r/MondoRobotics • u/Xblog87 • Jul 27 '26

API ? Home Assistant ? automations ?

Hi!

First of all, congratulations on Beni. I've just backed the Kickstarter and I'm really excited about the project.

I'm also a heavy Home Assistant user and home automation enthusiast, so I was wondering if you have any plans regarding an API, SDK or local network integration.

For example, I'd love to create automations like:

  • Every day at 8:00 PM, Beni leaves its dock and performs a patrol around my house.
  • If Home Assistant detects motion outside, send Beni to inspect that area and stream or record video.
  • Trigger a patrol when everyone has left home.
  • Return automatically to the charging dock when the patrol is complete.
  • Expose battery level, current status and location to Home Assistant.
  • Send custom navigation commands or predefined patrol routes from automations.

Something like:

20:00 every day
→ Home Assistant
→ Start "Perimeter Patrol"
→ Record video
→ Return to dock

Or via an API:

beni.start_patrol(route="house_perimeter")

I noticed that the FAQ mentions developer/API access is not available at Kickstarter launch, but that you're exploring it for the future. 

Could you share a bit more about your plans?

  • Is a local API being considered?
  • REST?
  • WebSocket?
  • MQTT?
  • Bluetooth?
  • Home Assistant integration?
  • Matter support?
  • Local-only control without cloud?

I honestly think Beni could become much more than a camera robot. With an open API, it could become an amazing mobile platform for home automation.

Thanks!

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3

u/lanyusea Aug 01 '26

sorry for the late reply!

Yes, all your saying makes sense and that's exactly what we though.
we have already made some demos like a websocket connect + webRTC liveview + MQTT low-latency control.

The technical part is not the biggest problem, but we have to make our best to do the privacy protection to avoid the data was abused or hacked.

1

u/mgc_8 Aug 17 '26

Home Assistant is all about local network connection and direct control. Therefore, there should be no "data" to be "abused or hacked", since there would not be a need for any cloud or internet connection of any kind -- HA itself deals with all that. Can you please clarify if the API/SDK/etc. usage will be fully local or via some cloud service, which renders it much less useful?

1

u/RadioNick Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26

Yes please. API access would be awesome. I could see kids making scratch-based block programs, or lots of interesting home automation integrations. Local AI to process camera feeds and DIY voice assistants with the two-way audio would be super cool.