No Zw/Zigee B Devices Yet- Just Alexa and some networked PCs

[Prolle]

Hi All

New user of HE, having just received it this week. Still learning (and will be for a long time) and have yet to purchase some Z-Wave or Zigbee devices. I do however have a CCTV System (Using Network IP Cameras and BlueIris as the software.).

I have managed to get a stream from my IP Cameras onto a Dashboard.

Apart from that, I cannot think if there is anything else I can put to use until I get some devices.

I do have an Amazon Alexa and an Amazon smart plug. I have installed the Hubitat Skill and Alexa Skill app on HE. However, I cannot do anything with it yet.

Any other thoughts on what can tinker with on HE without having any physical Z Wave or Zigbee devices?

Perhaps something else with BlueIris apart from streaming to the Dashboard?

At a loose end here with the lockdown.

Cheers!

[zarthan]

There are at least a couple of weather apps and several ways to do notifications. Set up something to let you know what might be happening outside. That will give you opportunities for creating rules.

[steve.maddigan]

Just to get the interaction between Alexa and HE started,

If you want an alexa routine to trigger a rule in HE, use a virtual switch as a trigger.

If you want HE to trigger a routine on Alexa, use a virtual contact.

Many people have incorporated Alex Speaks or Alexa TTS but you have to screw around with amazon cookies that expire.

[Terk]

I use the BI Control app from @bptworld to control my BI profiles with my modes so Home day maps to BI's Home Day (Profile 1), Home Evening and Home Night map to BI's Home Night (Profile 2), Away Day and Vacation Day map to BI's Away Day (Profile 3), and Away Evening, Away Night, Vacation Evening, and Vacation Night all map to BI's Away Night (Profile 4)

[Deprecated] BI Control - Local Blue Iris control

Introducing 'BI Control' This app is designed to work locally with Blue Iris security software. Note: This was written for BI4. If using BI5 results may vary. This app has been merged into Event Engine - Automate your world with easy to use Cogs. Rev up complex automations with just a few clicks! 100% Local Control - No Internet needed Ability to change BI Profile based on HE Mode, Switch or Motion Ability to move a camera to a Preset using a Switch or Motion Ability to get a Camera Snapsh…

I also use the steps outlined by @jrfarrar in post 4 to activate virtual motion devices inside of BI when motion is detected by the cameras to alert via TTS and push messages about the motion as I'm using Sentry AI with BI so its motion detection is less prone to false alerts than PIR sensors which will alert me with animals.

[jrfarrar]

I have some REALLY rudimentary apps I use for BI that I wrote. You are welcome to check them out.

jrfarrar/hubitat

One I use to "reset" the mode on BI every X min. Probably a bit overkill, but sometimes BI will restart itself and then it starts back up in AWAY mode. This just resets the mode every X min to whatever it's supposed to be.

The other is a parent child app that really only sends URLs based on triggers. Everything in BI can pretty much be controlled with a URL. The reason I made this is as above I use PTZ commands based on contact sensors in HE. So when a door opens a PTZ camera will move. However I also wanted a way to put in a delay and then move the PTZ camera back after a set amount of time. This app set lets me do that. The setup screen looks like this:

Otherwise the control is ALL URLs so you need to know those from BI. As an example if a contact opens I trigger an "event" on a camera(s) and move a PTZ. I also have some outdoor motion sensors that trigger events/etc. I also use this to control my "modes" in BI as it's just the tool I use for all of that. Again very rudimentary and not at all as easy as @bptworld app.