Motorhome Automation (1 Viewer)

[Cobra]

Hi guys
Been reading for a while and finally decided to subscribe and post.

I picked up my motorhome a couple of months ago and have had a few trips to local sites in the North East.
SWMBO and I have enjoyed it so far and have already booked a number of sites for the start of next year
(We plan to at least go every other week-end if possible)

I am a home automation enthusiast, with an almost fully automated home, and was wondering if anyone else had thought about making their motorhome 'smart'
I've already started to add some of the basics and I still have a way to go, but I'm working on it

If anyone is interested then I could post some details on what & how

Andy

 

[tonyidle]

Yes please.

 

[funflair]

I did the house with X-10 many years ago but that is not really supported anymore so I have just been buying stuff on Ebay so I have some spare din rail units and a PC/mac interface that works again so its all back up and working now, just had a new computer so can run Indigo 7.4 now and the lights are all automated including iPhone app

Have I done anything on the motorhome? NO am I going to?

Go on try and tempt me

Martin

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[Cobra]

I'm not sure if this will tempt you but....

This is the detail I am getting from my MoHo at the moment..

 

[funflair]

I'm not sure if this will tempt you but....

This is the detail I am getting from my MoHo at the moment..

View attachment 450327

How?

 

[Cobra]

I get alerts sent to my phone if there is a leak or the leisure batteries go too low
If there is movement in the moho then I get an alert and the camera starts recording

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[Cobra]

The screenshot is from one of my 'Hubitat' home automation hubs
I have an 'almost idle' internet connection in the MoHo and a Hubitat hub which does all the monitoring and alerting
Along with leak, temperature voltage & contact sensors.
I have written many 'apps' & 'drivers' to use with this hub and wrote one specifically for the moho.

 

[Cobra]

This is the hub that controls everything..

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[Jaws]

Sounds good.
At the moment I use a low tech system
I look out the window.. I like things easy

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[Cobra]

I look out the window.. I like things easy

Unfortunately, a lot of the time my MoHo is in storage, a few miles away.
I actually started this because I wanted to monitor the leisure batteries and it sort of grew from there

Andy (And for tonyidle : G7MUQ)

 

[tonyidle]

My efforts have so far been limited to garage lights turned on manually (if required) but turned off by closing either door, an underside spare wheel mount with 12v winch, an IP PT camera, and electric operation of a large Heki rooflight. I don't count many hours spent tidying and documenting the existing wiring. Hardly automation I know but has kept me occupied.

 

[Jaws]

Unfortunately, a lot of the time my MoHo is in storage, a few miles away.
I actually started this because I wanted to monitor the leisure batteries and it sort of grew from there

Andy (And for tonyidle : G7MUQ)

I have a question..
What is the quiescent current draw of the system ?

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[Cobra]

I'm working on reducing that right now
I have a raspberry Pi which I use for remote access to the hubs config etc and have just added a 'shutdown' switch so I can turn on/off the power when not used.
All sensors (motion, leak, contacts etc) are powered by battery
Sensor battery life is normally around 6-12 months depending upon size
Camera is shutdown unless motion detected whilst in 'Storage' mode
Pi is now shut down unless I'm updating or changing code

Current drain is currently around 100 ma unless 'reporting in' where it increases to about 300ma
Under normal conditions, my 100w solar seems to take care of that

Andy

 

[dipsie]

Whatttttt !
I am more than happy with my lot, if I get to the stage that I ca’nt turn on/off our lights, heating, etc because I’m not fit or able to myself it is time I wer’nt here.

Our camper has the Truma I.net system which I am thinking I might get a SIM card for it, just to keep an eye on the battery status. That is “ modern tech “ for me.

At least the Russians shouldn’t shaft our house ,unless of course they manage to hack our suppliers.

 

[Ridgeway]

I'm not sure if this will tempt you but....

This is the detail I am getting from my MoHo at the moment..

View attachment 450327

What about adding:

Gas bottle levels
Tyre pressures
Toilet cassette level (maybe not )
Fridge on
Fridge temp

Maybe useful to add some alarms as well:

Low temp <4º to avoid water being dumped by low temp water valve for the boiler
Tyre pressures
Gas bottle
Battery level
Battery charge rate
Carbon monoxide and smoke alarm battery status (that one's a bit tough...)
Above but activation of either


Slightly different application but here's my dashboard for my aquarium control system, it's accessible from any where and i also have it on my phone:

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[SpeedyDux]

What about adding:

Gas bottle levels
Tyre pressures
Toilet cassette level (maybe not )
Fridge on
Fridge temp

Maybe useful to add some alarms as well:

Low temp <4º to avoid water being dumped by low temp water valve for the boiler
Tyre pressures
Gas bottle
Battery level
Battery charge rate
Carbon monoxide and smoke alarm battery status (that one's a bit tough...)
Above but activation of either


Slightly different application but here's my dashboard for my aquarium control system, it's accessible from any where and i also have it on my phone:

View attachment 450381

Feeder on auto - very impressive. {I'm guessing it does feed the fish while you are away}

 

[Sandancers]

Cobra I'd like to see more details about your automation.

I'm not sure if this will tempt you but....

This is the detail I am getting from my MoHo at the moment..

View attachment 450327

Looking at the list above I can see how you would present the information for transmission, but I wonder how you sense some of the "changes of state" ?

For instance, Leak sensors, do you have a load of float switches scattered about waiting for a high tide ?

Motion sensor ? A mercury tilt switch ?

I've been involved with instrumentation for more than 4 decades so know a little about the subject.

 

[Cobra]

What about adding:

Gas bottle levels
Tyre pressures
Toilet cassette level (maybe not )
Fridge on
Fridge temp

Maybe useful to add some alarms as well:

Low temp <4º to avoid water being dumped by low temp water valve for the boiler
Tyre pressures
Gas bottle
Battery level
Battery charge rate
Carbon monoxide and smoke alarm battery status (that one's a bit tough...)
Above but activation of either

I’m not too worried about gas bottle level or tyre pressures whilst in storage
Some of the monitoring (like motion etc) is already disabled if we are in the moho and that is already configured

I could monitor the toilet cassette level and I already do that with an external grey water container (internal is monitored as standard) but I’m reluctant to add level sensors to the cassette.
I don’t see the reason to monitor the fridge on/off however; I can easily add a sensor to monitor the temperature (I just hadn’t thought about that )

I currently monitor the leisure battery level and intend to extend this to the vehicle battery level in the next phase.
Carbon monoxide and smoke can be easily monitored with the correct sensor added to the hub - again, I had not considered that, as I have already have ‘non-smart’ versions of these sensor alarms for when we are present.

I currently have alerts sent to my phone for low leisure battery, leaks, low temperature and for security whilst in storage.

One other thing I have added is a check for open windows/skylights etc when starting off.
If I turn on the ignition when any of these are open, then a buzzer sounds. this has already prevented me from driving off with one of the skylights open on more than one occasion.

Andy

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[Cobra]

Looking at the list above I can see how you would present the information for transmission, but I wonder how you sense some of the "changes of state" ?

For instance, Leak sensors, do you have a load of float switches scattered about waiting for a high tide ?

Motion sensor ? A mercury tilt switch ?

The home automation system that I use, mostly uses a protocol called ‘Zigbee’ - it’s basically a very low power (Mostly coin battery powered) RF transmission
Within the home automation ‘community’ these have been found to be very reliable but I also include a couple of wifi devices

Leak sensors and most of the door/window contact sensors are made by ‘SmartThings’ and are small self contained devices.
Motion detection is done with Philips Hue infra red sensors (monitoring internal movement)
You question brings up the question of vehicle vibration and alerting if hit when parked etc.. hmm.. I will think about this one.

Most sensors also report on temperature and I have written an app which ‘agregates’ or ‘averages’ all these reports to give me an average internal temperature throughout the moho
I’m looking now at adding specific temperature sensor ‘probes’ to grey & fresh water tanks

Andy

 

[Sandancers]

So can I take it you don't have a propriety Motorhome alarm fitted ?

Sounds like you really like your home automation. Is it related to your working life ?

 

[Vipar]

Just my luck I don’t live anywhere near these cleaver guys. ☹
I only know how to flick a switch

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[Cobra]

So can I take it you don't have a propriety Motorhome alarm fitted ?

Actually I have a ’Cobra’ motorhome alarm fitted which obviously sounds a siren if someone breaks in, which is fine if you park on the drive. It‘s not much use when 3 miles away in storage (even though this is supposed to be patrolled etc)

Sounds like you really like your home automation. Is it related to your working life ?

I don’t remember the last time I touched a lightswitch at home
Although I own an IT security company, I also work with a USA company, writing computer code for their ‘smart‘ apartment installations.
Home automation started as a hobby but in the last two years has become more of a career.

Andy

 

[Garfields]

I like things easy

Not according to some of your projects

 

[Figaro]

I get alerts sent to my phone if there is a leak

Could be popular feature for owners of some makes of motorhome

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[steve 6644]

Do they do a "you put the washing up liquid in the fridge you pillock" alert. I've done that twice now, nothing like a bloody treasure hunt.

 

[Pausim]

Just my luck I don’t live anywhere near these cleaver guys. ☹
I only know how to flick a switch

They said on the radio this morning “dull in the South but bright in the North” .

 

[Pausim]

Cobra I like what you are doing.

My motorhome lives in storage with no wifi. Would I be able to set up a remote system to monitor both engine and leisure battery voltages and temperatures using the Hubitat device? Also what part does the R Pi play in the system? Hope I am not making you repeat yourself too much.

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[Cobra]

Pausim
The 1st issue you have is an internet connection via 3/4g - This is the medium by which I can transmit data home
My moho setup doesn’t use much data but you will need this and some kind of wifi in your moho.
Probably a ‘mifi’ device would work if you have a good phone signal at you storage site (you would need to power it from the leisure batteries though)

You can actually monitor voltages and temperature using a couple of wifi devices that are quite cheap, without using a Hubitat hub
I just do it that way because I can and because I use the hub for other things.
I also use the Hubitat hub to bring everything together so I don’t have to login to separate websites to see the data
The Pi is not necessary at all, I just use it atm to update my software code remotely as I find new things to do.

 

[Cobra]

This might interest you.
It’s the post I made on the Hubitat forum detailing some of the work I have done so far

Motorhome (RV) Automation (A small side project)

Sorry if this post is long… I hope some people find it interesting 🙂 Due to Covid, all our recent holiday plans went up in smoke. We had various EU visits planned and booked for the year and some for next year – All refunded now as everything was cancelled by the various airlines. After much...

community.hubitat.com

Andy

 

[Neilfg]

I'm not sure if this will tempt you but....

This is the detail I am getting from my MoHo at the moment..

View attachment 450327

Really interesting thread , can you provide more details on the sensors you are using specifically the Skylights, Greywater and Leak sensors?

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