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Comfort UPNP <-> SmartThings <-> Amazon Echo
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 Posted: Tuesday Nov 15th, 2016 08:05 pm
   
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DavidJ
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I cant answer most of what your asking but thought I'd just give you my take on Vera vs Smartthings. I initially dumped Smartthings in favor of Vera. I have since had massive problems with Vera's include, fundamentally I don't think the Z-Wave radio is as powerful (not a lot in it but every couple of meters count). The benefit of the ST app in using include/exclude was a bonus. Vera is also really clunky.When I saw Matt's app I immediately got the ST back into use and have slowly phased out the Vera over past three weeks. I'm now actually enjoying using ST much more so than I did before, I think they may have ironed some bugs and it runs pretty solidly (so far). There is also a very powerful rules engine called Core (which Matt mentioned to me), that alone is a big plus against Vera. I also think its more UK biased (although worryingly I see there are rumours of them pulling out of the UK).With regard to the fibaro relay, and very much like much of ST's devices, it relies on the community support. There is a device handler here:https://community.smartthings.com/t/faq-fibaro-fgs-222-relay-installation-guide-how-to-for-beginner/46090I used the Pukahq version, works perfectly.If you need any further help installing it i can try to help, i'm no guru but can talk you through it.



 Posted: Wednesday Nov 16th, 2016 01:25 am
   
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lwillerton
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Thanks David, I have managed to setup another Fibaro 2 x 1.5kw relay working following your instructions.

Now its just getting ST to download the z-wave network to comfort.

Cheers

Lee

PS All fibaro's working now ST getting another chance.

Last edited on Wednesday Nov 16th, 2016 02:04 am by lwillerton



 Posted: Sunday Dec 4th, 2016 05:02 pm
   
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DavidJ
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This is working rock solid!! In fact even Smartthings seems to be working well :-)Hopefully Matt will get his decorating finished and  update to include Responses and set/unset through ST.One thing I did notice is that Comfort only allows one client connection at any one time therefore the Comfort standalone app will not work while Matts App is connected. I'm sure this is obvious to most.Looking forward to next release but no rush.



 Posted: Sunday Dec 4th, 2016 09:27 pm
   
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mattbrain
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Hi David
Thanks for your feedback, and glad it is working out so well for you.
I am close to finishing alarm control and responses - I want to do a little more testing and make some improvements to the user experience, i hope to have it done by end of week if all goes well.
In terms of the UCM - indeed, UCM/Eth and UCM/Eth2 can only support one simultaneous connection and UCM/Eth3 supports two simultaneous connections - someone else has released a windows service which allows many connections via a proxy and I am thinking of similar on the PI but with the added functionality of defining what commands are allowed (to add a later of protection).
I'll post an update later this week on the ST work,
Thanks,
Matt 



 Posted: Monday Dec 5th, 2016 01:55 pm
   
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mattbrain
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Hi All

Thanks for the patience - I am still knee deep in decorating, but have managed to find time to implement alarm control and responses. It is still a little rough around the edges (for example, all the alarm state conditions aren't yet mapped) but it does allow the alarm to be set and unset remotely, as well as the creation of virtual devices for responses.

I have uploaded the code to github in the usual place but haven't updated the notes yet. Please replace all the existing devices and smart-app with the new code as well as the alarm.js on the Pi - the configuration file should still be ok, and your existing device configuration (once the devices are upgraded) in SmartThings will still work but discovery is recommended to find and create the alarm control device which allows the alarm to be set / unset and process responses.
The create a response, there is a button in the Bridge device 'Add Response Device' - clicking this will create a new device called 'ComfortAlarm Response', open it up and cog allows you to set the 'on' and 'off' response code as well as rename it (highly recommended).

At the moment, ST has no knowledge of the response names so you have to know in advance (via configurator) which responses you wish to control.

To manage the alarm, you will need to ensure you have discovered and added the alarm control device which creates a 'Comfort Alarm' device; in setting cog you can set the PIN to allow remote set and unset (it is stored securely in a password field).

The alarm control allows alarm off, away mode, night mode, day mode and vacation mode and reports on condition although I need to do some work on the UI and refresh rates.

Thanks,

Matt



 Posted: Thursday Dec 8th, 2016 07:43 pm
   
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DavidJ
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Superb Matt. Works a treat. Thanks for constant development. 



 Posted: Saturday Dec 10th, 2016 12:00 am
   
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lwillerton
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Hi All,

I have been away, but I will take the time over Christmas to investigate a little more with my setup, need to buy a PI.

I have found ST does not work with Z-Wave UCM so had to go back to vera. ST works well with the Harmony Hub for turning TV on, but I now need to move on to looking at more advanced activities.

Just wanted to echo DavidJ's comments and say thank you Matt for all your efforts. This could be a game changer.

Best Wishes

Lee



 Posted: Saturday Dec 10th, 2016 03:31 am
   
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lwillerton
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Just thinking ahead...what is the best Pi option to buy? I have seen a starter kit on Amazon for £42.99.



 Posted: Saturday Dec 10th, 2016 06:21 am
   
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slychiu
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Hi Matt. 
Perhaps one day you could bundle together the RPI and uPNP for the users who are not familiar with this stuff or dont have time, and sell it so people could immediately start to get all this working.
I think many people would be interested



 Posted: Saturday Dec 10th, 2016 01:11 pm
   
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wexfordman
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slychiu wrote: Hi Matt. 
Perhaps one day you could bundle together the RPI and uPNP for the users who are not familiar with this stuff or dont have time, and sell it so people could immediately start to get all this working.
I think many people would be interested


I second that :-)



 Posted: Saturday Dec 10th, 2016 02:41 pm
   
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DavidJ
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Really guys. If i can get it working anyone can. Matt was mega helpful with issues and suggestions. It took half an hour at most. A pi cost around 30 quid complete. Got to be worth a go.



 Posted: Saturday Dec 10th, 2016 03:30 pm
   
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wexfordman
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Just to clarify, Matt, the smart things hub is a requirement here also?



 Posted: Sunday Dec 11th, 2016 03:03 pm
   
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DavidJ
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Its built for Smartthings so yes. It enables integration within the smartthings environment.



 Posted: Sunday Dec 11th, 2016 03:06 pm
   
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wexfordman
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DavidJ wrote: Its built for Smartthings so yes. It enables integration within the smartthings environment.

Yeah, but my query is if you need the St hub to connect to comfort, or can you do it without St? 
Do I need to buy a St hub to get this up and running? 



 Posted: Sunday Dec 11th, 2016 03:07 pm
   
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DavidJ
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Yes and an RPI



 Posted: Sunday Dec 11th, 2016 03:08 pm
   
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wexfordman
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DavidJ wrote: Yes and an RPI

Cool, thanks, on the Christmas list now :-)



 Posted: Monday Dec 12th, 2016 12:52 am
   
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lwillerton
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Would this be ok from amazon? Raspberry Pi 3 Official Desktop Starter Kit (16Gb, Black)



 Posted: Monday Dec 12th, 2016 01:06 am
   
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DavidJ
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Any RPI works fine.  I'm using a version 1. So yes the V3 is fine.  Dont forget you will also need a power supply and an SD card.  



 Posted: Monday Dec 12th, 2016 01:15 pm
   
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mattbrain
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Hi Guys
Sorry, not been on the forum for a couple of days and see a bunch of questions have arisen.

1. Which RPi [Raspberry Pi]?
Any RPi with Ethernet will work (avoid model A), I believe David is running on the first version of a Model B which has been superseded several times - the new Model B v3 has twice the memory and >4x the processing power.
If you are new to Raspberry Pi's i suggest this is a good starter kit: https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-3-starter-kit but there are many out there equally good.

2. Do i need SmartThings?

Current, the UPNP interface requires SmartThings as this is the only automation hub I have written handlers for. If I can get hold of a Vera hub, and there is sufficient demand, I can do the same for that. However, ST is where I have personally invested and although it isn't perfect, it does a lot for me.
To add native support for Google Home, Amazon Alexa and others I am working on WeMo emulation. This will undoubtably make it easier to get going but the limitations of using emulation will mean that it will be less functionally complete.
By using SmartThings, it can be linked to a huge variety of third party devices and services including Alexa - I get a kick out of being able to use Alexa to control comfort, it's a really neat interface.

3. Can I make it easier to install?
This is a priority item for me. At the moment it takes 30 mins and a bit of experience with the command line to install. I would like to get to a position where you simply plug it in and it works out of the box. An intermediate position might be I offer disk images or SD cards which can be used to prime a RPi.
I guess to judge the demand [and therefore whether I should pursue this over WeMo emulation or additional features] it would be useful to get some feedback. 
What do people want as a priority?


A. Raspberry Pi Bundle with SD Card so it is plug and play
B. SD Card to buy which is pre-configured
C. SD Card image to download and install myself (will cut out much of the initial command line install)
D. WeMo Emulation for native Alexa / Google Home support
E. Additional comfort functions to be exposed [please indicate]

A & B will have to be priced to account for my time dedicated to your individual build. There is no charge (from me at least) for C -> E.


If Cytech or a third party distributor are in a position to make this more accessible, I would be more than happy to have a conversation with them :)


Thanks again,

Matt



 Posted: Monday Dec 12th, 2016 01:23 pm
   
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wexfordman
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Matt, thanks a million for all if this it sounds very exciting and I also can't wait to get voice control of my comfort.
What I have at the moment, if you don't mind me explaining, is I have comfort, which controls my home heating ajfbkighting also via Velbus ucm.
My thinking is that it will be a while before Venus interface to echo will be about, so a comfort interface is the way to go (in addition to the fact, that I will be able to control security and home automation doing it this way).
Anyway, here is my thinking if you could tell me whether you think it's the right thinking or not.
1) I have a Google home device on the way for Christmas, I decided on this as opposed to echo.2) I will purchase a smart things hub, but mainly just to get integration to comfort.3) once I have Google home and smart things hub, I will be able to use your rpi interface to get control of comfort, and the Venus network via comfort? 
Is this a fair assessment? 
I  taking the smart things hub will allow me add more off the shelf products as well over the longer term? 
Regards
Eamon



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