Hello. Are there any ESP-type devices, therefore programmable, that use the Zigbee protocol instead of Wi-Fi? I would like to create a battery-powered sensor and the zigbee consumes less. Thank you
For sure: the new ESP32 C3 modules support Zigbee.
Edit: am mistaken: the C6 supports Zigbee. Do note that Esphome doesn’t, so you cannot rely on that for the software…
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so it is not possible to create self-produced zigbee devices that can be integrated into ha?
It’s possible, just not as easy as with ESP Devices.
There are a couple Zigbee development boards out there like the Z1 Mini. There is even a firmware configurator, PVTO but it’s limited to Windows, and the free version doesn’t give access to all the GPIO or power management.
It would be so awesome if ESPHome would support the Zigbee protocol in the C6! I realize this is a major effort but for me it would make a huge difference. Zigbee uses less power in general (though this is not obvious from the C6 datasheet), and (at least in my case) it is also much more reliable. I really like the idea of ESPHome but for me, the need to use Wifi and mains or large battery pack powered devices is holding me back from implementing it in my home.
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Xbee might be an option depending on what you need to do, they support analog inputs and dio out of the box with ZHA. Can program in micropython. Its limited though, not enough space to handle the full zha stack if you want to have a standards compliant device. But they do fine with the xbee quirk in zha.
I also ordered a couple esp32-H2s to test with, hoping I can do everything on one device. I do have a couple xbees deployed with an arduino handling the zha portion, but they are a pain.
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Have a look here, someone has adapted a cheap zigbee device (fingerbot) to use a controller for an air freshener. Probably cant add sensors though.
What type of sensor are you wanting to make ?
Welcome!
I know of 3 zigbee chips in addition to the new ESP chips where you can build a custom zigbee device that works with Home Assistant. There are other zigbee capable chip families as well, however I’ve found these three to have good example of integrating with Home Assistant either with the Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA systems:
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TI 25xx and clones. The ptvo pre compiled firmware, link below allows you to create custom battery powered zigbee devices for a couple dollars each device. The non-low power version of his firmware is completely free other than the cost of the chips and a firmware flasher device (and your sweat equity
). To go beyond the functions you can do with this TI chip and the PTVO pre compiled firmware unfortunately you have to purchase a SDK and compiler that will set you back some serious coin, on the order of USD thousands. -
NXP JN5169 and clones. This chip has a free SDK and tool chain. Link below is a nice example of ‘Hello World’ app and circuit design and the author has done, also in his github repository he has some example of fully functioning Zigbee hardware and firmware. Clone chips are available for 5 USD.
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Telink chipset. Another low cost Zigbee capable chip family with free SDK and tool chain. The amazing work by atc1441 and pvvx using the Xiaomi Mijia (LYWSD03MMC) off the shelf devices is a good way to start getting into the weeds with this family. Sonoff uses this chip family in a number of their Zigbee devices and the full firmware source code for these devices is included in the SDK for this chip family. Link to pvvx github repository below.
Good hunting!
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I would go with a esp32-c6.
It can then later be reflashed with matter if that is wanted.
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Thanks for the JN5169
I think i could just swap the zigbee chip from my tuya switches (it’s randomly disconnecting and messes with the automation) and flash with that firmware.
Pretty cool to get decouple mode and binding working
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Cool, hope it works. Send the guy that did these write ups a couple coins if his work helped you. I was impressed by his work and documentation.
You can make also your own matter over thread device with esp zerocode.
I’m not sure if they include support for battery powered devices yet
Any reason why there’s very few open source firmware for zigbee device?
Good question, I’m not sure. I will speculate that similar to Bluetooth, Wifi and I am guessing others, the Zigbee folks wanted a ‘closed garden’ where they could charge a fee for entry. This is still the case in some ways as I understand it for all three, as the base radio code is still a proprietary blob for all three. All three have kept building devices on top of the radio code difficult as well, it seems, to try and extract fees to build any device into the give domain. I get both points somewhat, you can end up with a ‘garden’ full of ‘weeds/bugs’ if you do not have some guardrails and it does take money to keep a standard evolving.
All that blab said, it is nice to see Zigbee and Bluetooth with easier entries for DIY possibilities.
You know you dont need to make everything battery powered right? With minimal effort esp projects can be discreetly hidden along with the power cords? Theyre meant to serve a function, not to be display pieces out in the open.
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I think this “open zigbee world” will just need some months or years to evolve. The esp32 C6 is only one of the possible versions here. So it might be complex to implement this esphome C6 zigbee stack and make it stable so - all can use it as a home assistant zigbee gateway. We will see
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