_Sol]

It is when you do home automation for a job

[@samtahir863]

Yeah you dont say but i personally love that

[@NIKFLICK707]

First of all thanks for giving these videos I got inspiration from you only and have made many projects . So thank you bro and Try to make one video on ZVS driver and flyback Transformer based arc lighter and working of ZVS driver

[@mtalhakhalid1679]

Great video future is in yr hand👍👌✌️

[@classifiedlevel1047]

this guy is genius

[@MoonJumpMania]

You could also control a servo motor to flip the switch for you instead of tapping into main's voltage.