Hello,
I had an iCOMEN boiler switch that worked for many years. And I used iCOMEN app on my phone to manage it. Short time ago app started to have an error message that it cannot connect to the server, and after some time the device also stopped working.
Some of you may know that I took at shot at building an alternate geofencing solution for Vera. The core of it was system agnostic, using the OwnTracks application and AWS lambdas to track devices and keep a central data, then disseminate that to the Vera via a websocket-based plugin. It worked with other apps as well, including Tasker and GPSLogger, but of the dozen people that were testing it, most used OwnTracks.
A lot was learned in the process, not the least of which is that the success of any such solution is highly dependent on the phone and its settings. Phone manufacturers love to set things up for the longest battery life, of course, but that's usually very anti-geofencing behavior. In the case of at least one brand, it was unusable and the settings could not be modified. It was also cost-prohibitive to maintain on Amazon, as AWS grabs a dime here and a dollar there and before you know it, it added $100/month to my AWS bill, which my wife deducted from my Scotch budget. Unacceptable.
But it's quite reasonable to use OwnTracks to a local endpoint, and I could pretty easily replicate the functionality as a local application, or maybe even as an additional endpoint built into MSR's API (still separate port and process, but in the package).
So the question really is... would you do it, or would you be too concerned about the security risks associated (e.g., dynamic DNS and NAT mapping in the firewall necessary for the phone to contact the service when not on LAN)?
Hello forum instigators.
Not sure who host/runs the forum software but a couple of challenges:
The chat is not currently usable, as the scrolling is all not right and it's not possible to read chats or send chats reliably.
There are a lot of female members that should perhaps be on another forum; where they can advertise their skills more appropriately. Note: I agree it's a job, like any other.
Whoever you are - thank you for your invaluable work.
I run a B&B and am looking for a way to turn the lights off whenever a room is unoccupied for X amount of time. The guest should still be able to turn the lights on and off manually, but should not be able to disable the auto turn off feature if the room is unoccupied.
I guess I am looking for a light switch with a built in presence sensor? I guess a presence sensor would be better as if it is a motion sensor, the lights may go off unwanted if the guest fails to make sufficient movement e.g. if the guest is lying down watching a film.
Are there any products on the market that would work for my application?
I currently have an HVAC system in the attic - for heating and A/C. 120v is supplied to the unit to run the gas heating. A/C uses 240v. I have an ecobee thermostat...which sometimes goes offline....not often. When it goes offline, I need to turn the 120v power to the HVAC system off and then back on (the ecobee gets its power from the HVAC system). That resets the ecobee and all is fine. I spend the summer away from this house and if the ecobee goes offine..I have no current method to reset the HVAC 120v power remotely. My idea is to replace the current 120v plug in the attic with a smart plug...then I can remotely turn the 120v power off and the ecobee will reset and come back online. I use Wyze and Lutron Casita in the house currently and was hoping I could find an in-wall smart plug from Wyze or Lutron. Obviously, I don't need diming, etc...just the ability to turn the plug power on/off. I've seen some options...but one problem I have is the attic can reach up to 135F in the summer...many of the smart plugs I've seen are not rated for that temperature. Might any of you have any thoughts on a smart plug I might want to look at? I don't want to invest in anything that would require a new hub - so either WiFi based or Casita HUB based. I need 120v and 15amp ratings. Thanks in advance.
Hello,
I am in search of a device capable of using Bluetooth to connect with a smartphone and serve as its primary sound source on demand. This device should function similarly to conventional Bluetooth headphones, which automatically become the phone's sound output upon activation. However, this device should differ in that it transmits the audio signal to an amplifier via a jack, SPDIF, or similar connection. Alternatively, it could be an integrated amplifier that directly sends the signal to passive speakers.
The control of this process should be manageable through an API such as MQTT, REST, MODBUS, or similar. Are you aware of any devices that operate in this manner?
The concept is as follows: upon entering the bathroom, I would press a wall-mounted switch. This switch would send a signal to the Bluetooth device, prompting it to connect to my smartphone and seamlessly continue playing the audiobook I am currently listening to. Instead of using the phone's speakers, it would seamlessly start playing through ceiling-mounted speakers.
Many thanks 🙂
Hi folks,
I currently have some cheap Zigbee hub and some Amazon Alexas running my smart home which mostly consists of Zigbee power strips and Zigbee battery powered switches.
It all worked OK originally, but now whenever I press a Zigbee switch the light in the corresponding plug switches on then immediately off again.
If I ask Alexa to turn the light on it works fine. Likewise if I switch it on from my phone.
Any ideas what the issue could be?
I've tried unplugging the hub a number of times but that doesn't seem to fix it.
I was thinking about getting a Homey Pro 2023 to speed things up (tmas the Zigbee hub seems to be really slow now as well, for some reason) but I'm not sure about that either.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Looking for a recommendation:
Locksmith is trying to talk me into the Yale Assure Lock Touchscreen with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - the original 1st generation because they said it's built better than the Assure Lock 2. Any thoughts on this? Which would you recommend?
I see Mul T Lock makes a cylinder (KW-KIDYRL) for Yale Smart Locks. Would this fit the 1st gen Assure Lock, as well as Assure Lock 2? Has anyone tried replacing the cylinder with this on either lock?
Other smart lock I was considering is the Schlage Encode Plus.
Thanks!
Hi. So when I had my house build I ran a bunch of stuff, one of which being two pairs of speaker wires to each bedroom and to 4 spots around my living room… Over the years I have used them here and there with different success.. But today they sit in my walls just unused.
I converted all the cat6 or 5e (I don’t remember) over to basically eithernet jacks. The cable coaxial well it’s there but now unused. But I was thinking there has got to be some use for two pairs of speaker wires to each room. Can I make them usb plugs? Not sure so looking for ideas.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this.
Kevin
Hey guys...
We are replacing the heat pump and furnace this week and I will also need to replace my nest thermostat at the same time 'cause Nest is ending the cloud thing end of the month.
Anyway, I'm looking to use the
T6 Pro Z-Wave Programmable Thermostat | Smart Home | Honeywell HomeThat's what the heat pump installer recommend BUT, using Nest I was also using it to control the home humidifier using a single wire connected to nest... but no low voltage thermostat is able to do that, I checked all of them...
So I need some help on how I can do that, to connect the home humidifier using zwave also....
Hi
We are looking for a solution where we can detect presence of a «thing» (people , car , dog, cat, and more..
We need:
fast detections, 1-3 seconds in range from 0 to 20 m from «base» fysical «client» , chip , transmitter , unit. base , receiver placed at a door, gate, house, etc uniq Identifying wirelessThe client:
no need for pressing any thing (no buttons) battery , hoply 2-5 years battery time.Have someone done anything like this?
What technologi will be best?
Hey everyone, I'm currently working on developing a bed sensor that can detect when you're out of bed. It could be used to trigger other smart home gadgets, like lights or blinds, temperature etc.
The sensors are placed under the legs of your bed post. Should look and feel like "smart furniture pads" with size 2 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick.
Before we go any further, I'd love to get your thoughts on this - would a bed sensor like this be something you'd find useful? We're still in the early stages of development, so any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
@DesT, fenced code blocks display differently after the upgrade.
abc defThe above should display as abc and def on two separate lines. This works. But this fails:
verbose: true config: data: "auto"The above should display as three lines, verbose: true, config: and data: "auto", but this fails. In order to make it display properly, I now have to open the fenced code block with ```text (specify language, generic text). This displays without highlighting. The words yml and yaml (and the all-caps versions) don't seem to be recognized. I can also use js to get JavaScript highlighting, but this isn't great for YAML. Here's the same block with the language (text) specifier added (no other changes):
verbose: true config: data: "auto"Sure, we can start adding language specifiers to our new posts, but I suspect if we start digging around old posts, we're going to find a lot of broken display of the fenced code blocks (plain ``` at the start with no language specifier) in the thousands of old posts in these forums, upon which people still rely for answers and information.
Log file snippets also get similarly brutalized:
[###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.683Z <ZWaveJSController:NOTICE> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs added file logger to zwavejs.log [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.747Z <ZWaveJSController:WARN> zwavejs_capabilities defines x_zwave_device_cfg, which is not consistent with the recommended naming [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.747Z <ZWaveJSController:WARN> zwavejs_capabilities defines x_zwave_mfg_spec, which is not consistent with the recommended naming [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.747Z <ZWaveJSController:WARN> zwavejs_capabilities defines x_zwave_device_ver, which is not consistent with the recommended naming [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.747Z <ZWaveJSController:WARN> zwavejs_capabilities defines x_zwave_values, which is not consistent with the recommended naming [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.837Z <ZWaveJSController:INFO> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs connecting to ws://192.168.0.10:3000 [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.874Z <ZWaveJSController:NOTICE> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs connected [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.874Z <ZWaveJSController:INFO> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs sending connection initialization [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.931Z <ZWaveJSController:INFO> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs greeting from server: [Object]{ "type": "version", "driverVersion": "10.16.0", "serverVersion": "1.28.0", "homeId": 3631280043, "minSchemaVersion": 0, "maxSchemaVersion": 28 } [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:51.932Z <ZWaveJSController:INFO> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs performing initial inventory [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:52.325Z <ZWaveJSController:INFO> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs manufacturer-specific data for 134 (AEON Labs) from package ver 22315.1 [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:52.328Z <ZWaveJSController:INFO> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs configuring node 1 endpoint 0 (entity "1-0") [###BUILDVERSION###]2023-04-26T19:41:52.339Z <ZWaveJSController:INFO> ZWaveJSController#zwavejs manufacturer-specific data for 543 (Elexa Consumer Products Inc.)I think this is going to be a problem. Is there a way in NodeBB to configure the default language for fenced code block markdown for the entire forum so that these display more as they did before the upgrade?
EDIT: Examples below of old posts with corrupt formatting now:
https://smarthome.community/topic/1101/dynamic-groups-controller-filter-expressions
https://smarthome.community/post/11362
This last old post is interesting, because the first block displays incorrectly, but the second block is OK. In playing around, there seem to be triggering character sequences, suggesting that the markdown processor is trying to "guess" the language but not getting it right, perhaps:
Can anyone help with the MIOS UI5 weblink? Not the getvera one.
Still running UI5 on a couple of sensors & lights and need to tweak PLEG but for the life of me I can't remember the link to tunnel back to the trusty machine....
The wifi on my router is turned off, and wifi around the house is provided using a mesh - 3 units altogether (one connected directly to the router) that are spread around the house.
I would like to start automating certain tasks around the house and intend to try adding a few smart sockets to my setup.
The mesh system I have supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and does not provide me with the option to control them - i.e. turn one or both on/off, give each a different SSID, etc.
The devices I wish to purchase/use only support 2.4GHz.
Will turning the mesh units off and temporarily turning the 2.4GHz wifi on the router to allow me to set them up be enough? Will I then be able to return to my usual setup and everything will work as it should?
Many thanks in advance
ChatGPT samples:
Me:
Tell me about an iot program called openLuup.
It:
OpenLuup is an open source home automation system that is built on the VeraLuup platform. It is designed to be easy to install and configure, and provides users with a powerful and versatile way to control their home automation devices. OpenLuup offers a wide range of features, including support for many popular home automation devices, scheduling, scripting, and integration with other services. OpenLuup is designed to be customizable, allowing users to create their own home automation systems. It is an excellent choice for those looking to create their own home automation system without spending a lot of money.
Me:
Write an iot program using openLuup.
It:
--openLuup IoT Program-- -- Initialize Variables -- local device_id = "MyHomeDevice" local temperature_sensor_id = "MyTemperatureSensor" local temperature_threshold = 75 -- Create Devices -- luup.create_device("OpenLuup Temperature Sensor", 0, device_id, "D_GenericSensor1.xml", "I_GenericSensor1.xml", "S_TemperatureSensor1.xml", "") luup.variable_set("urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSensor1", "CurrentTemperature", 0, device_id) -- Start Timer -- luup.call_delay("check_temperature", 10, "", false) --Function to Check Temperature-- function check_temperature() local current_temperature = luup.variable_get(temperature_sensor_id, "CurrentTemperature", 0) --Check Temperature Threshold-- if current_temperature >= temperature_threshold then --Send Alert-- luup.call_action("urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:HomeAutomationGateway1", "SendTextMessage", {PhoneNumber="1234567890", Message="ALERT! Temperature exceeded threshold!"}, 0) end --Reset Timer-- luup.call_delay("check_temperature", 10, "", false) endMe:
Write an iot program using openLuup.
It:
Write an iot program using openLuup. -- openLuup IOT Program -- -- Variables local lampState = false local lampTime = 0 -- Functions function lampTimer() if lampTime > 0 then lampTime = lampTime - 1 if lampTime == 0 then luup.variable_set('urn:upnp-org:serviceId:SwitchPower1', 'Status', 0, lampDeviceID) lampState = false end end end -- Setup luup.call_delay('lampTimer', 60, 0) -- Main Loop while true do -- Check for motion if luup.variable_get('urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:MotionSensor1', 'Tripped', motionSensorDeviceID) == '1' then if not lampState then luup.variable_set('urn:upnp-org:serviceId:SwitchPower1', 'Status', 1, lampDeviceID) lampState = true -- Set lamp timer to 5 minutes lampTime = 300 end end luup.sleep(1) endWhat??
luup.sleep(1)Not good - looks like I still have some semblance of a job to fulfill.
Me:
An iot program called openLuup was written by akbooer. Who is akbooer?
It: (note: answer redacted and as I understand it, also incorrect re: AltUI):
akbooer is the pseudonym of the software developer and home automation enthusiast. He is the creator of the openLuup home automation software, which is an open-source version of the Vera home automation system. He is also the creator of the AltUI graphical user interface for openLuup.
Me:
Who created of the AltUI graphical user interface for openLuup.
and
Me:
Who created of the AltUI graphical user interface for the home automation system Vera.
Names two different people - mmmm.
Regardless very impressive - give it a few more years.
...which I'd like to do. I know I go about these things all wrong (namely think of something I'd like to do, then try and work out what I need to know) but that's me 🙂
Just looking for some pointers on what I should google for really:
What I'd like is to provide a selection of (basically two word) phases which I can select from randomly (or even pseudo randomly) and pass to Alexa to be spoken. There are 10 such phrases only.
So what should I be reading up on to get me started?
TIA for any guidance
C
Status Board - What’s your HA Information Dashboard ?
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@perh Take a look at Homewave if you are on iOS. It works with Vera, both UI5 and UI7 and it also works for OpenLuup. You can have multiple controllers mapped seamlessly at the same time.
For Veras it works with cellular access, for OpenLuup you need a vpn to access the system when being off-site.//ArcherS
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There is other visualisation software that will do what you want, but it comes with a high price tag...
Possibly the best professional system, IMHO is Eisbaur Scada (google is your friend), there are other professional systems available, it all comes down to price or user familiarity. -
@perh I ended with my own solution.
I searched a lot, but I couldn’t really find something ready. It’s obviously not generic, but I have thermostats, a/c, sensors and much more. It’s running on fully kiosk in fire tablets, that I control via mqtt/api, so I can display cams after motion events and much more.
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I've also rolled my own. It will be included for optional use with the new multi-system Reactor.
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@toggledbits said in Status Board - What’s your HA Information Dashboard ?:
I've also rolled my own. It will be included for optional use with the new multi-system Reactor.
Missed this.......tell us more.......
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@black-cat It's a skinnable tile interface that maps properties/capabilities to display controls (widgets). Each widget supports multiple canned layouts, and you can do custom layouts (either as per-device exceptions or globally-available). Widgets are tiled and moveable/sizeable. They are mapped to device properties and you can use expressions to fetch values, map values, etc. For example, the scene widget can be "active" based on the state of any device state or expression, not just the "active flag" on the scene itself--that is, a widget is not limited to sourcing data from one device/thing. So, for example, the thermostat widget can draw current temperature from an in-room multi-sensor, and on-off heating control by a plug-in switch, etc. Basically, instead of having to make a virtual device to collect data to a single object that is then displayed by a canned-appearance widget following rules particular to that device type, the widget just brings all the data together from whatever sources and displays it; actions work the same. If you want your thermostat in the bedroom to display the outdoor temperature in Moscow, you can do it. Easily. If you want a "binary sensor" widget to show tripped/alarm state when the pool pump is running after sunset, no problem. And you can do fun but sensible/expected things like when you activate a scene via a widget, the widget changes to the counter-scene (e.g. when you tap "Kitchen On" the lights come on and the widget then changes to "Kitchen Off"). Colors, fonts, sizes, etc. are all configurate/replaceable (CSS, HTML).
I've used and evolved this dashboard for years in my own home. It actually came into being first in 2017 when I made my first move away from Vera toward HomeAssistant (didn't happen, but that's another story). It was for family use, so right from the start, my idea was that nobody needs to know or care which controller is managing a device. Its hardware abstraction layer served as the launching point for a multi-system Reactor; I'll call it "MSR" here for brevity's sake. This MSR will work in a similar way: knowing the attributes and capabilities of a device, you can create rules using those, and rules that incorporate this data from multiple sources. That is, if your bedroom temperature is controlled by a space heater on a Tasmota-based relay board using control logic driven by input from a ZWay+openLuup-connected multi-sensor's temperature measurement, no problem. You configure any number of "controllers"; each instance announces what devices it has in inventory, and what attributes and capabilities they have. A controller can be an interface to Vera/openLuup, or Hass, or Hubitat, or just an HTTP-based element that fetches weather from OpenWeatherMap, or an interface to your EVL3/4-connect alarm panel, etc. It is an interface that simply says "these are the objects I have and this is what they know and do". So any device could be supported by a plugin in your Vera/openLuup/Hass/HE/other HA controller, or it could come from a dedicated controller crafted just for that device. For example, it currently supports Sonos through the Vera/openLuup plugin, but I (or someone) could write a dedicated Sonos controller that talks directly to the Sonos zones on the network and bypasses the plugin, maybe even uses their new API rather than UPnP. Controllers have a strictly defined behavior/contract, with the intention that others can develop controllers as well. This aspect is making MSR grow legs, a bit... it's really turning into a home automation controller all on its own. I foresee an ecosystem of available add-on controllers for every manner of device in future. This gives you the flexibility to determine what best supports the products you use; for example, if support for a particular Fibaro or Zooz device in Vera/eZLO is lacking/buggy (no--say it's not so!), you can instead include it on your openLuup+ZWay, Hass, or HE controller where the support is better, and MSR can find it there. But when creating your rules and activities, you don't have to know or care where that device lives. To the maximum extent possible, I am also keeping an architecture and implementation in which system objects (devices, groups, scenes, etc.) are entirely overridable and creatable through configuration. If you have a device type on Vera/openLuup that MSR doesn't natively support, you should be able to just go to configuration and say "this device type, or even this specific device, has these capabilities and these attributes". If a capability doesn't exist, you can create it locally immediately. Up and running in five minutes or less (modulo the first-time learning curve, of course). And for all of this, you should be able to contribute the configuration to the community if you wish (or find configurations/capabilities others have done and apply them). And of course, whatever to create/train is available both in the Reactor part and the Dashboard part.
I've focused mostly on the rules and reactions part of MSR for several weeks, and it lives and breathes now. Although algorithmically it shares ideas with Vera/openLuup Reactor, it is an entirely new code base (and not Lua). Huge strides have been made quickly, but of course, there are a lot of "TBD" comments in the code, and I'm sure no shortage of crashes in boundary conditions from things like unfinished input validation and so on. It needs combing out, some deep code reviews (which I prefer to do on paper), and backporting of some evolution of the evolved hardware abstraction to the Dashboard. There's plenty to do. But, with the freedom of creating the environment rather than working in someone else's, it's much faster and easier, and I'm really pleased with acceleration towards something usable over the last month. I'm about ready to cut over my own home's automations to it. There is nothing like the pressure of pleasing my "driving coach" to make sure I get things working well, and quickly.
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@toggledbits Wow, sounds really exciting!
Today I use Homewave on my iPhone and on iPad, this sounds like the next step up towards a real dashboard.//ArcherS
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I don't really intend the Dashboard to be a do-all-end-all, but I think it will serve a large number of users adequately, and the entire ecosystem will provide an API and tools from which other dashboards could be built. I know some people don't like tiled interfaces. For me, it was just an easy choice and my family "gets it."
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@toggledbits Thanks for the in depth reply Patrick, it's much appreciated and wets the whistle.
You didn't mention on what type of machine this will run on, Windows/ Lynx or ???
I have noticed over the past 6 months is the overabundance of new WiFi devices being released each with their own App.
Every manufacturer now has their own device with their own App- (I don't like cloud based solutions either) but they are not going to go away, so we are stuck with them whether we like it or not.
If it's within the realms of possibility to control these Apps from MSR as well then you've found the Holy Grail. -
@black-cat The system will run on Windows, Mac, and Linux today. I haven't gotten to hardware requirements, yet, but RPis, NUCS, and small NAS systems are every bit as much targets for me as modest VMs or desktops. I will miss a big goal of my own if it isn't crisp on a wide range of hardware. I'm trying to get through all the "just get something working" level of UI shimming so I can do a preview/demo video. I've gotten used to UI7 with 180+ devices, and even for me, it's a bit shocking to see the difference in performance between my dashboard and theirs.
The concept of a "controller" in MSR is simply a management object that can publish entities (devices, groups, scripts/scenes, etc.). This is done by implementing subclasses of a Controller class. That base class, its contract, and associated utilities make a framework that's pretty well-defined and does a lot of the work that, for example, you'd have to do manually in a Vera plugin. But it's built to take data from any source and turn it into a controller object or set of objects.
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@toggledbits Interesting, when you are ready for Alfa or Beta I am ready to test it out.