DIY simulated sunrise wake-up light alarm clock using Reason ONE and Mi® bedside lamp

Materials

• Reason ONE smart alarm clock
• Mi bedside lamp (Model MJCTD01YL; rebranded Yeelight bedside lamp; available at Walmart.com)

Preliminary Setup

Please go through the items below; you may skip those you've already done.

• Install the Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone.
• Install the Reason Home app and set up your Reason ONE smart alarm clock by following the instructions in the user guide. Link the smart alarm clock to your Amazon Alexa app from within the Reason Home app.
• Download the Mi Home app and set up your Mi bedside lamp by following the user manual of the lamp.
• Install the Yeelight app on your smartphone.
• Open the Yeelight app and sign in using the same account ID and password used for the Mi Home app. If you have set up the lamp correctly through the Mi Home app, you will see the lamp in the Yeelight app as well.

Set Your Morning Alarm on the Clock

• You may set your alarm by saying, "Alexa, set an [repeating] alarm at 7:00 am" (substituting 7:00 with your desired time). 
• Alternatively, you can add an alarm with your desired attributes in the Amazon Alexa app. Select the Reason ONE smart alarm clock as the target device where the alarm will sound. 

Simulate Sunrise Using the Lamp

• In the Yeelight app, tap Device in the bottom-right corner.
• Tap the lamp icon.
• Tap the icon in the bottom-right corner that resembles an underlined triangle shape.  
• Tap Schedules. 
• Add a new schedule by tapping the "+" sign at the bottom. Go through each of the attributes that define a schedule. In particular, set the Start Time to the time in the morning when the alarm is supposed to sound. End Time can be set to 15 minutes after the Start Time.
• Also in the Schedule screen, tap Start Scene and select "Turn on with scene." Then tap Sunrise in the top-left corner and tap Save in the bottom-right corner. 

The Result - First Cut

Some Apparent Quirks with the First-Cut

• There wasn't much of a ramp-up from dark to light. One possible solution would be to define a custom scene in the Yeelight app that better mimics the real sunrise. The user can decide how steep the ramp-up would suit their needs.

Further Improvement

If you follow the instructions to this point, you will have a working alarm with simulated sunrise starting at the time when the alarm goes off. The alarm sound will be limited to a list of stock tunes provided in the Amazon Alexa app.

You could make the clock play your favorite radio station or Internet streaming music. Click here for more.

Concluding Remarks

This is our first crack at the idea. There's room for improvement. That said, we feel the idea has some potential and may offer a valid alternative to dedicated sunrise simulation alarm clocks. The same setup routine can be readily applied to other connected desk lamps or bulbs, such as Mi Smart Desk Lamp (Model MJTD01YL) and Mi E26 Smart Light Bulb (Model YLDP02YL). For those who wish to minimize change to their home decor (meaning keeping their favorite bedside lamp and lampshade), swapping out an old incandescent bulb with a connected multi-chromatic bulb would give them the best of both worlds.

We'd like to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, happy tinkering!

References