In my case, the Soma Tilt blinds actuators require an interface to be accessible in Apple Home (not unusual - many gadgets need a bridge or hub). They offer Raspberry P-based hubs but these are currently sold out.
They offer a free download of the software if you have a Raspberry Pi. I see that kits are available for them, but what am I getting myself into buying one?
The deployment in this case would be as a wireless hub for the actuators, connected to my network via ethernet.
Itās a small relatively bare-bones computer that can be customized out the wazoo for different projects. This thing might be nearly turnkey, or you might be setting yourself up to learn much more than you ever wanted to know about low-level programming.
Iād be using it for the one purpose where I can download the software, so thatās cool. But do I need a screen and keyboard to go with it? That seems unwieldy for a simple smart hub.
Iāve not worked on one (yet), but I think theyāre usually set up with a remote development environment so that you write and compile your code on a ārealā computer and then download it to the Raspberry Pi. Iād google āMac development environment for Raspberry Piā and see what pops up, and then go from there to see what the state of the art is.
Supply is starting to improve slowly, and the prices are coming down - Amazon has a 2GB model for $120, 4GB for $135, 8GB for $165. Still nowhere near reasonable, though.
I would imagine 4GB is enough. The 8GB RPs are relatively new and youād likely see a warning from your blind folks saying to use 8GB if it was necessary.
I will probably need something like this. The one above doesnāt even have a power cable.
Iāve ordered a single blind actuator, so Iām going to see how that works before investing in a Pi. Itās going in my office (the first room Iām finishing out) and it may be that opening/closing at sunrise/sunset is all that one needs, which I can set from the Soma app so the more sophisticated scenes and automations with Apple Home might not be necessary.
I would make sure that you actually need all of those parts, or that you canāt get them cheaper somewhere else, before you order that. You can live without a case and heatsink. Micro-USB power supplies/cables are a dime a dozen. So if you already have an SD card and standard HDMI cable then this should fit the bill at half the price:
Well, the one you posted doesnāt have ethernet either. The Pi Zero W models have wifi (hence the āWā) but no ethernet unless you use a USB adapter. If you want ethernet onboard you gotta get a full Pi.
I guess Iām thinking too much along the lines of the dedicated smart hubs, that have their own wireless connections to the kit and then connect to the network via ethernet. Itās a frustration that you have to pay extra for these, but they keep potentially dozens of individual bulbs/switches off your wifi.
In this case, itāll be a maximum of 6 units, so Iām going to try really hard to go without Pi.