For the last year, I’ve been building something in the background that I think changes the narrative of what a "Smart Home" is.
Most automation is about Utility—making life easier. I wanted to build an ecosystem about Connection—making home life better. I’m calling it Pulse OS, and today I’m looking for 10 brave souls to help me take it from a solo passion project to a community-driven reality.
The Story: 22 Apps, One Goal
Pulse OS is a massive, deeply integrated suite of 22 custom applications designed to turn your Hubitat hub into a "Life Operating System." It’s designed for families, for personal growth, and for keeping extended family (like grandparents) connected to the household heartbeat in a safe, private way.
Pulse OS treats your home like a living entity:
The Gamification Engine: Chores are no longer a nag; they are an RPG. Earn XP and Gold Coins for emptying the vacuum bin, finishing habits, or maintaining the home.
Predictive Home Defense: Apps like Rain Warden and Trajectory Weather Labs don't just wait for a sensor to get wet; they analyze barometric pressure deltas to act before the storm hits.
Empathic Logic: The house understands "Moods." If a family member check-ins as "Tired" or "Stressed," the house adjusts—dimming lights and silencing non-essential notifications to act like a digital butler.
The Private Social Feed: A local social network where your house posts victories ("The basement is now mold-free!"), high scores, and family check-ins.
The "Founding 10" Call to Arms
I am not ready for a mass release yet. This is a complex, high-power ecosystem that needs a solid foundation.
I am looking for 10 Hubitat users who are:
Enthusiasts: You have a C8 or C8-Pro and want to push it to its limits.
Communicators: You are willing to join a dedicated Discord group to report bugs, suggest features, and share how your family interacts with the system.
Explorers: You aren't afraid of complex setups (HPM custom repos, App IDs, and setting up an ecosystem of 22 apps).
What you get:
Early access to all 22 Pulse OS modules.
Direct influence over the future development and feature roadmap.
A dedicated Discord for real-time collaboration with me and other early adopters.
How to Apply
If you want to be part of this first wave, please comment below with a little bit about your setup (Hub model and the types of devices you use most) and why you’re interested in gamifying or connecting your home.
I’ll be reaching out to 10 people via DM with the Discord invite and links to the code.
These apps form the "heartbeat" of the home, turning daily life into a shared adventure.
1. Family Hub Dashboard: The central command center. It replaces a static grid of buttons with a living "Vibe" dashboard that shows the house's current emotional and physical state.
2. Family Hub Curtain: A sophisticated kiosk overlay. It acts as a "Digital Butler" that greets family members, provides a daily briefing, and offers a secure "Guest Portal" for visitors.
3. Family Pulse Pro (Child App): The internal social network. It generates the "Family Feed" where the house posts updates and family members interact via reactions and comments.
4. Pulse Messenger Pro: A private family chat app. It’s not just for talking; it hosts turn-based games like Chicken Fight and Battleship to drive daily engagement.
5. Daily Pulse Habits Pro: The character-growth engine. It tracks streaks for personal habits (like reading or chores) and uses "Streak Freezes" and "XP" rewards to encourage consistency.
6. Pulse Calendar Pro: More than a schedule. It handles meal planning and groceries, where checking off an item can trigger a "Loot Drop"—turning a grocery run into a win.
Home Intelligence & "Forensic" Automation
These apps focus on the physical health of your home using predictive logic rarely seen in consumer tech.
7. Trajectory Weather Labs: A professional-grade meteorological engine. It analyzes barometric pressure "DNA" to predict storms before they arrive.
8. Rain Warden Pro: Predictive rain defense. It uses forensic data to distinguish between a "Ghost Tip" (wind) and real rain, sealing the house before the first drop hits.
9. Air Guardian Pro: Fortress defense for your lungs. It creates "Positive Pressure" in the home during bad outdoor AQI and tracks weighted filter wear-and-tear.
10. Mold Guardian Pro: High-fidelity humidity control. It uses "Shower Forensics" to detect a hot shower vs. a humid day, ensuring the bathroom clears out instantly.
11. Comfort Control Pro: The climate conductor. It manages every fan, heater, and AC unit with "Sick Mode" integration to aggressively scrub air when someone is ill.
12. Shade Control Pro: Intelligent window management. It uses "TV Logic" to close shades when the television is on to prevent glare, and "Master Fallback" for manual overrides.
Logistics, Finance & Maintenance
These apps handle the "un-fun" parts of life so you don't have to.
13. Smart Vac Manager Pro: Commercial-grade fleet management. It uses an "Entropy Model" to track dirt accumulation based on pets and foot traffic, only running when the "Dirt Score" is high.
14. Pulse Maintenance Pro: The house's "Health Record." It tracks long-term tasks like HVAC service and filter changes, paying out XP to the family member who completes them.
15. Budget Tracker Pro: A local financial engine. It features FIRE Logic to calculate your "Time to Freedom" and a "Subscription Reaper" to kill wasted monthly costs.
16. Sensor Health Pro: The system monitor. It features "Auto-Healing" logic that attempts to wake up offline devices and alerts you when a battery is actually dying (not just reporting low).
17. Family Hub Rooms: The visual floorplan. It allows you to upload photos of your rooms and place "Live Icons" over them for a truly custom, visual control experience.
Safety, Health & Fun
The final layer focuses on the well-being and entertainment of the people inside the home.
18. Pulse Live Tracker: A privacy-first Life360 alternative. It tracks family locations locally on your hub, keeping your GPS data away from big-tech servers.
19. Family Pulse Health Pro: An encrypted medical locker. Track vitals like blood pressure and glucose, and generate a "Doctor Report" to take to your next appointment.
20. Sports Cast Pro: An outdoor fitness RPG. It turns steps and runs into damage dealt to a "World Boss," allowing the whole family to "raid" together through exercise.
21. Game Room Legends: The arcade master. It tracks high scores and rivalries for physical games in your game room, running automated weekly tournaments.
22. Wild Chicken Hunter: Immersive home "Tag." It uses your house's lights and speakers to create physical game modes like "Nightfall" or "Coop Defender" for the kids.
Please feel free to ask any questions. This is a big release for me and I'm very excited to share.
The images are from a computer web browser, but the UI scales. I currently have this running on an iPad in our foyer, and multiple phones across different family members.
So, my question is about the feature that made me go “WTF” the loudest. What sensors are required to track this? PIR and mmWave sensors can infer traffic if you have enough of them, but even mmWave is not sensitive enough to track dirt.
What is feeding the “entropy model” so it knows when the dirt score is high?
Has this “entropy model” been tested against a simple automation like “run the vacs once everyone leaves” if so, how does it compare?
Great questions. Honestly, your "WTF" reaction is technically justified! The header description ("forensic dirt tracking") is definitely adding some "marketing fluff" to what is essentially a math simulation.
Here is exactly how this "Smart" tracking actually works under the hood, what sensors it really uses, and how it stacks up against a simple "Departed" automation.
1. The Sensors: What is actually tracking the dirt?
Short answer: Nothing. There are no optical dust sensors or particulate counters involved here. The "Dirt Score" is a virtual integer that acts as a proxy for dirt based on activity.
The code relies on standard smart home sensors to make assumptions:
Motion Sensors (PIR): This is the primary driver. It doesn't "see" dirt; it counts foot traffic.
Carpet: Adds 20 points per motion event.
Hardwood: Adds 12 points per motion event.
Contact Sensors: Used on exterior doors. Opening a door adds 10 points , assuming pollen or dust entered.
mmWave / Presence: They are not used to count dirt. They are actually used for "Traffic Jam Avoidance" (Occupancy) to prevent the vacuum from running if a human is currently in the room.
2. What feeds the "Entropy Model"?
The "Entropy Model" is a fancy name for a multiplier logic engine. It takes that base motion data and multiplies it based on environmental context variables found in the logicPage and handleMotion methods:
Weather API: If it's raining (>0.2 in), it applies a x2.0 multiplier to all motion (simulating muddy shoes) and triples the points for door openings.
Season: If the month is March–May, it applies a x1.5 multiplier (simulating pollen season).
Household Profile: High shedding pets (x2.0) or a "Shoes On" policy (x1.3) permanently boost the accumulation rate.
Time of Day: Motion in the Kitchen/Dining room between 6 PM and 8 PM gets a x2.0 multiplier (simulating meal prep crumbs).
Passive Accumulation: Even with no motion, it adds points hourly just for existing (dust settling) .
3. "Entropy Model" vs. Simple "Run When Away" Automation
You asked if this is better than a simple "Run when everyone leaves" rule. Here is the trade-off : The Simple Rule (Run When Away):
Pros: 100% reliable. The floor is always clean when you return.
Cons: Inefficient. If you leave for 20 minutes to get coffee, it cleans the whole house. If you stay home all weekend, the house gets filthy, but the vac never runs.
The "Entropy" Model (This Code):
Pros:Targeted Efficiency. It calculates which room is dirty. If the "Dirt Score" in the Kitchen is high (1000+ pts) but the Guest Room is low, it will only deploy the bot to the Kitchen. This saves battery and consumable life (bags/filters).
Cons: Complexity. It requires "tuning" the multipliers to match reality. If the math is off, the vacuum might not run when the floor is actually dirty.
Summary This app is designed for larger homes where running a full-house clean every time you leave is battery-prohibitive. For a smaller space, the "Run When Away" automation is likely superior. The "Forensic" part is just a clever algorithm for inferring mess, not measuring it.
In my bedroom i have a PIR sensor and hardwood floors. When i sleep it tracks ~10 motions events per hr ( according to my logs). Assuming i get a good 8hrs of sleep i would have accumulated a dirt score of 96 in 1 room not including your entropy model multipliers w/o touching the floor. If it’s raining at night in march… as it does in TX it would seam that the algorithm will think my floors are way dirty than they actually are.
Also Mountain cedar season typically occurs from December to February in Texas and is known to cover everything in a fine yellow dust. How does this algorithm compensate for different pollinating seasons, not just across the US, but the vast differences in seasons between the northern and southern hemisphere?
@ShaneAllen This looks very interesting and i like the idea of trying to bring the whole family in to the system. I run my place as automated as possible on a C8-pro with a C7 which runs some older lamps only. Have speakers, vacuum robots, lights, motion, temp sensors, door, window contacts, environment sensors, sockets, blinds, heating etc. basically everything that can be automated or linked is.
The only "display" i currently have is a nest home hubmax, any manual control is done via embedded smart switches or via a android app which also does the location, sleep triggers etc.
As i have a old victorian place the idea of my place is is smart without anyone knowing, all switches "look" normal and work as expected but motion sensors in the ceiling do the control for us. Unless its in manual mode for cleaner / guest only mode.
I have lots of hidden "fun" stuff as well for the kids or when we do energy saving modes so i like the sounds of your games you have added in as well.
One option is constructive feedback from other Hubitat community members to point out potential optimizations like this.
@ShaneAllen this is very impressive and I wish you luck as you continue development. I don’t have the bandwidth to help with beta testing but it sounds appealing for a household like mine with kids.
You are accurate but to take into account sleeping hours ive built in a sleeping hours time-frame the end user can setup. This prevents motion based activities from adding to the score.
Seasonal pollen and air quality changes are also hard coded into the application, this is definitely in need of testing and further growth.
​Use specific sensors: Do not assign the Bedroom PIR to the app if it faces the bed. Only use a sensor that sees the floor or the doorway.
​Enable Quiet Time: This is mandatory for bedrooms to prevent sleep motion from triggering runs.
One more consideration since you are using PIR sensors. PIR sensors normally need 1-3 mins to reset. During very high traffic events like a party, these will just stay active so motion events will be low.
I might be being grumpy, but 13 seams overly complicated to “just vacuum floors”
I hear you, and I agree—none of this is a hard requirement for Pulse OS. The Vacuum Manager is simply about optimization: adding logic to the standard cleaning schedules to reduce wear on expensive equipment.
My goal was to introduce state tracking (cleaning only 'dirty' rooms) and improve orchestration for multiple robots. It is absolutely overkill—just like Pulse OS itself—but that’s the fun part. That is also why I'm launching the Beta: to help dial in these features and catch any potential shortcomings with community feedback.
I do appreciate you taking the time out of your day to join in the discussion and hopefully help me start a meaningful adventure with discussion.
DEEP DIVE: The Architecture & Logic of Family Hub Curtain
While the surface of the Curtain is a beautiful lock screen, the underlying code is a massive orchestration engine. It actively parses data from over a dozen integrated "Pulse" apps and connected sensors to deliver highly contextual briefings.
Here is a closer look at the advanced logic driving the Family Hub Curtain.
1. The Web Setup Portal & Media Engine
Instead of cluttering the Hubitat app settings, the Curtain generates a local HTML/JS Setup Portal to manage the UI .
Avatar Image Processing: When you upload an avatar in the portal, the system uses an HTML5 Canvas to automatically crop and resize the image to a perfectly centered 150x150 pixel JPEG before saving it to the Hubitat's state .
Google Photos HTML Parsing: If you use cloud photos for the Memory Spotlight, the app doesn't just accept direct image links. It can take a standard Google Photos share link, perform an HTTP GET request, and use regular expressions (regex) to scrape the og:image metadata tag, modifying the URL to pull a high-resolution w1000-h1000-c version of the image .
Live Form Syncing: The setup portal uses live input syncing, meaning changes to names, User IDs, or House Guide text are held in memory and saved to the Hub in one clean JSON payload when you click "Save" .
2. Advanced Presence & The "Commute Intercept"
The Curtain doesn't just know if you are home; it tracks the timeline of your arrival.
Manager vs. Tracker: The app splits location duties. It relies on the "Location Manager" for strict Home/Away presence, but layers data from the "Location Tracker" to identify specific regions (e.g., "At Work") and live RPG events like Boss Fights or Loot Drops .
The 15-Minute Rule: When a user's location changes to "home", the app timestamps the arrival. If you tap your profile within 15 minutes of that timestamp, it triggers the "Commute Intercept" briefing rather than a standard greeting .
Ghost Mode CSS: If a user's location string is not strictly "home" or "present", the UI applies a user-away CSS class, which drops the avatar's opacity to 0.6 and applies a 100% grayscale filter .
The briefing screen runs dynamic checks against your ecosystem data to provide actionable advice.
Climate Advisory (Comfort Control): The Curtain compares your indoor thermostat temperature against the Open-Meteo outdoor forecast. If it is warmer than 71°F inside, between 55°F and 68°F outside, and your HVAC is set to "cool", it will intercept you with a recommendation to turn off the AC and open the windows .
Wardrobe Suggestions (Weather Labs): By evaluating the "apparent temperature" (what it actually feels like), the UI dynamically suggests clothing—ranging from " T-Shirt & Light Clothing" to " Heavy Winter Coat" if it feels colder than 45°F .
Workout Recommendations (Sports Cast): If no workout is logged for the day, the system suggests a routine based on the current hour. Before 10:00 AM, it suggests a "Morning Trail Hike or Jog"; after 6:00 PM, it recommends "Evening Sunset Walk or Cycling"; otherwise, it defaults to a "30-Minute Neighborhood Walk" .
By checking the "Adult" box in the setup portal, the UI completely changes what data is rendered for that user .
Kids' Bedtime Lockdown: If a child profile tries to access the dashboard between 8:00 PM and 4:00 AM, the Curtain denies access, rendering a "Sleep Tight!" message and a moon icon instead of the dashboard link .
Budget Tracker: Only adult profiles will render the top 5 recent financial transactions, displaying income in green and expenses in red .
Maintenance & Garden: Only adults see the full list of overdue home maintenance tasks and the detailed plant hydration/compost grid .
5. UI Updates & Quick Controls
The front-end is designed to run endlessly on a wall tablet without user intervention.
10-Second Polling: While the Curtain is idle (locked), it silently fetches fresh background data every 10 seconds to update top-bar alerts, security statuses, and live event trackers without reloading the page .
Screen Dimmer: After 6 minutes of inactivity, a pure black CSS overlay fades in to protect the screen. Tapping anywhere wakes it up instantly .
Intelligent HVAC Quick Controls: When accessing the PIN-protected Quick Controls, the system looks at your HVAC operating state. Crucially, if the state is "Idle" but the Fan mode is "On", the Curtain intelligently overrides the display text to read "FAN RUNNING" so you know the system is still active .
Top Bar Alert Badges: The UI utilizes dynamic, pulsating CSS badges at the top of the screen to warn you of severe events like Weather Labs "STORM ALARM", Air Guardian "SICK MODE", or Rain Warden "HEAVY RAIN" .
I might be interested in testing this. This looks pretty interesting and I can see a lot of promise in this project. I do not have a spare C-8 or C-8 Pro though, but also I see no reason why it would work any better on a C-8 than it would on a C-5 considering they have the same CPU and 1GB of RAM...
Family Hub Dashboard: The Ultimate Unified Landing Page
Family Hub Dashboard , a comprehensive, unified landing page designed to bring all your custom smart home apps, dashboards, and family tracking tools into one beautiful, central interface.
Whether you are managing your home's climate, checking family locations, or unlocking the arcade for game night, Family Hub puts it all at your fingertips.
Flexible Connectivity (Local & Remote)
Dual Access: The dashboard generates two links: a Local Link for lightning-fast access while connected to your home network, and a Cloud Link for secure remote access when you are away.
Progressive Web App (PWA): Includes a manifest.json file so you can save it directly to your mobile device's home screen as a standalone app.
Interface & Customization
Custom Tile Layout: Tailor the dashboard to your needs by entering a custom comma-separated list to reorder the tiles exactly how you want them.
Auto-Dimming Screen: Features an automatic screen dimmer and timeout timer that wakes up instantly upon interaction or when a critical system alert triggers.
Guest Mode: Easily toggle "Guest Mode" to hide sensitive security settings, financial data, and restricted apps from visitors.
Family Pulse & Tracking Ecosystem
House Vibe & Moods: Tracks selected users' moods (Happy, Sad, Electric, Gloomy, etc.) to calculate and display an overall "House Vibe" on the dashboard . Includes a popup modal for users to check in and update their location and mood.
Family Pulse Feed: Connects to your family feed, highlighting the tile with a red pulse animation when new activity or posts occur within the last hour .
Live Location Tracker: GPS tracker integration that displays visual alerts on the tile if a family member is traveling, has a low battery, or triggers an SOS alert.
Daily Habits & Health: View habit completion progress and access the comprehensive Family Health dashboard.
Advanced Climate, Air & Weather
Comfort Control Pro: Integrates with your thermostat to show HVAC operating states, indoor/outdoor temps, and active modes (like Fortress, Proactive cycle, or Sick Mode). Includes a secure, PIN-protected popup modal to adjust cooling and heating setpoints directly from the hub .
Air Guardian Pro: Monitors air quality and immediately alerts you to critical AQI levels or dirty filters that need replacing.
Weather Labs & Rain Warden: Predicts surges for storm, flood, and freeze risks, alongside immediate heavy rain and sprinkling detection. Displays data from outside air stations including wind speed and gusts.
Security & Home Maintenance
Perimeter Monitoring: Actively monitors locks, garage doors, and contact sensors. Triggers visual alerts and audio notifications if the system is armed and a breach occurs .
Mold Guardian: Tracks dehumidifier tanks. If a tank becomes full, the tile alerts you, and a popup modal allows you to remote-reset the unit once emptied.
Pulse Maintenance: Manages home maintenance tasks, Automowers, and RoboVacs. Includes an "Agenda" view for due tasks, allowing you to snooze or mark them complete directly from the dashboard.
System & Sensor Health: Hub Pulse Pro and Sensor Health Pro integrations keep an eye on hub performance scores, system vitals, and dead sensor batteries.
Entertainment & Lifestyle
Pulse Arcade (Wild Chicken): A built-in Game Room Hub featuring multiple game modes like Standard Hunt , Revenge , Coop Defender , Roundup , and Nightfall . Requires a security PIN to unlock the console for play.
Game Room Legends: Quick access to head-to-head match stats and all-time leaderboards.
Sonos Sync Pro: Displays actively playing Sonos zones and opens a dedicated UI modal for audio control.
Family Budget Tracker: View your financial goals and monthly budget status. Protected by a dedicated PIN to keep finances private.
DEEP DIVE: The Architecture & Logic of Family Hub Curtain
1. The Web Setup Portal & Media Engine
2. Advanced Presence & The "Commute Intercept"
3. Smart Logic: App Integrations & Contextual Rules
T-Shirt & Light Clothing" to "
Heavy Winter Coat" if it feels colder than 45°F .
4. Adult vs. Child Profile Segregation
5. UI Updates & Quick Controls
Flexible Connectivity (Local & Remote)
Interface & Customization
Family Pulse & Tracking Ecosystem
Advanced Climate, Air & Weather
Security & Home Maintenance
Entertainment & Lifestyle
