Presence Detection with Room Assistant and Home Assistant

Accurate presence detection is crucial for a truly smart home. While simple solutions like Wi-Fi based presence work, they lack granularity. Room Assistant offers a solution by using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to determine which room a person or device is in.

Setup:

1. Install Room Assistant: Room Assistant runs on Raspberry Pi devices. Follow the official documentation to install the Room Assistant software on each Raspberry Pi you intend to use as a presence sensor.
2. Configure MQTT: Room Assistant communicates with Home Assistant via MQTT. Configure your MQTT broker in both Room Assistant and Home Assistant.
3. Home Assistant Integration: Use the MQTT Room Presence integration in Home Assistant. Configure it to subscribe to the MQTT topics published by Room Assistant.
4. Beacon Configuration: Configure the UUIDs of your BLE beacons in Room Assistant. This could be your phone, a Tile tracker, or dedicated BLE beacons.

Device Integration Tips:

• Experiment with Beacon Placement: The placement of your Raspberry Pi and BLE beacons is critical for accuracy. Experiment with different locations to minimize false positives.
• Adjust Sensitivity: Room Assistant allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the BLE signal detection. Tune this parameter to optimize presence detection in each room.
• Combine with Other Sensors: Integrate presence detection with other sensors like motion sensors to create more reliable automations. For example, only turn on the lights if motion is detected in a room *and* a person is present.

Best Practices:

• Use a Dedicated MQTT Broker: A dedicated MQTT broker ensures reliable communication between Room Assistant and Home Assistant.
• Keep Room Assistant Updated: Regularly update Room Assistant to benefit from bug fixes and new features.
• Monitor Logs: Monitor the logs of both Room Assistant and Home Assistant to identify and troubleshoot any issues.