Let's make this fun — for children in particular — and show how we can bend the device to our will because FOSS means it's truly ours, fully under our control.

This article started from my musing about this topic in the PineTime matrix discussion room.

I'm interested in teaching children about “free software” and having full control of one's own devices. Seems like programming your own digital watch would be an excellent way to make this topic “touchable”. This is an encouragement to any makers and experimenters to do more fun stuff, and get this into the hands of children and technology teachers.

As a programmer I can imagine all sports of technical ways to do so, and I've read about the current state of development (how things like downloadable modules would help) — that side I understand quite well. Where I'm lacking is the social kinds of ideas — what's been tried, who's set up a “watch makers kids club”, etc. Anyone heard of anyone using PineTime or similar projects with children?

What's on my mind is, I am wearing this watch because I want to show people how great is free software and owning control of one's devices. But when they (kids or adults) look, all they see is another watch, they can't see it's programmable and Open. So how can I show them? I half seriously want it to be a bright colour and to flash out the words “MY OWNER PROGRAMMED ME” when I wave my arm around. Or something :–)

I want my PineTime to boldly proclaim “I'm Freedom Software in Freedom Hardware”.

Same for my phone: I want people to see it's different from mainstream and ask me why. I've actually had a go at designing a sticker for my phone. Haven't got it sticky-back printed but have put its image on my lock screen. Hmm, I should print that as a T-shirt :–)

The older I get, the more it bothers me that no-one's aware of the existence of tech where users are in control (~FOSS). The more I feel the need to shout it out... in a shy person's way. Glad to see PineTime got to FOSDEM this year. I wasn't there. I'll watch the recording some time soon. (on FOSDEM.org | on my Trax PeerTube)

What Could Children Do With It?

For the youngest, say 4yo, it could be drawing your own watch background picture (on any sketching app on a laptop) and get it installed on the watch. Then, if there's any way to cross-compile from a beginner language like Scratch then program or reprogram a simple app like alarm/timer, with plenty of flashing the screen and buzzing.

Then for 8 yo and up, program in some accessible textual language (e.g. Hedy/Python if cross-compilation is possible; I haven't enquired how feasible that is).

'neroburner' says: “There is a micro python based firmware for the PineTime. That could be a great starting point for teaching and trying out stuff.” Thank you for that hint. That's Wasp-OS and has more apps than Infinitime and is easier to customise: https://wasp-os.readthedocs.io/en/latest/apps.html

In fact, for any age, getting a bold visual customisation like watch face would probably be the best starting point. (I have read the existing issues about how people would like to make that easier to do technically. That's good stuff but not a precondition: we can work around that by scripting the whole build process.)

But like I said, we can have all these cool ideas software-wise of how we could enable kids to participate, but it's not really going to happen unless we link up with some group of people who do stuff like this. Coding-for-kids clubs, or maker-spaces (hack spaces), or something. (“We” = whoever's interested. I'm not saying any of the existing pine time community should necessarily be interested in this direction, though some might. I'm just asking around to discover what might be out there.)

Customisation

First kinds of customisation, for someone new to it:

• graphical — add a “splash screen”, as a personal image and/or a slogan to remind us and our friends this is FOSS; add a background image under the watch face; tweak UI colours, layout, style
• watch faces — start with choosing from existing watch faces; then make one for learning to tell the time, perhaps having all the hours clearly numbered; make one as a bitmap image, another by programming vector graphics; make a quick switch button on the watch screen that cycles between the owner's favourite watch faces
• apps — customise the list of apps (easy but unexciting); edit an existing app to make a new app (much harder until we make an easy framework for it)

In principle it's possible to customise at a deeper level, such as making different Bluetooth connections (to use an external keyboard, talk directly to another PineTime, ...) but that needs an expert.

App Ideas

Remote control / Ping

• button to ping the host phone — Wasp-OS Phone Finder app
• button to ping a predefined other phone (via host phone and SMS/KDEConnect/FMD?) — 'page big sister'
• button to turn on the light/kettle/etc. (via Android device controls, Home Assistant, etc.)

Messages

Sending messages to one another is great fun! Local first: never mind global tech companies, let's message directly.

• phone-to-watch messages (Gadgetbridge has this as a 'debug' function)
• on-screen keyboard (9-key multi-tap?) — there is add note taking app with t9 keyboard #1466 — wow! I hadn't guessed predictive text might be possible. This is interesting as a base for any text typing/sending app.
• bluetooth keyboard (note: someone said the hardware can make 2 connections (e.g. to host phone and keyboard) but firmware for that hasn't been written)
• watch-to-phone message
• 2-way bluetooth texting between 2 PineTimes

Watch/Clock

Fun with the watch/clock function.

I watched a child play with the alarm setting screen, adjusting the hours and minutes to match the real clock on the wall. The child described it as a digital watch that doesn't tell the time automatically but has to be set manually, like a baby's toy clock. They thought it was fun. So let's make it more fun...

• a manually adjustable clock (like setting the alarm)
• display analogue & digital together
• speed control: fast, slow, stop, backwards
• MineTest sync: 20x speed, sync with MineTest game time, animated day/night graphics

For inspiration look at J. Barrett's Clock Demonstrator

These modes are all meant to be temporary: you can always switch back to the real time.

Colour Images

We have a fairly hi-res colour screen, yet I haven't seen any demo of showing a photo or colour graphic background or anything. (Even the “paint” program seems to only paint white on black. Am I missing something? EDIT: A long-press changes colour.)

• Photo notifications from a messaging app.

• Photo snap from phone camera, straight to watch screen, “save” it there, just the most recent one. Companion app could help crop to a small square and maybe enhance contrast and colour etc for a more “fun” display. On the watch, display just a static fixed resolution image, no zoom etc.

• Mini gallery. There is obviously not enough memory for much of a photo gallery, but a few could fit in the 4MB storage. There is Wasp-OS Gallery app and Infinitime Gallery app #1384.

• Phone gallery viewer. As we swipe left and right, a module in Gadgetbridge transcodes our phone gallery's images to PT optimised format and sends them down the BT link, on demand. Radio bandwidth might limit phone-connected gallery browsing, but I don't know, it might be enough.

Calculator

I remember spending hours just tapping away on my calculator-watch with its sixteen tiny mechanical buttons when I was young... and it wasn't even programmable, it just had calculator and timer and a tiny game and that's about it. Oh, but if it had been programmable...!

There are two calculator apps proposed for Infinitime: Calculator App #375, and Simple calculator #1483, and Wasp-OS includes a simple calculator app.

• PineTime discussion room on Matrix: #pinetime:matrix.org

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

#fossGadgets #cloudFree #degoogled #awesomeFOSS #openHardware

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Why?

Warning: rant ahead.

I believe in “Own Our Own Data”. Or, as the maker of one smart phone that doesn't own you, Murena puts it, “My Data is My Data”.

What do I mean, why do I care?

Companies monitor and record and control all the data they can about us. They treat our data as if it's theirs. They prefer it this way round. I feel that's wrong, hurtful in the long term. I want to take a stand in owning my own data as a principle. I want to change the norm, do it the other way round. It's my data first, and I will share my data with any Company I deal with by negotiation, under my control.

The principle should be that, first and foremost, we record our own copy of our own data. From there, we should share it with each Company that has a legitimate interest in it. This sharing should be under our own terms and control. We should share the relevant parts of our data with each Company we deal with, as an obligation or a privilege to them depending on the relationship.

What data? All kinds of data related to me: the photos I take, the list of books I borrow from my local library, my instant messages with friends, my gas and electricity usage.

The companies I deal with are welcome to keep their own copy of data relevant to their service to me. What I do not accept is to be put in the position of Them holding the only copy of my data, and me having to beg them whenever I want to access my data.

Current laws deem that Companies must surrender our data to us if we reasonably ask for it. While that's the theory, however, in practice I have tried this a few times and the process ranges from the tedious to the impossible.

Protocol Theory: How Smart Meters Talk

Let's understand a bit about how smart meters talk... to each other, to the utility companies, and to our home automation system.

We're looking at SMETS2 meters, the current standard in the UK. These meters use two wireless interfaces, one within the home and another kind to communicate to the electricity companies. On the home area network (HAN) side, they use the Zigbee network protocol to connect the electricity meter with the battery powered gas meter and any in-home display units. Their wide area network (WAN) side connects to the UK's central smart metering hub, the “DCC”, and from there to the electricity and gas supply companies.

The home owner is not usually allowed direct access to either of those two wireless network connections. It is my understanding that the energy supply company could give the home owner some sort of credentials (like a password) to access the meters over the Zigbee HAN, but that most companies won't.

How to Connect it, in Practice?

However, some companies have authority [1] to sell us an in-home-display (IHD) that connects to our HAN, and some of those devices, as well as being a display, are also a Consumer Access Device (CAD). The latter means they offer an additional method to connect our own equipment to access our data. So a third kind of network connection comes into the picture, from the CAD to our home automation system.

UK company Hildebrand Glow makes the Display and CAD shown above, and presents the technical aspect of connecting it to a home automation system through WiFi and another protocol called MQTT, here: Glow — Local MQTT

Hildebrand Glow is not the only company selling a Consumer Access Device, but I noticed they explicitly state a goal to support “data enthusiasts” [2] which I think aligns with Own-Our-Own-Data principles. That is a very strong signal to me that it is a company with which I share values, and which I would wish to support.

Careful when buying one: my understanding is Hildebrand sets up the device with the credentials to connect to your particular meters before selling it. They state that you have to link an account on their system, using their “Bright” app, before buying it. If you were to buy a second-hand device, I don't know if or how it could be reconfigured to connect to your meters.

So the system components in our home are:

• Smart meters (from energy supply company)
• Consumer Access Device (Hildebrand Glow)
• Home automation server (Home Assistant)

For an introduction to Home Assistant, see my A Freedom-Respecting Smart Home.

The MQTT server we need can be installed within Home Assistant. Let's assume that for simplicity. (“Find Mosquitto Broker in the Add-on store, and install with default options” says Speak to the Geek in the same article as referenced below.)

The main step then is configuring the Home Assistant integration for Hildebrand Glow MQTT.

Home Assistant integration for Hildebrand Glow MQTT

There is not yet (December 2022) an “official” integration. There are some integration code repositories, some hints to be found in the Home Assistant forums, and some articles online.

The most promising looking solution I have found is Home Assistant integration for local MQTT Hildebrand Glow IHD from Python Awesome, using the megakid/ha_hildebrand_glow_ihd_mqtt integration code repository.

If we find any reason to look elsewhere, here are some alternatives. There is unlobito/ha-hildebrandglow (no longer maintained by its author) and some forks of it where others have made tweaks. “Speak to the Geek” wrote a detailed guide, Hildebrand Glow UPDATE! Local MQTT and Home Assistant. Matt Brunt blogged about his experience beginning with non-local access and then changing to local MQTT access, with low level code examples included, towards the end of his post Hildebrand Glow, Home Assistant and MQTT – Getting visibility into my energy data .

How Well Does it Work?

We'll have to wait and see! I have not set this up yet. I am still waiting for our smart meters to be installed. I am writing in December 2022. Installation is booked for January. I plan to revisit and update this article when I get there.

Further Information

• Good practical and technical information on the Smart Meter Data page on “Smart Meters” web site https://www.smartme.co.uk/

Footnotes:

[1] “We are able to join your Display and CAD to your SMETS meters without your supplier's involvement because we are a SECAS (Smart Energy Code Administrator) approved DCC Other User” — the Glow product page [2] “Our goal for glowmarkt is to support communities of interest starting with data enthusiasts and heat pump adopters.” — the Glowmarkt About-Us page

#cloudFree #fossGadgets #smartHome

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We're looking to install solar PV on our roof and maybe an air source heat pump too. I've collected plans, thoughts, questions on my own web site here:

https://blog.foad.me.uk/2022/11/24/solar-pv-heat-pump/ [1]

My particular passion is to be “cloud-free”. That's when I found you, the open energy monitor community. Hurray!

In other words, I shun connecting anything through “the cloud” a.k.a. somebody else's computer system. That's because then “they” control the connection and can change or take that away at any time. I've become passionate about this and started blogging a bit:

https://wrily.foad.me.uk/a-freedom-respecting-smart-home [1]

But the installers who gave quotes know little about monitoring. That's when I started my own research.

The main “smart” device in the system seems to be the Inverter. (Probably a hybrid inverter, controlling the battery charging too.)

In my research I found Fronius Inverters as the only company that makes a deliberate effort to provide “local” APIs. From my (recent) understanding there is a “Modbus Sunspec” standard API for controlling and monitoring devices like these. Fronius provide that Modbus API, as do other manufacturers, but more than merely providing the API, they document it openly on their web site, seeming to be serious about people using it rather than hiding it away as an installers-only option. See their “open interfaces” page:

https://www.fronius.com/en/solar-energy/installers-partners/technical-data/all-products/system-monitoring/open-interfaces/fronius-solar-api-json-

That gives me a nice warm feeling that it would be in my interest (personal and supporting my values) to use them.

So right now my dilemma is: some local installers say they could get a Fronius inverter for me but it's harder to source (lead time, price) and they're unfamiliar with it, and it looks like it requires a particular battery system (“BYD”) which in turn is likely more expensive and harder to source. One installer goes with Sunsynk inverters and advises I find myself “one of the many available 'buddy' boxes that you can add on to provide monitoring”. So that brought me here, as I prefer open over commercial alternatives.

I want to get this right from the outset. I want to support companies like Fronius that support cloud-free operation. But I'm not sure I understand everything well enough to be sure it would work out properly, especially if I ask a naive installer to do something they're not familiar with. Should I try to find an installer who knows this stuff; are there any?

Or, whom should I consult?

Thanks in advance, — Julian Foad

[1] These links are to my own web sites My POSSE copy of this message Posted on OpenEnergyMonitor community

#smartHome, #cloudFree, #inverter, #api, #fronius, #solarPV, #modbus

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PineTime from Pine64 (product | shop | wiki)

The PineTime is made of open-source hardware and open-source software.

Read a detailed review by It's MOSS.

Being created in order to inspire open development, Pine64 sell it directly for a very low price. It comes as a working product ready to use. For developers, the similarly priced development kit is recommended.

I haven't worn a watch for decades, but I am so happy this exists, I have ordered one.

Actually, to be candid, I ordered one because I want to be more intentional about promoting open source products. We can tell our friends we don't need Apple or Google owning us. But telling is weak. Showing is strong.

A few weeks later... here it is! Woohoo!

I installed GadgetBridge from F-Droid on my degoogled Android phone, and connected it. Upgrading the Infinitime firmware from version 1.6.0 as supplied, to the then current version 1.11.0, went smoothly.

What Does it Do?

It tells the time. It notifies me, with vibration and on-screen display, of notifications shown on my phone. It can control a music player on my phone, start/stop, track skip, and volume control. Those are the functions I find useful, at least initially.

There's an intriguing “navigation” screen, as in map directions. I have not been able to make it do anything, and on searching online found a note that it “only works with PureMaps/Sailfish OS”. That's a pity. I wonder if it can and will be made to work with the awesome open source Organic Maps.

Maybe you are more interested in the step counting and heart rate monitoring. There are also some little gadgets like timers, scribbling, metronome, and mini-games.

Where Next?

This is a hacker's watch, a hackable watch. Infinitime OS is not the only OS it can run. There is also Wasp-OS, and instructions on how to switch between Infinitime and Wasp-OS.

On either operating system, it's possible to add new functions. I would like to learn how to do so. For instance, I would like to monitor and control my smart home gadgets.

Some starting points: customising the PineTime watch faces:

• InfiniSim
• PineTime Custom Watchface Tutorial — pine64.org
• Create Your Own PineTime Watch Face in Rust... And Publish on crates.io — Lup Yuen
• Customizing My Pinetime — by JP/moddedBear

Alternatives

Other smart watches exist with open-source hardware and software designs. Some are hacker-only projects, which you can build yourself, such as Bellafaire's and more that we can find in round-ups such as this and this.

Here are the ones I know that are available to buy.

• Bangle.js reviewed in MagPi magazine, Feb. 2022
• Watchy by SQFMI

DecentNet has written an article with an overview of several Programmable watches .

And finally, I came across an interesting project by “dcz” who has begun making a bike “computer” based on Bangle.js watch hardware with custom software: Jazda.

• PineTime discussion room on Matrix: #pinetime:matrix.org

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

#fossGadgets #cloudFree #degoogled #awesomeFOSS #openHardware

Comments

@julian:foad.me.uk on 2023-01-31:

Its battery does indeed last for a week, with light usage.

@julian:foad.me.uk on 2023-01-31:

When the android clock app rings an alarm, gadgetbridge seems to send a blank notification to the watch. It would be good if we could make the alarm show up with “Snooze” and “Dismiss” feedback buttons.

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“Which brand? Amazon Alexa or Google or Apple HomeKit?”

NO! Big Tech makes technology that best serves Big Tech. We don't have to accept it, once we learn there's an alternative.

Time I Learned: our smart home can respect our freedom.

What's wrong with mainstream IoT?

Their system works beautifully. We can see it in their adverts. What are we missing? Let's see. These cool and pretty looking mainstream IoT devices are overwhelmingly sold with “cloud” connectivity. “Control it with our App!” It sounds good. It's certainly convenient at first.

Now, what does “cloud connected” imply? It implies our command to turn our light on goes out from our phone, over the Internet, to “the cloud” which just means somebody else's computer, where it's processed through our account on their system, and from there the command comes back to our light which then turns on. Ta-da! And our security camera feed shows up in our monitoring page on their computer system. Just like they showed in their adverts.

Except when it doesn't. Except when the internet is slow, we wait, and then after a while our light turns on. Except when they mess up and show our private camera feed to some other customer and theirs to us. (Yes, that happened.) Except when their communications and their computers are poorly secured and get hacked. (Yes, lots of times.) Except when their company goes bust overnight and all our devices stop working. (Yes, that happens too.)

When we use the vendor's app and “cloud connected” control, it means we are renting the use of our device as a service from the vendor. The vendor permits us to use the hardware we bought, but only through the intermediation of their servers. We can use it in ways they allow, for a time they determine, until they discontinue that service or go bust or require us to upgrade or pay extra or watch adverts or agree to new terms. Whatever they want. We “bought” it but we don't own it. Or we could say we own the bare hardware but we don't own the functioning product.

What's the Solution?

The alternative is that we can use IoT devices that are locally controlled, that depend only on our own local network, and therefore can respond fast no matter what our Internet connection is doing, and remain solely under our own control no matter what happens to the Vendor.

My recommendation for a home automation control centre:

Home Assistant <home-assistant.io>

Home Assistant lets you control and monitor everything — doorbells, lights, cameras, action! — and wrenches back your local control over Big Tech branded devices from Amazon, Google, Apple and the rest.

“Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first”

Depending on your level of technical expertise there are different ways to obtain Home Assistant. For ordinary people looking for the simplest and most reliable way, I would recommend buying a tiny stand-alone hardware device with the software pre-installed, such as the “Home Assistant Green”.

On the other hand, with it being freedom software, you or your techie friend could set up Home Assistant on pretty much any computer such as a laptop or a Raspberry Pi. That would be a good option for experimenting with it.

For lots of information about using Home Assistant, listen to The Self-Hosted Show podcast.

For recommendations on security cameras, also consult The Self-Hosted Show.

For your smart switches, plugs, lights, temperature sensors etc.: mylocalbytes.com (UK) or cloudfree.shop (USA).

What About Other Options?

My recommendation for Home Assistant is what seems to me the best solution for most ordinary people, friends and family. Techies and the curious should take a look at these two other freedom-respecting home automation hubs.

• openHAB (and HestiaPi open-source hardware running openHAB)
• DomoticZ

For those building software, Mozilla WebThings is an important project providing “an open platform for monitoring and controlling devices over the web”.

What Will Julian Do?

At the time of writing I am just beginning my home automation. My first IoT device is:

• a “smart” plug/socket (switching, power monitoring)

Plug a light into the smart plug. Click! It's on. Click! It's off... on, off, on, off. That's fun. OK, that's enough of that.

Plug my fridge into the smart plug: it tells me the power consumption when the fridge motor is running, when it isn't, and the total energy and average power over a day. That's interesting. Click! It switches off... oops, didn't mean to do that. Keep it on.

There are lots of ways to run Home Assistant. The easiest way for me to start was an almost one-click install of Home Assistant on YUNoHost. If I outgrow that, I can run it in its own virtual machine (VM) on my ProxMox VM server. [Edit: After a few months I did exactly that.]

Longer term, I have been hearing that people get used to their home automation and expect it to be always available, a permanent fixture of the house. To improve reliability, by taking my general-purpose servers out of the equation, I would seriously consider moving it to a Home Assistant Green self-contained physical device.

On my phone I installed the official Home Assistant companion app from f-droid. As well as providing access to the HA dashboards and configuration, this app also adds a Home Assistant integration that monitor's the phone's power stats (battery level, etc.) and optionally lots more kinds of statistics.

Now I have got it up and running and kicked the tyres with my first integration, I might try:

• “smart meters” for my electricity and gas supply (energy data)
• garage door sensor (turn on light, alert when I left it open)
• voice assistant / smart speaker: Hopes and promises for open-source voice assistants in LWN summarises the landscape of FOSS smart speakers, the most promising being Rhasspy which is being brought in to Home Assistant, and OpenVoiceOS (OVOS) which is taking over from where Mycroft was going
• solar panels or a heat pump (may provide energy data)

Related

• A talk, Practical Computerized Home Automation by Bruce Momjian at FOSDEM'23. “Home automation is an elusive technology — often desired, rarely achieved. This talk explores a successful ten-year home automation deployment, outlining the challenges that derail many attempts. It will cover technology choices, programing basics, and a dozen successful applications.”
• A talk, Challenges in Home Energy Management by Markus Storm at FOSDEM'23. “How to best use your own PV-generated power ... deploying openHAB ... covering the most power intensive use cases of a household: EV charging, heat pump and white goods operations.”

Update 2023-12: Now recommend Home Assistant Green instead of Home Assistant Yellow.

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

#fossGadgets #cloudFree #smartHome #degoogled #awesomeFOSS #openHardware

Follow/Feedback/Contact: RSS feed · Fedi follow this blog: @julian​@wrily.foad.me.uk · matrix me · Fedi follow me · email me · julian.foad.me.uk Donate: via Liberapay All posts © Julian Foad and licensed CC-BY-ND except quotes, translations, or where stated otherwise