So I've been in a battle with my cat for weeks because he keeps screwing up my home automation.
I'm using Hubitat with Node-RED to automate some very complex presence flows which keeps track of who's home/away and who's asleep/awake (using Nokia/Withings sleep sensors.) Almost everything depends on my system knowing knowing this information. After a lot of work I had flows that worked pretty well. Pretty well that is until my cat decided his new favorite place to sleep during the day was on my wife's side of the bed.
It took me quite a while to figure out "anti-cat mode" but eventually I was able to get everything back in balance; which resulted in even more complex flows than I even would have imagined.
Of course, after all that work, the cat has decided he now likes sleeping on the area rug in the dining room instead.
So, this got me to wondering, what odd situations have you come across that has totally jacked up your home automation? Did you solve the problem? If not, maybe this group can brainstorm and help you out?
We have animals and kids (not sure which ones are worse) but my presence sensors are external units (car, phone). I have motion sensors that trip lights, turn off after 5 mins when inactive. Lights are on all the time until 6:30 if the tv changes channel lights dim to a specific scene. At night there is a button on our night stand that turns off all lights, tv, lowers thermostat, and a few other things. So not too much to overcome for ourselves.
I think I am my oddest hurdle. Example - after redoing the networking to "simplify" things, the entire network was acting very strange. Weird slow downs, devices not responding, etc. Discovered I had accidentally plug a switch port directly into another port. I have many of these stupid operator stories.
Cats are tough. Our 9.5lb (4.3kg) cat defeats motion sensors intended to be immune to 90 lb pets. By comparison, our 90 lb dog triggers sensors about once per week. Vertical space is her domain, but she also patrols every corner of the house. She "kills" a dog toy that is half her size at least twice per day, throwing it into the air.
Aside from my wife, she is my muse. Living in harmony with the two of them is what keeps me sharp. The other cat and dog are mere furry annoyances by comparison. Love is accepting the challenges.
