Amazon Alexa

Would anyone be interested in helping me beta test an Alexa Voice integration solution I have developed and intend to make available? It connects to a C-Gate server on your CBUS network (that will need to be resolvable with a static IP or via dyndns.org or similar). Currently works with the lighting commands and I am building out the other CBUS applications with the Alexa Smart Home API. If so please contact me.

 

MHeaton - up to a couple of weeks ago I would have been a beta tester - but I decided to install SmartVoice with the help of some phone tech spt. About $500 - simple and straight forward.

 

I'd be interested - my own is (apparently) in Beta Test as far as the Amazon website indicates, but none of my testers can get it to work (I'm having no difficulty). I'd be interested to see what yours is like.

 

Does either of you own this alexa skill?

https://www.amazon.com.au/tagsoft-CBUS/dp/B07D8WY1VZ

Whilst i'd be prepared to pay for this service, it's asking 4 pounds/month to establish an account in the backend. I need to read up on it more but its a bit costly.

I would be keen to help out testers. I have a pretty full CBUS network with Wiser1 and a raspberrypi sitting there tempting me to install CBUS server.

 

Hi arrikhan - no that's not my skill. Mine is still in developer mode and so not public although it works perfectly. I have not made it public yet because IMHO the backend website is not up to scratch. It's functional, but as I'm not a web developer it's very basic. I have no mechanism in place to charge for the service, but it was my intention to do so at some point. I was thinking more along the lines of about £2 per month. I'd be happy to put the skill back into beta test mode if you'd like to try it

 

I'd be happy to test. I currently have a WISER running to control schedules/scenes and smart device interaction . Do I need to setup a dedicated CGATE server for this?

 

Hi there,
I have now, finally, built a (chargeable) service at https://www.cbusautomation.co.uk that connects Alexa with a C-Gate service. It allows you to pull in a list of devices and maps Alexa to:

• Lights, switches
• Scenes (not in Australia according to Amazon).
• Thermostats (I need some assistance with real world examples to finish the air-conditioning use case - please contact me!!)
• Security Application (in the US only - as soon as Amazon extend it to Europe and Australia I will extend it)

Please contact me if you have any thoughts, ideas or for help getting it setup.
Mark

 

FYI, I do not use Australian Alexa skills as some of the devices I have aren't enabled here (Nest for example). Amazon really need to ditch access to skills in different locations! Fortunately they let you live in Australia and point your echo devices to a US Store for skills.

 

Sorry for the delay in replying - the forum message had gone into junk. Yes, you will need a CGate server. I recommend setting one up on a Raspberry PI. I can help with this if required.

 

Hi

I have been using homebridge-cbus for a while now which allows me to integrate to homekit for iOS, but just came across the homebridge-alexa plugin this week that allows Alexa to integate to homebridge as well.
This now allows alexa to connect via homebridge to cbus and control lights, etc. Fairly limited range of controls and not as extensive as the iOS commands, but progress in the right direction.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-alexa
https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-cbus

 

Have been using this reliably for a while on a raspberry pi 3 running CGATE also. Unfortunately, I only have a Wiser 1 so I've lost access to this while I use its CNI (let me know anyone selling a wiser2 cheap!), but alexa access is more important than smartphone access for using directly in the home given I have some DLTs in use. This is a game changer. I see people selling this raspberry PI setup for $700 on ebay .. ( ), but it's not that hard to setup the basics to make this work .. . Am thinking of compiling a raspberry pi image for easy setup for DIYers or even a how-to if anyone is interested. I'd like to be able to auto-build if my SD card gets corrupt in a matter of moments.

BenC