Patriot is an open source, hobby IoT project using Particle.io Photon 2 devices, and optionally Siri, HomeKit, MQTT, and/or iOS apps.
It is intended to help other hobbyists quickly create Internet-of-Things projects that can be controlled using Voice (Siri) and iOS devices without having to recreate new HomeKit programming or iOS apps.
This project consists of published particle.io Photon 2 libraries (IoTlib and plugins).
Note that previously a published Alexa Smart Home skill (Patriot) was used. The use of Alexa has been replaced with Siri and HomeKit. I apologize to those that want Alexa support, but it was getting to be too much work for me to support both iOS and Alexa by myself in my spare time.
The HomeKit "Home" app can be used with your old iPhones to provide a touch display control panel.
Your Photon 2 based IoT projects can be created using any of the standard particle.io development tools (Web IDE, Particle IDE, or Particle CLI).
The main objective is to allow the creation of networks of IoT devices that can communicate with each other, and is:
- Easily extensible: new devices can be added without having to modify existing devices.
- Super simple to program
- Reuses existing code, including the HomeKit apps, iOS apps, and Photon library code.
Refer to the older article Alexa Controlled Photon Project without Alexa Coding on Hackster.io or my blog at lisles.net for some historical information.
Particle.io Photon 2's are used due to their ease of use and great support. I had originally created my own low cost printed circuit boards (PCBs), but since then ControlEverything (NCD.io) has released a series of Photon based boards that make it even easier to use.
These have wireless built-in, and can be programmed over-the-air (OTA) so all they need is power to get started.
I've provided a set of source code files and instructions that can be used to simplify programming IoT devices using Particle's $19 Photon 2.
I've still publish the Eagle files and instructions for creating general purpose IoT printed circuit boards. PCBs can be ordered from China for about $1.50 each. However, I've found that purchasing boards from NCD.io is quicker and the boards are much higher quality. The prices are very reasonable. For example, a simple Photon board with a power supply that works directly with my RV's 12v power and has screw terminals for connecting to the Photon's pins is only $15.
HomeKit support is provided by Homebridge and the MQTTThingy plugin.
This allows Siri to control Patriot devices using your iPhone, Homepod, or Apple TV.
Refer to the (Releases page)[https://github.com/rlisle/Patriot/releases] for release history.