One of my older co-workers a couple of jobs ago was retiring, and he was super dedicated to making his house smart, but it's exactly that. It's all industrial automation that's hardwired. And honestly...
Yeah exactly! If PLCs weren't so expensive I would have picked some up to play with. But as with most industrial stuff it's locked down in proprietary garbage etc. Im sure a lot has changed over the years and now probably plenty of older devices that would work well, but I haven't looked into it in a while.