I've Always Wanted To Automate This With Home Assistant..

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Sorry it's so long, I tried to cut down my ramblings as much as possible but clearly I love to waffle on too much 😭 hope you enjoyed this project, it was SO nice to be back doing a fun project and actually filming a video! Let me know if you have any suggestions for automations, would love to incorporate more into my setup! 🙏🏻 Flexispot also have some deals and $50 off (use code 24BFC7) the C7 ergonomic chair if you are interested: bit.ly/4evx7VH - UK bit.ly/4fgTY8z - US bit.ly/4ferAnF - Canada

[@jaro5822]

Oh no I love these half our long videos! for me you absolutely don't have to cut it down. I like it like this haha! Love your content ❤❤❤

[@EverythingSmartHome]

@@jaro5822 Thanks, glad you liked it! 🙏🏻

[@AndreasGalistel]

Dude, the ramblings is why we love you! Please don't take that away from us!

[@jaro5822]

@@AndreasGalistel exactly! Totally agree! ❤️

[@TheHookUp]

Haha... I was actually discussing a "cut up your desks and automate" kind of project with Flexispot E7 desks and all the sudden they were like "sorry, we have a similar video scheduled with a different channel so we no longer have this opportunity". Guess this answers my question :)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That's a missed opportunity, yours would probably be way smarter than mine 😂

[@TheHookUp]

@@EverythingSmartHome The trick was going to be to sync two desk frames together to lift a giant heavy thing. I'm building a loft bed for my daughter with a desk underneath, but I want the loft bed to be able to raise out of the way to increase room for the desk, and then be able to lower to increase head room while in bed.

[@edewaal97]

@@TheHookUp That sounds like an awesome idea! I look forward to the video, if it ever happens!

[@everitt11]

@@TheHookUp that might of been Bob @iliketomakestuff 😉

[@TyPaff]

@@everitt11Bob couldn’t get a sponsor even though he reached out to desk companies. I think when the venders hear “angle grinder” they are more likely to go “nope”.

[@teekayfourtwoone4686]

Left the connector open and didn't DRM it. Refreshingly nice when a manufacturer lets you do what you want with your stuff.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Totally agree, very cool

[@Mellow_labs]

I put a pressure sensor in my chair, So when I stand up my desk stands up with me. It may sound annoying, And it is. But it encourages me to stand a lot more, Instead of going with the easy option of sitting down. I made a video about it if you're interested, Shameless plug. I'm excited for your new studio, Great work!

[@everitt11]

You could also possibly trigger a timer start in HA, then if you dont stand up after a certain time... it will raise your desk automatically for you

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It's a great idea and has got me thinking of even more now..thanks!!

[@staceydodds]

Honestly, my favorite part of this was watching you use the Siglent Oscilloscope to decode the serial data. I had no idea these newer scopes could do that and spit out the hexadecimal serial information! That was really revelatory to learn! Thank you for showing that stage of the process!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, I'm still very much a beginner with it but learning 😅

[@nuk3man]

@@EverythingSmartHome Very nice video. What adapter are you using for the scope? I also have a Siglent scope so I'd like to do the same.

[@gamemaster0432]

@staceydodds Does not matter what he tried to show here. In the end he just stole the code from iMick without credit.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That's just straight up false, I literally said iMickNLs name in the video and showed his awesome GitHub.

[@BenGmuN]

I have just automated my IKEA Bekant using Megadesk (not my own work) which works brilliantly. My office is a cabin at the end of the garden. When my desk is raised, it obstructs the TV I have on the wall behind it. Well, now, if I turn that TV on, the desk automatically lowers out of the way. That's all I've done for now, but I plan to automate based on my calendar as well. My smart home has changed a lot since I made my last video. Yours are great, kudos to you.

[@KimmoJaskari]

You could 3D print a cable chain for the power wires. Tons of options on Printables. You could also consider eliminating one of the wires and putting a 2-3 port extension cord with a short cable under the table itself and then bundle up the wires to the outlets you have on the desk and the wires that go to the desk motors - thus having just one wire to the wall.

[@webzterd]

I also vote for the cable chain, there are also some decent price nice ones on shamazon.

[@AlexDixon24]

Obviously you’re going to use your presence sensor, but I attached an LD2410C into my ESP32 so I could make an all-in-one presence sensor/desk controller powered through the desk. Not as nice as far as full room presence goes, but invisible and perfectly accurate for sitting/standing automation.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Nice one, great job! 👏🏻

[@RazberryTech]

Awesome project! I've had "automate standing desk" on my todo list for a long awhile now lol. I like the person detection idea, so after you leave, you come back to it standing up. I was thinking of doing it to try switching to having the desk be standing by default, then when I'm fatigued get it to move it to a sitting position then after a certain amount of time move it back up. Haven't done it cause I think part of me would get angry at my desk trying to keep me from sitting all day lol

[@bmcomp]

Great video and idea! Now, do what I have done and add a walking treadmill under the desk! I haven't integrated either of these to HA, but it's now on my to do list. 😅

[@JurgenKoolen]

Haha, how funny that this video is popping up now. Because I automated my Flexispot E7 Pro just last week! Guess we were working on the same project at the same time :). Works like a charm by the way! I just didn't bother with the voice stuff. The only automation I have so far is raising the desk daily at 8am, basically triggering me to start my work day standing up. I'm looking forward to hearing from others about more automation ideas.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That's awesome, how are you enjoying it so far?

[@DaveSussman]

I've just got an E7 Pro for my office, built it, then got covid so haven't used it! They are rock solid (I have 3 * 24" monitors on mine). I love the idea of automation and may do the "your being lazy" automation with the Everything Presence sensor too. Great video.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Hope you recover soon and have fun with the build

[@patrickhanft]

This is exactly one automation I was thinking about recently (I also already experimented with a pressure sensor for my chair) and would love to actually do it, however as someone who feels much more comfortable with the software side of such a project I am far too afraid to tackle the ESP32 stuff - actually choosing which variant would be appropriate and figuring out what I need for and how to do all the soldering. This seems to be such a "it's what everybody with Home Assistant seems to have done at least half a dozen times already" thing that really intimidates me. I really hope that this video exactly at the right time will finally motivate me to try to get it started. Thank you! 🙂

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Good luck, you can do it 😅 if you get stuck, there are tons of amazing communities to help you out

[@dæmnKris]

Didn''t watch the full video yet, but I just bought an Upsy Desky. It's an ESP32-thing for standing desks, worked in seconds, that is an easier solution if you just want something that works right away instead of enjoying the journey of DIY.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Yeah those are super cool too!

[@marcbretschneider3487]

may I ask how you did manage to get one? Everytime i check their tindie page they are out of stock :/

[@ozgur22]

I don't believe it. Today, I was thinking about how to automate such tasks with esp32. You literally read my mind :)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I'm always surprised how many people say this 😂 have fun!

[@KimmoJaskari]

Some nice upgrades there and cool table automation. I'm redoing my desk as we speak, also; already have the motorized thing going but putting a larger tabletop on it. Found the coolest electrical outlet for it on Amazon too the other week, it drops into the surface (you cut a hole) and it has a wireless phone charger and a spring-loaded pop-up with electrical outlets and two USB variants. When not in use it's flat to the table. Stoked to see the end result... once I have the time to just redo the whole office. I also found super cool cable clips on Printables that mount with a screw to anything and just clip open and shut - the maker of them called them "Klippt", can very much recommend if anyone wants to clip cables to anything include under a desk. PETG being ideal since it flexes.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Awesome, good luck with it, that sounds pretty cool, I'm going to look for those now 😅

[@Jaw0lf]

This was a great insight in how to find information to enable automation. I have never seen this before, not being a coder.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, hopefully it made sense 😅

[@clintebbesen120]

You could add a drag chain cable organiser up one of the back legs to take a power cable to a power board on the underside of the desk so it’s completely hidden from view and the cable chain will handle the raise and lower nicely.

[@LilMsPrincessMe]

You always have the best timing. Just yesterday I was looking for automation ideas for a standing desk because I'm about to buy one (uplift).

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Awesome, good luck!! 😅

[@javiervalenzuela3397]

Great video! I use vertebrae cable management for the cables going to the wall outlets. Looks sick!

[@pierreberbach3496]

Hey, great project, thanks for sharing it Since you all be standing quite often, I would recommend you to get a anti fatigue mat, that is something you stand on... For me this is really something helpful when standing for long time... Cheers

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I didn't know those existed, I'll take a look! Thanks!

[@slouma79]

Oh god this is so cool. I just got my sit stand desk and this video just came on time… thank you.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Let's goooo 🙏🏻

[@davidkennedy7848]

Cable management: look for "Silicone Magnetic Cable Ties". These have magnets on each end and stretchy string in the middle. I love them for this kind of thing....wrap around the cable, magnet to your frame, done. And they have flex so you won't damage your cables. I so love to do this sort of thing, but I'm not good at at, mostly for fear of damaging my equipment. I want to do my standing desk and also my adjustable bed. One of these days...

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Oh I've never heard of those?! Cool I'll take a look!

[@laisom3]

Hey man, I hooked up a door sensor to a car seat pressure sensor and attached this to my chair. So when I sit down, my desk lowers and when I stand up, my desk returns back to standing position ❤

[@shongomoo]

I moved from RaspPi 4 to a Beelink S12 N100 micro pc, runs everything including Frigate well and often around AU$200. Well worth the upgrade.

[@Stephen-Jones]

I used standing desks in my office for over 2 years now and i found then so good I got one for home use last year. I was torn between these and the Magnus Pro, which I eventually went with. I didn't know about the extra controller port and if I had at the time it might have made me choose differently...

[@MaximeSeguin]

Wow, thank you for sharing this knowledge!! 🙏

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@thuiskokken]

I am using UpsyDesky with nfc tag to toggle between upright and sitting position. NFC tag is located near coffeemachine. So once I return, desk is in Desiree position. Also defined person specific heights Still looking for a Claire to follow along

[@EverythingSmartHome]

NFC tag is a cool idea!

[@StephenMatrese]

6:30 Even if they didn’t have a secondary remote, you wouldn’t need to court anything out void any warranty because they are cool enough to use an open standard RJ-45 make and female RJ-45 let you capture the data and later control your desk. Using an industry standard RJ-45 instead of a proprietary connector is amazing of anyone in 2024. The second port is “neat”

[@dancepheus]

I automated my wife's Idasen sit stand desk from Ikea. It uses an Aqara leak sensor and a car seat pressure sensor and an ESP Bluetooth module. When she sits down the table lowers, when she stands it rises.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That's a great idea! An FSR sensor might work well for that (essentially what a car seat is)

[@MartianMoon]

A leak sensor??? How does that come into play

[@dancepheus]

@MartianMoon - when sat on, the car seat pressure sensors make contact and trigger a wet or dry state on the leak sensor. Leak = occupied = lower desk to seated position, and vice versa

[@dancepheus]

@@EverythingSmartHome - that's exactly what it is

[@jaro5822]

​@dancepheus can't you just make an boulean input helper for that leak sensor as you say? Or am I just dumb lol 😂

[@lhamil64]

I'm visually impaired and was originally put off from certain models of FlexiSpot desks because the controllers don't seem very tactile. But this project would make it much more accessible! I just might try this!

[@JasGawera]

Spiral wrap wood tidy the cables. Or just fit a power strop under the desk, don't over complicate 😅

[@cameronmcnab]

Huge respect for you creating all this yourself! I'll admit I cheated and went the route of using an existing box created by TJ Horner called Upsy Desky, and I've been super happy with how I've been able to automate my Fully Jarvis desk in a similar way. My go-to automation has been to have the desk auto-raise in the AM when I enter the office (only on a work day based on calendar, excluding out of office days) and then send me a push notification to offer to lower it after a couple of hours, if I haven't already.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I've seen the Upsy Desky before, it's a really great project he has done very well with it! Great automation idea!

[@raaw_97_80]

I’m doing a project with an esp32 that allows to launch personal shortcuts from homekit, but I don’t know if I have to pass some certificates for the device to be sold. It will be great if Lewis or anyone in the chat is able to point me in the right direction, if I need to get a license or just selling it as a diy dev kit will avoid having to do anything like that

[@danielrodriguez8662]

Using voice commands on your desk is cool and all but I do think its impractical compare to just using the buttons. Highjacking the button commands to trigger automations might have more use cases. For example, double click some buttons to turn on your pc or some lights

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I mentioned exactly that at the end, voice for the desk specifically is impractical when the buttons are right there. Useful for other voice commands though

[@wscottfunk]

Hey Lewis, can you share a link to the large blue silicone soldering work mat that you're using? I need a large one like yours. Nice job on the Flexispot install and your new office! 👍

[@playeronthebeat]

Hi! Lovely project! I'm one of those who doesn't have an oscilloscope... would you mind sharing good alternatives as you mentioned for USB? Will any old USB to RJ45 serial adapter work? What are key aspects to look out for? :)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

You would use a USB to serial adapter, then connect the RX and TX lines onto the pins of the adapter - we sell one (which I like cause it's USB-C) but you can use pretty much any, have a search for one and you'll get the idea of the process. Hope that helps

[@jonathanInLondonUK]

A quick Google on "curly mains cable" might tidy up your power connection to the desk.

[@MadiDoll]

Cool project! I love my standing desk, even without it being automated. I honestly think even if mine was automated I'd still default to pressing the buttons to avoid having to speak to a voice assistant (often more trouble than it's worth for small things like this in my humble opinion, I just prefer physical buttons for certain tasks I guess). That said I really enjoyed watching you go through the process of integrating something like this and showing the power of HA -- I hope it inspires people to think of creative ways of automating some of the more mundane tasks we often encounter in ways that meaningfully improve their workflows or quality of life. I'm in school for electrical engineering right now and REALLY wanting an oscilloscope so I can run wild integrating little controllers into things because of this lol.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks! And absolutely, I talked at the end of the video about the voice aspect not being useful for the standing desk when the buttons are right there and mentioned the actual useful automations I wanted to use it for (mainly to automate the standing part cause I often forgot to stand) and the voice assistant is more useful for other commands. Hope that makes sense!

[@samucasmarthome]

Amazing work man. I will consider in future projects.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks, appreciate it!

[@zeroZshadow]

I'm curious if a quick up and down movement can be used as a desk sized notification for (calendar) events?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It usually doesn't like to stop immediately after being started, usually have to wait a few seconds at least

[@zeroZshadow]

@EverythingSmartHome Guess I'll have to keep dreaming of zigbee/esphome powered haptics.

[@uses0ap]

Thats a nice scope

[@Omaricon]

Would you be willing to sell a pre-configured esp32 that's mostly plug and play with the flexispot? I would love to buy this!

[@dolanspirit]

Love it..just brilliant

[@michaels5167]

I really need to do this on mine 😊

[@ashmakes21]

make the white cable black and then use a snake rolling cable holder and it will move with the desk cleanly

[@ronm6585]

Very cool. Thank you.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thanks Ron!! 🙏🏻

[@OGKenG]

"Ok Nabu. Have my desk go do my laundry for me." If only...

[@EverythingSmartHome]

One day... 😂

[@moishyeisner4939]

I’m disabled, and I wish I could do this with my hospital bed remote. Any suggestions? Sometimes I only want to raise the head of my bed just a little bit and not all the way, so it would need to replicate different kinds of button presses and holds.

[@sammyjankins12]

Why is it so important to be psram?? It's just out of curiosity.. greetings from Spain to the Bonnie Land and obvs thanks for your videos.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

The MicroWakeWord component in ESPHome needs PSRAM to work, so that you can run wake word locally on the device

[@conroe_au]

Love the progression thru the video from caveman, to beard trim, to barber cut ;)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It's the de-aging process happening in realtime 😂

[@funkylosik]

12:55, 😏 yeah, right

[@GoetheNorris]

Do you even lift bro? Bulk game going strong!

[@EvoTG]

I wanted to ask the same. Lookin’ jacked in this hoodie

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Not nearly at the same level I was a year ago but working back to it now! 🙏🏻

[@EvoTG]

@@EverythingSmartHome keep it up brother

[@mikemannox4191]

It's the creatine, water retention, don't you know?

[@TobyMole]

Cool. How would it work to add voice conteol to the secind desk? Does the voice model allow for different voices to target different desks without using a different name for different desks?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Not yet, you'd have to use different phrases. I think it would be a while before we would see specific voice detection as I imagine that's very tricky to do

[@Randomowy]

Best tip for a standing desk: Start your day standing Don't be afraid to move - step from left to right, make a few steps back, and forward during standing. Stand until you get tired. After a few weeks, you will stand a whole day ;)

[@vermeulengert]

Nice!

[@eddiejimenez3283]

I'm in the market for a new chair. How are their chairs? Any good? Have any recommendations?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

They of course sent the chair over so keep that in mind, but I genuinely was really surprised by it, I think it's a really great chair for the money in comparison to more expensive ones. I have a Herman Miller Aeron too which is significantly more expensive and I enjoy using either of them. I'm actually going to buy 2 more of the Flexispot ones for the office. But recommend watching some other independent reviews first, I don't know that much about chairs but for me, I do recommend for the money

[@eddiejimenez3283]

@@EverythingSmartHome thank you!

[@MatthewHorwood-mhzawadi]

I have my flexispot desk automated in the same way, I have a standup automation that will run when Im home at 10am.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Awesome 👏🏻

[@P_r_i_m_a]

What is the tool you are using at 12:28? Looks like 3d printed solder wire dispenser.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It's a REALLY awesome tool on printables called Solder Scroll

[@P_r_i_m_a]

@@EverythingSmartHome Thank you! Started printing.

[@t4kk3r]

What desk to you have ?

[@nowanilfideme2]

The deskpad is LTT Northern Lights for those interested. ;)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It is indeed, ordered the wrong size so need to get a smaller one 😅 it's actually the perfect size for the desk, by forgot to take into account the monitor arm needs space 😂

[@ejdumuggel]

Nice Build! How do you get that graphical view of the Sensor Zones?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It's our Everything Presence mmWave Configurator we released a few weeks back as an add-on!

[@ejdumuggel]

As an Home assistant Addon?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

@@ejdumuggel Yes!

[@MrHolgr]

@@EverythingSmartHome This is also how I found out such a thing exists now. Thank you! :)

[@danielwolman]

id love to do something like this but my desk is too old/cheap and doesnt use RJ45s (and im not smart enough)

[@DaHaiZhu]

plug the desk cable into its power box and the power box into the wall. Then you have only one cable plugged into the wall.

[@kennethojeke516]

Do not cut the RJ45 cable, get a RI45 face plate and wire it to your propose ESP controller

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I didn't cut the cable? I mentioned it was great for not cutting the cable :)

[@oliverbartlett7668]

You should create an automation that randomly adjusts the desk height during the day.

[@MartinBentancour]

Very cool video, and some other awesome ideas in the comments :)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Thank you, glad you liked it!

[@jamesnorona1345]

Yeaaaaaaa!

[@tempacc9589]

Not sure what it is but the video looks foggy in the talk in the room at 0:40

[@AllSeeingEy3]

I've always wanted to shill these desks!

[@saninnsalas]

🙁 My desk does not have 2 inputs

[@devligue]

Shoutout to flexispot who did not sponsor this video. They only just sent me couple thousands worth of free office equipment xd

[@KimmoJaskari]

Yeah I suppose it's borderline sponsored at that. Makes sense for them to get their tables in front of a couple hundred thousand people who like to tinker, though. Win win.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Not sure if this is a dig or not but yes absolutely don't want to downplay that they kindly provided the desks for this project. I was just trying to be clear that it's not sponsored, meaning I can do and say whatever I want to in the video and they have zero say in its content. A sponsored video would also be worth significantly more for what it's worth. Again not sure if it's a serious complaint or not but just wanted to clarify for anyone else watching!

[@nalixl]

​@@EverythingSmartHome so what defines sponsored in your opinion? In my dictionary, it means sending something of value to someone, usually in exchange for publicity.

[@ee7043]

@@nalixl to content creators, sponsored videos usually come with contracts in exchange for the free products AND agreed upon amount of money. The company can also dictate the things you say & give you a list of things they want included. You also usually have to send them the video first & they tell you if they like it or not or if they want it edited etc. In short, they control everything you do with their product for a video & that essentially leads them to controlling the video & everything in it. If it’s not sponsored, like this one, the content creators can do whatever they wish with the product, they can say whatever they want to say, whether that is negative or positive. They also DO get free products but no money/contract exchanges between them.

[@Alvin853]

At least in the US, the definition is like this (I know EverythingSmartHome isn't US based, so I don't know the rules that apply here): Disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand. Financial relationships aren’t limited to money. Disclose the relationship if you got anything of value to mention a product. [...] Make disclosures even if you think your evaluations are unbiased.

[@gamemaster0432]

Credit to the original creator, iMick would have been nice.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I literally said his name in the video and showed the GitHub?

[@Chinco_NL]

Good topic, but wheelchair user here, so I tapped out after a minute. ❤️

[@EverythingSmartHome]

No worries all good buddy! 🙏🏻

[@TechySpeaking]

first

[@vdis]

18:55 I've put a 9 port power strip in the cable tray of my Flexispot. Just one white wire dangling down in front a white background.

[@edewaal97]

You could use a curly power cord. If it's one cable, it looks really clean!

[@4aty1]

Wow, didn't know oscilloscopes could decode the electric signals and display the hex as an overlay like that. That's useful! Also I love when companies use standard connections and don't lock things down. It leads to super cool passion projects like this :)

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Yeah it's pretty cool, you can do even i2c, canbus, SPI and a few others, very useful!

[@jakubsuchybio]

You know, there are standing desks which has bluetooth...

[@gerritrindermann4048]

It's no coincidence that this is the 3rd video or so I watched in the past few days where someone made a video about some Flexispot desks. They must have a huge social media push going on. So I'm wondering who approached whom here. But either way, calling it "not sponsored in ANY way" is a bit dishonest. After all if someone sends me a few thousand dollars worth of equipment, of course you'll be all about it and mentioning all kinds of good things about them. Just because you don't have a contract forcing you to say something specific, doesn't make this a non-sponsored video. And if you get a kickback from that promo code, then you're nothing else than a affiliate. Don't get me wrong, I love the project and your content. But just call it what it is. They send you free products and expect you to show them off for your project. There is nothing wrong with it. But it is a form of sponsorship. Ask any athlete who is getting gear.

[@nottabandaid]

yes hello flexispot, joe shmoo here i'd like to do a project video on a couple of your desks and maybe a chair would you mind sending the stuff i need over? .... come on stop laffing i have 3 subs.... gah i really hate youtuber privilege sometimes...