Moonshot Cooperation of AI-Robot Enablers: Integration with Home Assistant

This repository includes the basic instructions to setup a Home Assistant based CARE integration for ROS and non-ROS based devices. The architecture of the system can be seen in the image below:

Requirements: A PC with Ubuntu and a ROS 1 installation.

• Latest version of Home Assistant uses Python 3.12. If you have an older Ubuntu where Python 3.12 can't be installed, you can either install it using a PPA (deadsnake's PPA for example) or use the container version.

Steps to get started with Home Assistant

Step 1: Install Home Assistant (Container or Core).

• Instructions to install Home Assistant Container can be found here.

  • If you install the Container version, Home Assistant should start every time your system starts.

• Instructions to install Home Assistant Core can be found here.

  • Test that everything is working by running the command hass as the user homeassistant at the end of the installation and confirm that you can see the home assistant manager from your browser (URL is http://homeassistant.local:8123, http://localhost:8123). Then you can stop the running hass instance.
  • Use systemd to launch Home Assistant on boot
  • To achieve this, Save the following unit file as: /etc/systemd/system/home-assistant.service

  [Unit]
  Description=Home Assistant
  After=network-online.target
  
  [Service]
  Type=simple 
  User=homeassistant
  WorkingDirectory=/home/homeassistant/.homeassistant
  ExecStart=/srv/homeassistant/bin/hass -c "/home/homeassistant/.homeassistant"
  RestartForceExitStatus=100
  
  [Install]
  WantedBy=multi-user.target
  
  

  • Enable the service with
    • sudo systemctl daemon-reload
    • sudo systemctl enable home-assistant.service
    • sudo systemctl start home-assistant.service

Step 2: Setup Home Assistant

• Open Home Assistant on your browser. Click on "Create my smart home" and set up the required information. Don't forget your credentials.
• In Home Assistant, go to Settings, then click on Devices and Services, then click on the tab "Helpers" and click on "Add helper". The button is the most basic helper, which has a toggle status (on, off).
  • When the helper is clicked, its state changes. The ROS program provided in this repository will monitor the changes on our Helpers using the Home Assistant API and then based on the name of the helper and type of the event, we'll execute Service calls in ROS.
  • More advanced helpers that can contain values can also be used, but are outside of the scope of this tutorial.
• Generate the API key. To do this, go to the user (bottom left on the main screen), then to Security, and then, at the bottom, click on Create Token under the section "Long Lived Access Tokens." The name of the token is arbitrary. Copy the token because it only appears once.

Step 3: Connecting Home Assistant and ROS

• Clone this repository on your ROS workspace.
• Change the permissions of the script in the scripts folder using chmod +x homeass_bridge.py
• You need to modify certain elements of the Script to connect the Home Assistant helper and the Service in ROS.
  • Replace the ACCESS_TOKEN on line 20 with the access token generated in the previous step.
  • Adjust the name (and Service Type) of the ROS Service that will be called when the Helper event is registered on line 18 & 19. If you have more than one service, make sure to add them all.
  • Update the Home Assistant Entity IDs on line 21 to your entity's ID. Line 55 subscribes to events of the specified Entity ID, and line 64 compares the Entity ID when an event is received and matches it with the specified one.
  • Change the address of the Home Assistant server it will connect to on line 22.
• Compile your ROS workspace. Don't forget to source the devel/setup.bash file
• Run the node using rosrun homeassistant_bridge homeass_bridge.py
• Test that when the button is pressed in your Home Assistant overview, the service is executed (or the program tries to execute it).

Step 4: Connect to Voice Assistants

To connect to Voice Assistants, we can use the Home Assistant tutorials. For Siri, you can add a Shortcut following this tutorial. The shorcut's name will be the phrase used after "Hey siri" that will trigger the event. You'll need the Home Assistant Companion App and log in to your Home Assistant Server. A tutorial for Google Voice can be found here.

Possibilities with Home Assistant:

By bridging Home Assistant with ROS through your software, a variety of powerful integrations and functionalities become possible:

1. Scheduled Assistance: Assistive robots can be scheduled through Home Assistant to provide help at specific times, such as reminding users to take their medication, delivering meals, or assisting with daily routines like getting dressed or brushing teeth.
2. Sequential Care Tasks: The robot can perform a sequence of tasks, such as guiding a person to the bathroom, then helping them prepare for bed. Each task can be triggered automatically or based on user input.
3. IoT Integration for Enhanced Care: The assistive robot can interact with other smart home devices, such as adjusting the thermostat before bedtime, closing blinds, or turning off lights.
4. Adaptive Assistance: The robot can adjust its behavior in real-time based on inputs from Home Assistant, such as slowing down if a user appears to be unsteady or providing extra guidance if it detects that a door is closed.
5. Voice-Activated Assistance: Through Home Assistant, the robot can be controlled via voice commands, allowing users with limited mobility to easily request help, such as fetching items, calling for assistance, or adjusting their surroundings.
6. Coordinated Multi-Robot Assistance: If multiple assistive robots are used, Home Assistant can coordinate their tasks to ensure that help is provided efficiently. For example, one robot could assist with physical tasks while another provides reminders or companionship.
7. Personalized Care Routines: Caregivers or users can customize the robot’s assistance routines through Home Assistant, tailoring the robot’s behavior to individual needs, such as adjusting the timing of reminders or selecting specific types of assistance.
8. Context-Aware Assistance: The robot can provide context-aware support, such as offering to help when a user is detected near certain locations (e.g., guiding them to a chair when they approach it) or sending alerts if it detects unusual behavior, like prolonged inactivity.