New in Home Assistant 2025.8: AI Tasks. My outdoor cameras now scan the lawn for obstacles before activating irrigation sprinklers. See how they spotted a beanbag left on the lawn and skipped the irrigation cycle. Pretty neat
AI Tasks
Sonoff zigbee irrigation timers
Replaced 5 of my old mechanical irrigation timers with Sonoff zigbee ones. Should have done that much earlier. Integration in home assistant was painless.
Zigbee soil moisture sensor by Third Realty
Interesting new Zigbee soil moisture sensor by Third Realty. Looks well built, capacitive sensing, single AA battery powered. Also measures temperature, integrates in Home Assistant through Z2M
Wood chips as mulch in the garden
Chopping tree pruning into wood chips to be used as mulch in the garden, much greener than burning.
My dog meets Google’s AR tiger in the garden
My dog meets Google's AR tiger in the garden.. try it yourself, google for "tiger" on your phone, then "view in 3D"->"view in your space"
DIY swimming pool solar heater
A DIY solar heater for our 13m³ Bestway pool out of 16mm LDPE pipe – getting the water past the 25°C mark more days of the year.
Soil moisture sensing revisited
Soil moisture sensing with just the ATtiny’s internal pull-up and an analog input – no external resistors this time.
DIY soil moisture sensor project
A DIY soil moisture sensor for my greenhouse monitoring project – schematic, probe build and why making your own is quite easy.