SmartThings EXTRAS Announcement - ESPHome for SmartThings (Third Party Project)

Devices & Integrations Community Created Device Types
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Bringing the Power of ESPHome to the SmartThings Platform


1. Introduction

SmartThings EXTRAS is announcing ESPHome for SmartThings. A series of SmartThings Edge Drivers that will enable devices built with the ESPHome tool to work with SmartThings.

This project has the potential to enable hundreds of new devices to work with SmartThings. Devices which until now have been exclusive to the Home Assistant platform.

It will also enable Smart Home Enthusiasts to build their own smart devices, using any of the thousands of supported electronic components and control them from SmartThings.

This is NOT a Home Assistant integration. These SmartThings edge drivers will provide direct integration from SmartThings to the underlying ESPHome native API. There is no requirement for Home Assistant.

2. What Is ESPHome

ESPHome is a declarative tool for rapidly producing the firmware that drives many smart devices. Example devices include: sensors, switches, smart plugs.

ESPHome is a code generator which takes as input a Device Configuration file (using the Yaml format) which describes the components of the smart device.

The ESPHome tool generates the firmware code and downloads it onto the micro-processor embedded inside the smart device. Supported micro-processors include: ESP32, ESP8286 and Raspberry Pi Pico.

Once the firmware is loaded onto the smart device, it communicates with the smart home platform via the proprietary, native ESPHome API.

Until now, the ESPHome Native API has been exclusively used by the Home Assistant Smart Home Platform. This ESPHome For SmartThings series of Edge Drivers from SmartThings EXTRAS supports the ESPHome native-API, thereby brings the capabilities of ESPHome to the SmartThings platform.

3. ESPHome For SmartThings

The ESPHome For SmartThings consists of a series of SmartThings Edge Drivers aimed at bringing the capabilities of ESPHome to the SmartThings Platform.

The ESPHome tool is used by two categories of user.

  1. Device Manufacturers who use the ESPHome tool to develop the firmware inside their products. This group of off-the-shelf products is called Made For ESPHome.

  2. Smart Home Enthusiasts who use the ESPHome tool to build their own custom Smart devices and control them from a smart home platform. This group of products is often called Built With ESPHome.

The ESPHome for SmartThings project will support both “Made For ESPHome” and “Built With ESPHome” products.

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This stream of the ESPHome for SmartThings project will produce SmartThings Edge Drivers for the popular “Made With ESPHome” devices on the market. With a focus on devices that are innovative and do not currently work with the SmartThings platform.

Planned SmartThings Edge Drivers include:

  • EveryThing Presence One
  • EveryThing Presence Lite
  • Athom Smart Plug

Please let me know if you are interested in a particular device.

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This stream of the ESPHome for SmartThings project will produce SmartThings Edge Drivers to enable Smart Home Enthusiasts to build their own Smart Devices with the ESPHome tool.

Planned ESPHome development platforms include:

  • M5Stack Atom
  • M5Stack
  • LilyGo T-Display S3 Pro
  • ESP32 boards

4. Call For Feedback

The planned schedule of devices will be lead by the SmartThings community.

Please let us know which ESPHome devices and development platforms you would like supported.

We look forward to hearing from you.

13 Likes
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ratgdo and/or the konnected smart garage door opener

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Hi @ThomasTrain, do you own either of these products?

Is anyone willing to help me test a edge driver for the ratgdo device?

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i own the ratgdo and would love to test. I havent installed it yet only because theirs yet to be any smartthings support.
My understanding is that ratgdo works with either mqtt or esphome, but from what i gather, you would need a broker device to act as a bridge for mqtt, thus why id like the esphome route. 1 less device on the network would be great, rather then devoting another for a bridge.

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This announcement is great to hear!

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Another vote for ratgdo. I have one installed currently.

I also have one of these. Is the driver available?

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Hi @Automated_House (Jimmy), I have started work on the SmartThings Ratgdo edge driver.

Would you like to join the testing team?

Cheers Tim

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Would love to!

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Great! I’ll add you to the group.

I assume you have CLI installed so you can feedback the debug as I do not have a ratgdo device,

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How will this differ from the existing EP1 firmware and driver?

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Hi Brad,

I plan to support the new zone features in the Premium version of the EveryThing Presence One driver.

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Is there an ETA on the release of the ESPHome Edge Driver…? I want to move to ST from HA.
I currently only have homemade sensors with NodeMCU 8266 boards
Thanks
Dave

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Hi Dave, welcome to the community.

I do not have plans for an all singing, all dancing, single universal ESPHome driver at the moment.

The plan is to release a series of SmartThings Edge drivers for popular ESPHome devices that would benefit the SmartThings community. Whilst at the same time, incrementally building out the capabilities of the underlying code which supports the ESPHome native API. This approach provides immediate benefits to the SmartThings community.

Could you share a little more on your requirements.

Q1) What do your homemade sensors sense?

Q2) What ESPHome components do you use in your ESPHome yaml configuration files for your sensors? E.g. Binary Sensors, Sensors, Switches, lights, etc.

I could look at producing an initial versions of a “Built With ESPHome” SmartThings Edge driver aimed at Smart Home enthusiasts, like yourself, who wish to build their own devices using the ESPHome tool and manage them in SmartThings.

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@Tim99 I can test as well. I finally got my RATGDO this week.

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Brilliant News!

I’ll add you to the group.

Thanks Tim

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Hi Tim,

I have a CO2 sensor connected to I2C of esp32 running ESPHome…
it reports the following:
CO2 concentration in ppm
temperature
humidity

possible to add this to smartthings? would enable cheap CO2 sensors into smartthings…

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I have ratgdo for my garage door opener. I planned to hook it up to my garage door and use HA. I have HA using smarthings as the hub. I prefer to use just smartthings alone. So its nice to hear some development here to support ESPHome.

I am not a fan of the tamagatchi called HA. I only have HA installed as a backup. I’d be interested in being a tester if you need more folks.

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Hi @Gokul_Gopakumar, can you share some more details of your ESPHome device please.

Can you share your ESPHome configuration (yaml) file and we can see what domains/components yor are using.

Many Thanks Tim

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Hi Mike, we have an Alpha testing programme running at the moment.

When you get your ratgdo installed with the ESPHome config let me know and we can get you onboard.

Cheers Tim

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esphome:
name: esphome-web-ce3080
friendly_name: ESPHome Web ce3080

esp32:
board: esp32dev
framework:
type: arduino

captive_portal:

sensor:

  • platform: scd4x
    co2:
    name: “CO2”
    temperature:
    name: “Temperature”
    humidity:
    name: “Humidity”

i2c:
sda: 21
scl: 22
scan: true
id: bus_a