I’ve always been a bit forgetful when it comes to taking out the trash, especially on those early mornings when the trash trucks come by. But I recently stumbled upon a clever solution using iBeacons and BLE technology, and I wanted to share my experience in case anyone else is looking for a similar automation.The project involves attaching a beacon to one of my trash cans and setting up a BLE gateway inside my garage. The gateway scans for the beacon’s signal and sends the data to my Home Assistant installation. From there, I created an automation that checks two conditions: whether the trash can is near the gateway (indicating it’s still in the garage) and whether it’s trash night between 8:15 PM and 11:00 PM.If both conditions are met, Home Assistant sends a critical reminder notification to my smartphone. This has been a game-changer for me, as it ensures I never miss trash day again. I even added a filter to smooth out any signal fluctuations, which helps prevent false alarms.One thing I found particularly interesting was the MQTT integration. Setting up the MQTT server on Home Assistant was straightforward, and it allowed me to create a virtual sensor that tracks the beacon’s signal strength. This was crucial for ensuring the automation worked reliably.I’d love to hear if anyone else has tried something similar or has tips for improving this setup. It’s amazing how a little bit of tech can make such a big difference in our daily routines!