Sensors: Home Security
Let's start with something simple - for example, the XIAOMI Mi Smart Temperature and Humidity Sensor. The capabilities of the device are clear from the name, but there are several subtleties that you need to know before choosing this sensor as a tool for “pumping” your home. For example, the error when measuring humidity with its help is 3%, but the sensor provides information about temperature with pleasant accuracy - up to 0.3 °C.
If your home is never colder than -20 °C or hotter than +60 °C, the sensor will work properly. Its light weight of 15 g and a diameter of about 4 cm make its installation simple and convenient in any corner of the apartment - be it the kitchen or the bedside table. It is especially necessary to monitor humidity if small children are in the room for a long time, although it is much more pleasant for adults to sleep in a room with an optimal humidity level. Is the air too dry? No problem, the sensor will automatically give a signal to start the humidifier (more on that later).
For the system to work, the temperature and humidity sensor requires a device called XIAOMI Mi Smart Wi-Fi Multifunction Gateway, which sends data to a special Mi application Home. The “weather” in the house can always be kept under control using a smartphone - this allows you to respond in a timely manner to a flood from neighbors above or a fire in the kitchen.
XIAOMI Multifunction Gateway is essentially the center of Xiaomi's smart home system - it is the one that transmits readings to a mobile device. In combination with a temperature, humidity and motion sensor, we get a complete system. Multifunction Gateway also has a speaker and lighting with 16 million colors. If a motion sensor is installed, you can configure, for example, automatic switching on of the backlight or sound signal when there is any activity near the sensor (use as a technological night light, For example).
So where are we going to put all this? To use Multifunction Gateway as a night light, it is best to install it in the hall, somewhere near the bathroom. We will install three motion sensors: near the front door, at the entrance to the bedroom and near the balcony door - who knows where uninvited guests will come from. As for the temperature and humidity sensor, it is better to place it somewhere near the ventilation duct: in the kitchen there may be false alarms due to cooking, and in our room there is a fireplace.
This is what we get as output:
Purifying the air
Since we are talking about climate, it is logical to conclude this topic - and the Smart Mi Air Purifier from Xiaomi will help with this. This is the second generation of the device, which has already proven itself reliably in many houses and apartments. Its dimensions have become smaller, but it cleans the air just as well.
Every hour, the purifier passes through up to 330 cubic meters of air, filtering up to 99.7% of particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, which pose a potential health hazard. If the particles are smaller (0.3 micrometers in diameter), the quality of cleaning decreases, but only by 0.2%. The device filters out large particles without exception.
It looks cool not only on the outside, but also on the inside, where there are two fans, activated carbon filters, HEPA, and PET mesh.
The recommended square footage of the room for effective cleaning (be it smoking or formaldehyde) is from 23 to 39 meters - excellent, it suits us. Using the indicator on the front panel, you can find out the state of the air: if it lights up green, then everything is fine, yellow - there is already an excess of the permissible level of harmful particles, red - it is better to leave the room and let the purifier do its job case.
The purifier operates in automatic mode, when Smart Mi Air Purifier itself makes a decision about air purification, night - the device operates almost silently, and custom, when you yourself set the intensity of work cleaner Control, as in the previous case, is carried out using the Mi Home application.
Given our room area (21 square meters), the purifier can be placed anywhere, but most often it is installed either near the sofa or near the workplace. Let's do so!
Clearing the space
Well, how can a house claim to be technologically advanced if you still wash floors by hand and walk around the house with a vacuum cleaner under your arm? Disorder. If it is, for example, Dyson, the conversation is different, although sometimes even it could use an assistant. The last one could easily be the Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum: this robot vacuum cleaner will do all the work before you even get home.
But the trick is not only this - you see, there are plenty of robotic vacuum cleaners on the market now. The round body, base, dust container with brushes - everything is as usual here. Controlling the vacuum cleaner using a mobile application deserves special attention: got it smartphone, enter the days of the week and time when you need to start cleaning, and the vacuum cleaner will do its job according to schedule. The robot will perform the task until it has cleaned the entire available area, or until the battery charge drops below 20%. If your area is too large, it will stand on the base, charge the batteries and continue where it left off last time.
When cleaning, the robot automatically creates a map of the room, which displays the trajectories of its movement; this information is available in the mobile application. You can clearly see how the vacuum cleaner coped with the task, which places were suddenly not touched, and, if necessary, change the arrangement of furniture to improve the quality of cleaning. The plugin displays not only the status of the robot and the map, but also the cleaned area, as well as the battery charge.
The robot cleans a claimed area of 50 square meters within an hour, so it can easily work while you are doing your own thing at home. On one charge at maximum power, the robot vacuum cleaner cleans an area of about 120 square meters.
Do you remember the last time you washed your windows? Probably a year ago, unless you trust this matter to professional cleaning companies. Cop Rose is essentially the same robot vacuum cleaner, but designed for cleaning windows. Two turbines of the vacuum cleaner actively suck in air, due to which the robot does not fall and is pressed against the glass. It takes about 15 minutes to clean one window, and to achieve the best effect, you can additionally apply some kind of damp detergent.
Although the robot vacuum cleaner requires a constant connection to the network to operate, it is still an interesting thing - few people have this. In addition, the device is controlled using a mobile application.
Purifying water
The next representative of our selection was dreamed of back in the last century. Wake up in the morning and immediately pour yourself tea or coffee, without waiting for the kettle to boil - what could be better? For this purpose, Xiaomi made Mi Kettle - a smart kettle that will become an indispensable assistant in the kitchen.
The device (yes, let's call it that) is offered in a universal white color and has a capacity of 1.5 liters. Inside is 304 stainless steel, which is not only easy to clean from scale, but also does not impart a metallic smell or “aroma” to the water. There is short circuit protection and automatic shutdown, but this is not what makes the kettle “smart”.
Using the Mi Home application, you can set the desired water temperature - the kettle will not just boil the water, but will also maintain the set temperature. The latter is displayed in real time - you can, for example, wait until the water warms up to 50 degrees and turn off the kettle.
The thing is actually very cool - the same Strix temperature control sensors come from a British company. And the power of 1800 Watts will reduce the time required to boil water. You can place such a kettle anywhere (just like a regular one) - in our case, it is most likely better to place it on one of the work surfaces in the kitchen. However, it does not work from a battery, but from the mains.
Lighting systems
General control
How about throwing away your TV, audio, and air conditioner remotes and replacing them all with a smartphone? The universal IR Remote Controller will help you implement this... yes, again from Xiaomi! It allows you to control devices via IR within visibility, while receiving commands via Wi-Fi from an iPhone or Android smartphone. The Mi Home application again acts as a single “mission control center”.
The device itself is a hockey puck on steroids.
Only 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks are supported, the plug-in for Mi Home, with which new devices are added, is constantly updated. The maximum signal range is 20 meters, which is easily suitable for an average room. Xiaomi claims “incredible” compatibility with most modern technology, which allows you to minimize the number of remote controls in the house to one. In the form of your smartphone. Some elements of the Mi Home application are available only in Chinese, but there are many instructions on the Internet for localizing the program, including into Russian.
Since in our diagram we plan to place a TV, and below it a soundbar on a special shelf, next to it we can provide a place for such a box. All equipment in the room will be within the coverage area of the device - from the TV and air conditioner to the audio system and Blu-Ray player.
To keep it clean
Communication systems
All these accessories one way or another need to be charged, powered from the network, and so on. Xiaomi has provided a solution for this case too, by releasing an electrical extension cord with an LED indicator. And so that all devices can connect to Wi-Fi from anywhere in the house, there is a Wi-Fi amplifier. It works not only with Xiaomi routers, but can be configured in a couple of minutes using the Mi Home application.
But this is not all the devices with which Xiaomi can make the home more technologically advanced - there is also a rice cooker controlled from a smartphone, a smart lamp and much more.
