Amazon Echo and ISY

[Scottmichaelj]

I completely agree. I would love it if the Echo could pair with an AVR (like my Denon receiver).

I believe it can via the networking module

[barrygordon]

huddadudda,

 

I think you misunderstood what I am looking for.  I agree that the ISY/Echo can control an AV receiver through the networking module. But it can not send its audio out to the AV receiver. If you ask the Echo to play some songs from your Amazon Prime library it will always use the audio system built into the Echo to do so. The Echo's audio system is not of a very high quality.

 

If the AV receiver has Bluetooth connectivity and obeys Bluetooth AVRCP (Audio Video Remote Control Protocol) you should be able to control the AV receiver for simple things.  This is how the Echo controls an iPad streaming some audio (also of low quality IMHO), if the iPad is paired to it.

 

This actually has nothing to do with the ISY.

 

I am also researching (on the Web) the use of Siri on an iPhone to act as the Echo does.  The iPhone will need to be Jail-broken and running the tweak known as "Assistant+" (Apple is way to restrictive in what they will and will not allow.  After all I do own the iPhone!!).  The Assistant+ should be able to send Restful sequences to the ISY just the way the Hue Emulator does. The Assistant+ tweak is in development and a "plugin" would be needed to perform the appropriate action with the ISY. Those interested can google Assistant+ and SiriProxy. I know that the Echo is much better from a Speech recognition standpoint than Siri, But the iPhone approach would be completely local and could work across the internet from a location outside your home if you wanted it to. This also would include pulling status from the ISY back to the iPhone/Siri for audio response.

Edited December 28, 2015 by barrygordon

[apnar]

Siriproxy stopped working on IOS8 unfortunately (unless there is a way to get around the issue via jailbreak that I'm unaware of). Also Siri still uses the cloud for voice processing just like the echo. If you want to give Siri a try you can go the HomeKit route. There is a thread on here that covers setting it up. You run a server (similar to hue bridge) that advertises to HomeKit and then makes calls to the ISY.

 

Edit: thread on HomeKit: http://forum.universal-devices.com/index.php?/topic/16329-HomeKit-Support-via-HomeBridge---Siri-Voice-Control

Edited December 28, 2015 by apnar

[Dracarys]

I believe it can via the networking module

 

Barry covered it - I want an audio output from the Echo. I'll take either wired or Bluetooth AVRCP to my AVR (Denon). That way the Echo audio can be routed to my Klipsch reference speakers and wired outdoor speakers. Some folks have tried to patch into the Echo's internal speaker wires but none have been successful from what I understand. 

 

Instead of using ISY network resources, I control my A/V setup (TV, Projector, AVR, Xfinity, Apple TV, Wii, Blu Ray, etc) from the Harmony Elite/Hub. With one of my echobridge emulators configured for the Harmony API I can say "Alexa, turn on the TV" or "Alexa, turn on the Big screen" and it executes the Harmony activity or individual device command. A bonus is that the Harmony wand remote AND smartphone apps are immediately updated/put in that activity for seamless switching between voice, physical, and app control.

 

Given that the voice control is limited by the Hue setup, I hope in the future Amazon integrates directly with Logitech. Hopefully that would give me "Alexa, mute the TV" instead of "Alexa, turn on some-word-not-including-mute-because-it-seems-to-be-reserved".

[Scottmichaelj]

For some strange reason I thought there was a 3.5mm audio jack on the echo. I was wrong. If I see something on the AV integration pro forums about this I will make sure to post the solution here.

[jerlands]

For some strange reason I thought there was a 3.5mm audio jack on the echo. I was wrong. If I see something on the AV integration pro forums about this I will make sure to post the solution here.

 

 

There's a hack on youtube for soldering in a jack (one brief shot on muted video.)  I've heard Amazon might possibly enable bluetooth out.

 

 

 

Jon...

[Scottmichaelj]

There's a hack on youtube for soldering in a jack (one brief shot on muted video.) I've heard Amazon might possibly enable bluetooth out.

 

 

 

Jon...

I wonder if you could pair one of these bluetooth adapters to it then attach it to a AVR.

 

Something like,

 

Avantree Saturn 2-in-1 Portable switchable Bluetooth transmitter and receiver adapter ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085HOM4K/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awd_QQHGwbZ9MDCFF

 

I dono not that I want to do this but maybe for someone else.

[barrygordon]

AFAIK the Echo will not send its local audio out over Bluetooth.  Several have requested that feature but as of this time I do not believe it has been implemented

[502ss]

finally read all 53 pages, it was worth the read! Huge thanks to Barry, BWS and blueman! The contributions and debugging efforts are what made the 50+ pages worth the read. I am happy to say I now have the ha-bridge and the AWS config tool running well on a windows 7 machine and working pretty nicely with my ISY and echo. I also ordered a pi 2 so I can get all of this working on the pi. I am also thinking of pulling the trigger on the harmony elite which includes the hub. This would be to replace my 12 year old URC MX-800.

 

Just wanted to say thanks! Great work everyone!

 

Thanks

Jim

[barrygordon]

Had some interesting issues tonight.  All of a sudden the Echo started telling "that command is not correct for that device" or something similar. After a while it started behaving correctly.  I rediscovered all my devices and the Echo would not recognize any device that had a type of p"Program".  I will check again tomorrow after Amazon stops screwing around with the cloud. It is easy enough to fix if they no longer want to handle a type of "Program". Did anyone else have a similar issue? 

[bocarob]

Mine is going a bit wacky no response can not find command had to reboot thought it was internet connection but no . it has not been reliable for a few days on and off.. Just got back Wanted wish you Barry a very Happy holidays and a huge thank you giving the best xmas gift this year your hard work and conviction to this project .......

 

Many Thanks and Happy New Year !

[ahwman]

Had some interesting issues tonight.  All of a sudden the Echo started telling "that command is not correct for that device" or something similar. After a while it started behaving correctly.  I rediscovered all my devices and the Echo would not recognize any device that had a type of p"Program".  I will check again tomorrow after Amazon stops screwing around with the cloud. It is easy enough to fix if they no longer want to handle a type of "Program". Did anyone else have a similar issue?

 

 

I've recently been having the exact same issues. Alexa, turn on ceiling fan and I get "That command doesn't work with that device". I ask the same command again and it works. I also rediscovered all of my devices, however all were rediscovered correctly...

[gregf]

I've had this happen a couple of times.

The command runs though. Just a simple on or off of an outlet.

I didn't rediscover or do anything.

[ahwman]

I've had this happen a couple of times.

The command runs though. Just a simple on or off of an outlet.

I didn't rediscover or do anything.

So this just fixed itself? I'm just curious if this is a cloud issue on Amazon's side, or an intermittent issue with the HA server...

[jackal]

So this just fixed itself? I'm just curious if this is a cloud issue on Amazon's side, or an intermittent issue with the HA server...

 

I encounter this issue too.  I overcame it by adding the word 'lights'.  Instead of "Turn xxx on", becomes "Turn xxx Lights on".

[barrygordon]

All The friendly names of the lights in my house end with the word "Lights" as in "Kitchen Lights".  Everything is once again working fine.

I find I get the best speech recognition when I say "Alexa" and then wait for the sound that signifies that Alexa is awake, and then finish the speech.

Edited December 30, 2015 by barrygordon

[barrygordon]

Wishing all a Happy new Year. 2015 has been an interesting year in many ways. Hopefully 2016 will be just as much fun in the world of Technology. 

[randyth]

Speaking of 2016 technology, looks like LG is prepping an Echo-like audio player and smarthome hub that "serves as a gateway to smart sensors and connected appliances": http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/30/ces-lg-smartthinq-hub/

[gregf]

So this just fixed itself? I'm just curious if this is a cloud issue on Amazon's side, or an intermittent issue with the HA server...

It seems to have been an intermittent problem for me. 

I only have 3 lights and a program set up. I don't remember if it was the same light each time.

[barrygordon]

Greg,

 

I agree, as it is working fine for me now. I suspect the Amazon cloud. They really need to ensure that their Echo service is 100% reliable or as close to that as possible. 

[ahwman]

I encounter this issue too. I overcame it by adding the word 'lights'. Instead of "Turn xxx on", becomes "Turn xxx Lights on".

All of my lighting scenes already have the word "Light" or "Lights" appended to each friendly name. I think I have to chalk this up to issues on the cloud as I haven't changed a single thing and now it seems to be working well again. Hopefully it was just a rare hickup...

 

Update: since my last post, I've noticed this happening sporadically again. Not sure what's causing it...

Edited January 1, 2016 by ahwman

[MWareman]

In the skill instructions - it tells us to 'Alexa, tell izzy to refresh devices' after the spoken name is changed.

 

I just spent some time adjusting my spoken names on my ISY - then issued this command only to be told that this was no obsolete - and to update spoken names via the portal.

 

So - I logged onto the portal and sure enough there is now an 'Amazon Echo' option on the menu...  So far so good.  Now the issues... It's worth noting that all my device names are encoded - so I need to use spoken names throughout...

 

1) Changes on the ISY don't appear to be propagated to the portal. How is this supposed to work... I would have thought that 'Refresh' should have retrieved the latest spoken name fields from the ISY but it does not appear to do that. 

 

2) Portal does not list programs. How do we trigger programs now? 

 

3) It seems inaccuracies (at least in my case) come from having nearly 200 devices with encoded names...  all of which appear to have their node names 'copied' to the spoken field on the portal. If I try blanking out the spoken names of devices I don't want to control - I get an error 400....  I don't want all devices to have spoken names!!  Can we, by default, not assign one???

 

4) In the list - I like the 'Search'...  Can we add the ability to filter by type?  In my case - I only want to assign spoken names to scenes (and programs). It makes no sense for me to see devices.

 

That's it - so far. However, after manipulating names in the portal, my skill has gotten *way* more accurate and responsive. 

 

Michael.

[bfish]

I have tried to follow madmartians instructions meticulously to setup the Hue emulator.  All seems to go as planned, except when I try to Discover Devices, Alexa can't find any.

 

I assumed port conflicts, but the only one I have is port 1900 and it's all with system services, which Madmartian says to ignore.  Are there other ports I should be

investigating besides 8080, 1900, and 50000?

 

Or something else I should be looking for?

 

 

C:\Users\BRAD>netstat -ano | find "1900"
  UDP    10.0.0.6:1900          *:*                                    1364
  UDP    127.0.0.1:1900         *:*                                    1364
  UDP    [::1]:1900             *:*                                    1364

 

 

From Task Manager:

Name PID Description Status Group
upnphost 1364 UPnP Device Host Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation
TimeBroker 1364 Time Broker Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation
SSDPSRV 1364 SSDP Discovery Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation
FDResPub 1364 Function Discovery Resource Publication Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation
 

Thanks in advance for any insights!

 

Brad

[ahwman]

I have tried to follow madmartians instructions meticulously to setup the Hue emulator.  All seems to go as planned, except when I try to Discover Devices, Alexa can't find any.

 

I assumed port conflicts, but the only one I have is port 1900 and it's all with system services, which Madmartian says to ignore.  Are there other ports I should be

investigating besides 8080, 1900, and 50000?

 

Or something else I should be looking for?

 

 

C:\Users\BRAD>netstat -ano | find "1900"

  UDP    10.0.0.6:1900          *:*                                    1364

  UDP    127.0.0.1:1900         *:*                                    1364

  UDP    [::1]:1900             *:*                                    1364

 

 

From Task Manager:

Name PID Description Status Group

upnphost 1364 UPnP Device Host Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation

TimeBroker 1364 Time Broker Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation

SSDPSRV 1364 SSDP Discovery Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation

FDResPub 1364 Function Discovery Resource Publication Running LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation

 

Thanks in advance for any insights!

 

Brad

Brad,

 

I spent MANY hours trying to get the emulator to run and was about to give up, however I started closing running apps in my task bar and eventually found the culprit which in my case was TiVo Desktop which apparently was using port 8080. That said, I doubt you're experiencing a port conflict as that generally will cause the emulator to error out and close itself which is what was happening with me. If the emulator appears to run and stay open, I would think the problem lies elsewhere...

 

Don't give up, it's worth it once you get it running.

 

Chuck

[barrygordon]

Brad,  Exactly what software are you attempting to run?  There have been many changes since post #1 of this thread.  

 

I, and a lot of others, are using the Hue Emulator (HA Bridge) from BWS systems (bwssystems.com) along with my configuration system (AWS_Config.exe) available at my web site www.the-gordons.net.

 

Many, if not most, running the HA Bridge run it on a Raspberry Pi model 2. It will also run on A Windows or MAC  system that has JAVA Installed.   The emulator must be running 24/7

 

My configuration program only runs on a Windows machine (Win 7 or later). The emulator has the ability to configure ISY entries but it is non-trivial.

 

Hope that helps.