Guest Interviews

MiciMike will turn your Google Home Mini into a Home Assistant Voice Satellite

Published 5 months ago
Recorded May 16, 2026
Duration 0:58:54
Watch Later Cinema Mode
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Imre is a Home Assistant user, who was frustrated with his Google Home mini, so he created a PCB that can turn your Google Home Mini into a Home Assistant Voice Satellite
Chapters
00:00:00 – Welcome & sponsors
00:02:30 – Imi’s smart home origin
00:05:00 – Lights first, then sensors
00:07:30 – Heating logic in Node-RED
00:10:00 – Room presence tactics
00:12:30 – Millimeter wave realities
00:15:00 – Cameras, alarms, UniFi
00:17:30 – Notifications via Telegram
00:20:00 – AI greetings at the door
00:22:30 – Protocols: Zigbee to Matter
00:25:00 – Wi‑Fi at scale pitfalls
00:28:30 – Voice stack & languages
00:31:30 – MickiMic: project intro
00:35:00 – Drop‑in PCB details
00:38:00 – HA Voice compatibility
00:41:00 – Gen2 plans & audio
00:44:00 – Echo future & limits
00:47:00 – Firmware hurdles
00:49:30 – Crowdsupply journey
00:53:00 – Pricing & sustainability
00:56:00 – What’s next & thanks

Sponsored By

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS or YAML.

Website

Zooz

Check out The Smartest House for Zooz devices at the best prices

Website

Apollo Automation

Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.


Hosted By

Phil Hawthorne

Phil is a Melbourne based web developer who lives and breathes technology. When he's not at his day job, he’s in his home office attempting to simplify his life through complicated tech.

Website Smart Home Products Buy a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi

Rohan from Toronto, Canada works in the Technology sector as an architect designing network and datacenter solutions for his customers. His passion for technology stems from there and extends to IoT and home automation

Website Smart Home Products Buy a Coffee


Special Appearances By

Imre Laszlo

Electronics engineer and creator of the MiciMike Home Mini Drop-In Board — an open hardware ESP32-S3 + XMOS XU316 replacement mainboard for the Google Home Mini (1st gen), enabling fully local voice control with Home Assistant and no cloud dependency.

Website

Spotlight

 

Special episodes focused on various aspects of Home Assistant and Home Automation.