Agreed, I ended up using IFTTT which sounds like I specify the duration, but that is really hard-coded since a variable duration is not allow either within Rachio’s interface.
4/30/2022
Any update on Google Home integration? I tried the “Hey Google, Ask Rachio to water my lawn” and all I get is “Rachio is not available.” When iIask, “Hey Google, Water Zone 8,” Google Assistant takes me to web pages about watering. Only asking Google Assistant to water the yard and stop watering the yard commands work. I called tech support and seemed to get a woman from Venezuela who had no clue about the Google features. She promised to email me back about it but nothing yet.
Please advise…
It has been a wish of mine for some time to spray animals when they intrude and I’ve tried several approaches. The first consideration is we cannot spray people, just animals. Thus I was intrigued when Google new battery-powered security cameras which will detect an animal.
What happens is the software sends a Notification of an Animal Event. At that point I can use the voice command to ‘Hey Google water zone 5’. Wouldn’t it be nice to capture that Notification and then get Google Assistant to do the rest?
That turns out to be a major undertaking to link the irrigation platform with the security platform. 3rd-party solutions want subscriptions. IFTTT gets mentioned as a solution and they want subscriptions. Zigbee is a hardware approach, but again they want subscriptions for the software. Seems it would be simple enough to bridge with a self-made script and that is misleading. Android (or Apple) has many parts that are limited with Permissions on each and every software part of a Smart Device. Sure you can change the Permissions to make software but don’t be surprised if you make your personal information public or you brick your SmartPhone.
As it stands now, cats are trainable because the irrigation has a hissing sound as it starts up. One drench and cats are making a detour. Dogs need several repeats to learn it is not playtime. Foxes love the experience. Possums, deer and skunks are unaware the irrigation is directed at them.
Not Rachio related.
Have you checked ‘Orbit 62100 Yard Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler’?
I use it on my deck to scare away raccoons.
I use the voice command “Hay Google. Pause irrigation” and it will stop whatever is watering for about 3 mins.
If I ask it to water the lawn it works. But if I ask it to water a specific zone it says it’s not set up yet and I need to set up the device in Google assistant. Anyone know how to resolve? I just want to be able to tell it to run a certain zone for a specific amount of time. Seems super buggy.
It really would be great if Google assistant integration could be improved to tell it to run a specific zone for a certain amount of time