NFC Tags

 I have reached a point in my smart home automations where it seems like I need to start adding buttons to trigger actions. Doing that would add another class of device that needs routine maintenance for batteries. The preferred solution that avoids batteries seems to using NFC tags. This approach has the added benefit of being much cheaper with the only apparent drawback being the tags seeming out of place in some installation locations. 

Home Assistant makes NFC tags very easy to use by including in the companion app both a reader and writer.  This allows you to purchase relatively inexpensive sticker tags that can be installed anywhere. These are the ones I ended up using tags , 28 stickers for a little under 14 dollars after tax.

I have added tags to trigger automations for obvious things like a bedtime routine, hue lights,  and outlet controls.  Additionally a couple more complex uses such as having a tag on my cars charging port cover that when scanned scheduled the car charger to start in 30 minutes giving the battery time to cool down  but still allowing me to have a full charge for a second trip later in the day. Also one has been setup to be scanned post shower; this schedules the bathroom fan and lights to turn off a few minutes later and handles disconnecting my phone from the Bluetooth speaker integrated into the vent fan allowing me continue playback of whatever I was listening too while the vent is still on. 

I am sure I will find some additional uses for these tags as I still have several left. I know some people have used these tags to track events instead of triggering actions. My next use for them might be to set basic alarms for things I routinely cook that rely on consistent timers.

Smart Window Blinds

  Since I purchased my home I have had black out curtains on all my windows so that I would have complete control over my lighting.  As part of my quest to lower my power consumption to match what my solar panels are producing I have started to reconsider the use of natural light. The obvious choice here is to add blinds/curtains/shades that I can control with my smart home. 

I chose to start by replacing the blackout curtains and blinds in my office with a FYRTUR smart blind from Ikea. This has proven to be an ok solution for a room that total darkness isn't needed in, but does not effectively block enough light for a bedroom. I will be looking into other solutions before replacing my bedroom curtains.

These blind support the ZigBee protocol, so adding them as a window cover in Home Assistant was very straight forward. The only issue I had was with adding the included remote to Home Assistant. I attempted to us the blueprint for the specific remote IKEA E1743 TRÅDFRI.  The issue is that IKEA uses the same model number for the remote but with different button labels and trigger actions delivered in the payload. I was able to create the necessary automations using that blueprint then manually edit the yaml to correct the string matching for the special remote included with the blinds. 

I have added automations to open the blinds as soon as my motion sensors detect I have started my day, close after sunset, and ensure they are closed when I leave my home zone.  

3D Modeling

 I have been a fan of 3D printing for years. I bought a Makerbot Mini back in 2016 and upgraded to a CR10s in 2020. In all this time I have only ever printed interesting and useful things others have modeled/created. Occasionally I have added or removed a little bit of a model optimize it for my need, but I had never created anything entirely from scratch.  I just now finally found an issue that I could not find an existing model for. 

My Shark Smart vacuum that I have been using for years has a small issue of the power button being at the exact high as my door stops. This was never a problem before due to the pathing the vacuum would take from its dock. I recently relocated its dock as my new puppy seems to be obsessed with barking at it, and the only other reasonable location happens to set the vacuum on a direct path for this issue to happen almost every time. Other users have complained about the issue and have resulted in taping over it, but a plastic cover seems like a more elegant solution. 

As this is my first time modeling something I knew it might take a few revisions to get to a point that I am happy with. The first was too tight to fit in place. The second was too tall. The third was just right on one side. Rather than trying to properly curve the outer surface I decided to just tilt the cap to make sure neither side extended past the existing body. This was done to avoid scaring the baseboards; as the below photo shows the existing body already makes enough contact to transfer paint.

The forth revision printed with an angled fitted wonderfully. Printed in the only color of PETG I have available on hand. Now only time will tell if this stays in place after multiple cleaning sessions. The cover fits in place well enough that in order to remove it, I had to stick tape to it. Hopefully the tolerances are tight enough to make that a permanent solution. Either way this will allow me to get my vacuum back into the automation to run any time I leave the house. 

Thingiverse Model link incase anyone else want to print it. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5379770