Mike Swanson
aaf4172b3c
New projects from 2026-02-09 research session: Wrightstown Solar: - DIY 48V LiFePO4 battery storage (EVE C40 cells) - Victron MultiPlus II whole-house UPS design - BMS comparison (Victron CAN bus compatible) - EV salvage analysis (new cells won) - Full parts list and budget Wrightstown Smart Home: - Home Assistant Yellow setup (local voice, no cloud) - Local LLM server build guide (Ollama + RTX 4090) - Hybrid LLM bridge (LiteLLM + Claude API + Grok API) - Network security (VLAN architecture, PII sanitization) Machine: ACG-M-L5090 Timestamp: 2026-02-09 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
167 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
167 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
# Home Assistant Yellow - Setup Guide
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**Created:** 2026-02-09
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**Hardware:** Home Assistant Yellow (owned, not yet set up)
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---
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## What's In the Yellow
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- Custom carrier board with Zigbee 3.0 radio (external antenna)
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- Matter-ready architecture
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- M.2 slot for NVMe SSD (add terabytes of storage)
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- Power supply with international adapters (or PoE)
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- Custom heatsink and thermal pad
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- Ethernet cable
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**Important:** Yellow production ended October 2025, but continues receiving full software updates. No action needed -- it's still fully supported.
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**Requires separately:** Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 or 5
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- Minimum: CM4 with 2GB RAM + 16GB eMMC
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- Recommended: CM4 4GB RAM + 32GB eMMC
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- CM4 Lite option requires NVMe SSD (no eMMC)
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- CM5 supported since HAOS 14 (November 2024)
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---
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## Setup Process
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### Hardware Assembly
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1. Install CM4/CM5 -- align CE mark at bottom, press firmly onto connectors
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2. Apply thermal pad to SOC (silver square near Raspberry icon)
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3. Place heatsink on thermal pad
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4. (Optional) Install NVMe SSD in M.2 slot
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5. Close enclosure
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### First Boot
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1. Connect Ethernet cable to router
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2. Connect power supply
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3. Wait 5-10 minutes for initial setup
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4. Access Home Assistant at `http://homeassistant.local:8123`
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5. Follow onboarding wizard:
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- Create admin account
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- Set location and timezone
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- Auto-discover devices on network
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### Post-Setup Essentials
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1. **Install HACS** (Home Assistant Community Store) -- for custom integrations
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2. **Configure Zigbee** -- ZHA integration auto-detects the built-in radio
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3. **Set up backups** -- Automatic daily backups to NAS or cloud
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4. **Install File Editor** -- for editing YAML configs in browser
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---
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## Local Voice Assistant (Replace Alexa/Google)
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### Core Components (All Local, No Cloud)
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**Whisper** -- Speech-to-text (OpenAI's engine, runs locally)
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- Processing: ~8 seconds on RPi4 for transcription
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- Languages: English primary, expanding multilingual
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**Piper** -- Text-to-speech (neural TTS, optimized for RPi)
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- Multiple voice options
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- Very fast synthesis
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- Natural-sounding output
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**Wyoming Protocol** -- Communication standard between voice services
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- Connects Whisper, Piper, and wake word detection
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- Supports remote satellites
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**openWakeWord** -- Wake word detection
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- "Hey Jarvis", "Alexa" (custom), "OK Nabu"
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- Custom wake words trainable
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- English-only currently
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### Setup Steps
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1. Go to Settings > Add-ons
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2. Install "Whisper" add-on > Start
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3. Install "Piper" add-on > Start
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4. Install "openWakeWord" add-on > Start
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5. Go to Settings > Voice Assistants
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6. Create new assistant:
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- Speech-to-text: Whisper
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- Text-to-speech: Piper
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- Wake word: openWakeWord
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- Conversation agent: (Home Assistant default, or Ollama later)
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### Voice Satellites (Room-by-Room Control)
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**Option 1: Wyoming Satellite (RPi-based)**
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- Raspberry Pi Zero 2W + microphone + speaker
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- ~$30-50 per room
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- Full wake word + voice processing
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**Option 2: ESPHome Voice Satellite (ESP32-based)**
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- ESP32-S3 + I2S microphone + speaker
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- ~$15-25 per room
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- Auto-discovery via Zeroconf
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- Supports media player, timers, conversations
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- ESPHome 2025.5.0+ integration
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---
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## Key Integrations
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### Zigbee (Built-in Radio)
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The Yellow has a Silicon Labs Zigbee radio. Use ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration:
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- Auto-detected on first boot
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- Supports 100+ Zigbee device brands
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- No additional dongle needed
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**Recommended Zigbee Devices:**
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- Lights: IKEA Tradfri, Philips Hue (Zigbee mode)
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- Sensors: Aqara door/window, motion, temperature
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- Switches: Sonoff SNZB series
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- Plugs: Innr, IKEA, Sonoff
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### Victron Solar (Future Crossover)
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When Victron MultiPlus II + Cerbo GX are installed:
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**Integration Methods:**
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- **Modbus TCP** (recommended): Direct polling via `hass-victron` custom integration
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- **MQTT**: Bidirectional via Cerbo GX
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- **VRM API**: Cloud-based (60-minute refresh, built-in since HA 2025.10)
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**Best Practice:** Use 5-second Modbus scan interval (not 20 seconds)
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**Energy Automations:**
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- Run high-load devices when battery SOC > 75%
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- Trigger charging at 25%, stop at 50%
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- EMHASS (Energy Management for Home Assistant) for optimal solar usage
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### Ollama / Local LLM
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Native Ollama integration (HA 2025.6+):
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1. Settings > Devices & Services > Add Integration > "Ollama"
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2. Enter Ollama server URL: `http://<llm-server-ip>:11434`
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3. Settings > Voice Assistants > Select "Ollama" as conversation agent
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**Extended OpenAI Conversation** (HACS custom component):
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- Supports OpenAI-compatible APIs (Ollama, LiteLLM)
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- Function calling for HA service control
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- Create automations, query APIs, control devices via natural language
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- Install via HACS custom repository
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**Multi-Model Strategy:**
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- Agent 1: Qwen 2.5 7B for real-time voice commands (fast, <1s response)
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- Agent 2: Llama 3.1 70B for complex reasoning (slower, smarter)
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- Route via LiteLLM proxy
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---
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## Sources
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- https://www.home-assistant.io/yellow/
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- https://yellow.home-assistant.io/guides/install-cm4/
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- https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/wyoming/
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- https://www.home-assistant.io/voice_control/voice_remote_local_assistant/
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- https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/ollama/
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- https://github.com/jekalmin/extended_openai_conversation
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