# Mow Sense

Gardena SILENO / Husqvarna Automower robot mowers in Home Assistant **over Bluetooth** (works through an ESPHome Bluetooth proxy) – no cloud, no account, and **Home Assistant decides when the mower drives**.

Built on the reverse-engineered [automower-ble](https://github.com/alistair23/AutoMower-BLE) protocol library. Tested in simulation; developed for a SILENO minimo 250.

## Why another integration?

The core *Husqvarna Automower BLE* integration keeps a permanent Bluetooth connection: it occupies a proxy slot, blocks the Gardena app, and one dropped link makes everything unavailable – and setup fails if the mower is off. Its *dock* only parks *until the next schedule start*, so the mower drives off again on whatever schedule the app (or the mower's auto schedule) created.

Mow Sense instead:

- **Short sessions** – connect, read, disconnect. Every 60 s while the mower is out, every 5 min in the station.
- **Keeps the last values** through Bluetooth dropouts (30 min by default); separate *Connected*, *In Bluetooth range* and *Last contact* entities show the link.
- **Sets up even when the mower is off** (winter) and polls immediately when it shows up again.
- **Automatic switch** – *off* = the mower only drives when HA starts it. If it is found on its own schedule anyway (app, button), it is sent back to *park until further notice*. Runs HA started are left alone.
- **Schedule from HA** (optional) – pick a `schedule` helper; its time blocks are written into the mower and re-checked every 10 min. Whatever the Gardena app puts there is overwritten. Because the schedule lives in the mower, it mows on time even when Bluetooth is down.
- **Clock sync** – keeps the mower clock right (it uses local time).
- **Rain guard** (optional weather entity with hourly forecast) – no start when rain is due, home before it starts (default 30 min), keeps the mower in the station on its own schedule while it rains or the grass dries (60 min), and starts a run HA asked for once it is dry and still worth it (≥45 min left). `mow_sense.mow` with `ignore_rain: true` overrides it.
- **Frost guard** – below a minimum temperature (default 5 °C) or with snow/hail the mower is treated like in rain: no start, home in time. Set -20 to switch it off.
- **Blade reminder** – press *Blades changed* after fitting new blades; *Blades since change* counts cutting hours and *Blade change due* turns on after the interval (default 100 h, adjustable – Gardena gives no fixed figure).
- **Never nudges an idle mower** – switching *Automatic* off only changes the mode; a start/trigger is only sent when the mower is out in the garden.

## Entities

- **Lawn mower** – start (for the *Mowing duration on start*, default 3 h), pause, dock
- **Sensors** – battery, state, activity, mode, error (German text), next start, remaining charging time, total cutting/running time, blade usage, collisions, charging cycles, schedule in mower (+ sync status), last contact
- **Binary sensors** – charging, problem, connected, in Bluetooth range
- **Switch** – Automatic (own schedule)
- **Number** – mowing duration on start, blade change interval
- **Buttons** – park until further notice, refresh now, blades changed

Services: `mow_sense.mow` (hours), `mow_sense.park` (`further_notice` / `next_schedule`), `mow_sense.sync_schedule`.
Event `mow_sense_corrected` fires whenever Mow Sense had to correct the mower (mode or schedule).

## Setup

1. ESPHome Bluetooth proxy near the mower's station (`bluetooth_proxy: active: true`).
2. HACS → ⋮ → *Custom repositories* → `https://github.com/dermitchi/ha-mow-sense`, category *Integration*. Install **Mow Sense**, restart Home Assistant.
3. Switch the mower **off and on again** (pairing mode for a few minutes), then *Settings → Devices & services*: the mower is usually discovered; otherwise *Add integration → Mow Sense*. Enter the PIN if your mower has one.
4. Remove / disable the core *Husqvarna Automower BLE* integration for the same mower – two integrations fighting over one Bluetooth link causes exactly the dropouts this one avoids.
5. Optional: *Configure* → schedule helper, poll intervals, how long to keep values.

## Development

```
python3.13 -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install pytest-homeassistant-custom-component automower-ble==0.2.9
.venv/bin/pytest
```

`tools/probe.py` reads a mower straight from a computer's Bluetooth (read-only, nothing moves).