Has anyone built their own smart sprinkler controller for home assistant? I know you can purchase smart controllers that are drop in replacements but building one appeals to me. I'd really like to incorporate something into ESPHome on my home assistant setup. Has anyone done this?
Smart irrigation system
- Thread starter Keizer
- Start date
The advantage to using a "smart" controller is that it is still a stand alone controller. If something happens to your automation system, the sprinkler system should continue to function as expected. If you build your own "smart controller" then you want to make sure that whatever solution you build can work on it's own should home assistant go down.
That being said, if you use the correct ESPHome chip/device, it would work this way. Something with enough outputs paired with enough relays to control all of your individual sprinkler zones, along with enough programming power to set everything up on the chip itself. Having HS be able to monitor and even command the controller is great, but secondary to the controller being responsible for the operation of the sprinkler system.
A quick search found this: Sprinkler Controller and Sprinkler automation with ESPHome, a complete project
That being said, if you use the correct ESPHome chip/device, it would work this way. Something with enough outputs paired with enough relays to control all of your individual sprinkler zones, along with enough programming power to set everything up on the chip itself. Having HS be able to monitor and even command the controller is great, but secondary to the controller being responsible for the operation of the sprinkler system.
A quick search found this: Sprinkler Controller and Sprinkler automation with ESPHome, a complete project
Yes, ESP32 chip + some relays is the answer, in my case, to control other things around the house, not sprinklers. If you haven't worked on ESP32 before, it will be fun & educational.
The added benefit with DIY is that there are a ton of other sensors you can add like temperature, humidity, etc.. listed here ESPHome — ESPHome
The added benefit with DIY is that there are a ton of other sensors you can add like temperature, humidity, etc.. listed here ESPHome — ESPHome
Exactly what I was wanting to do. There are so many different ESP32 boards online to choose from. Are they all pretty much the same?
Here's a list of what I was thinking.
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I bought one of these for $89 and wrote some code to talk to it over a socket to turn relays on and off. Been working for 3 years now.
32 relay controller
32 relay controller
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BORIStheBLADE
Getting comfortable
I’ve read about this but don’t use one. I currently use a RainMachine controller
opensprinkler.com
OpenSprinkler | OpenSprinkler
Improve your lawn, garden, or farm irrigation. Create custom programs. Use automatic weather-driven algorithms. Access and control your sprinklers from anywhere.
opensprinkler.com
I was playing around with open sprinkler on a Raspberry pi I had laying around. Although you can integrate open sprinkler into Home assistant via HACS, I wanted to use ESPHome and build my own dashboard.I’ve read about this but don’t use one. I currently use a RainMachine controller
OpenSprinkler | OpenSprinkler
Improve your lawn, garden, or farm irrigation. Create custom programs. Use automatic weather-driven algorithms. Access and control your sprinklers from anywhere.
Okay, it's all wired up and all relays function. Just have to wire the actual solenoids to the other side of the relays. I tested out an automation that would simulate automatic watering by time of day and it works perfect.
Attachments
I bought a three pack of the ESP 32 boards. I need to come up with some other projetcs.
