Are there any home automation packages/environments that people are using with LEDE? I think my requirements/wish-list items would be the following:
Device power control compatible with any combination of in-wall outlets, in-wall switches, or plug-in-modules:
-- Appliance controls (off, on)
-- Dimmer controls for lamps (off, variable levels when on)
Integration with other sensors/devices [optional]
-- i.e. garage door controllers and sensors for open/closed status
-- environmental (temp, occupancy, etc.) sensors
Hardware controllable with physical remotes and/or in-wall switches (so that my phone/computer isn't required to do stuff)
Software controllable with iOS apps and/or a mobile friendly web UI (so that I can use my phone/computer, also when out of the house via VPN to my home network and/or a cloud service)
Stateful (the central controller would have current status of every device within its domain, ideally with actual acks from remote devices, allowing for control confidence)
I have a completely blank slate in terms of the physical technology (i.e. Wifi, X-Bee, ZigBee, WeMo, Hue, etc.), my only requirement is that it is modern technology (not X10). I don't mind hacking different hardware bits together to assemble a controller interface adapter (provided it doesn't require low-level hardware and/or software design). I'd like to use a basic consumer router with LEDE, but I could also use a small x86 system that I have lying around. It might be good to point out that I am not a software engineer/developer so I won't be able to develop new packages, but I could try building packages from existing sources.
Ideas/suggestions welcome. And thanks in advance!!
Have a look at OpenHAB + Mosquitto, it probably meets all your needs. However, I do not see LEDE playing a role here; for such a project I would use (or "I am planning to use" to be more precise) a more general platform (like a Raspberry Pi, for example).
On the hardware side, you have Arduinos and ESP3286 in addition to those you already mentioned.
I have FHEM running on LEDE on Raspberry PIs and Easyboxes 803. If you plan to use it in a house you need several antennas anyway for good coverage. So the LEDE does the routing, firewalling and wifi part and works on really low end hardware which is good.
The bad part is that FHEM requires several PERL modules that LEDE is not providing. So you can use it, but everything that requires encryption like Homematic components and Web-Access to pull in or get out information will not be working on the LEDE basis out of the box. Because the PERL modules require compiling with the exact compiler environment as the original PERL i asked for help here but received no answer. I then set up what is called DebianWRT, a chroot debian on top of LEDE using debootstrap. Then you can use the same software that is provided by Raspbian and everything works.
I is a bit to set up, but i prefer LEDEs router functionality at the base of the system.
While we might get there some day, I think that the current crop of home tech should be run on a separate box. I have spent the last two weeks trying to understand the landscape and am extremely frustrated with the level of disclosure that vendors offer on their hardware and software.
At a high level this stuff is extremely insecure. Virtually every thing you will buy off the shelf will set up some type of communication to an external server. Don't know for sure , but assume it's a DDNS server. First thing change your credentials.
There are a precious few products that can be run standalone (local). Most are open source products like Home Assistant (My fav at the moment, but requires some skills) or use proprietary hardware like Lutron Radio Ra2 (it's a great system, but big $$. I installed one about 2010). Wink claims to have a local mode, but it's only when the internet goes down. It s not a default operating mode.
Even if you go with something like Home Assistant, if you want to say use an Echo to control things it will connect to the internet. Not clear on what else in your home automation solution it will expose. You also need to take care in the product you choose to run with Home Assistant, etc. as some devices can not be run local.
It's difficult to not need multiple technologies (zigbee, Z-Wave, BT and WIFI) as some components run on one or the other.
For hardware, it's looking like for a project based system the RPI3 is the best answer. Add a GoControl Z-Wave QuickStick Combo (HUSBZB-1) or similar and you have a $100 "hub" that runs all of the above technologies and pretty much any open source solution.
You may however want to press your LEDE to use VLANs and place all your home control devices one one, so if they do get hacked, your LAN is safe. Unfortunately this begs the question of where and how to store ones media.