UCM/Zwave, Switch, Comfort and a Remote

[Ingo]

I tried something similar to Vangelis and decided not to hijack his thread.

First I need to say that I bought some Zwave kit with a certain expectation. I expect it to be similar to Cbus where an event on Cbus is mirrored on Comfort and an event on Comfort actions something on Cbus.

Now, I have a UCM/Zwave, a Remote, a Switch and a Primary Controller. The network is setup as follows:

The remote has one button assigned to the Switch in a Scene (Button 1), when I press the Remote button the Switch toggles On|Off - great.

Now I have a UCM/Zwave Virtual Node created and mapped to Comfort Output 3 with a little LED connected. From my Primary Controller I can set the Virtual Node On|Off and the LED state follows the commands sent to the Virtual Node.

At this point I can now toggle Output3 using Comfort DA4E03 command and the LED Switches On|Off and the Virtual node state changes as the LED goes On|Off. This tells me the link from Comfort -> Zwave works fine.

Let\'s now try the other direction: If I now toggle the Virtual Node from my Primary controller the LED should change state right? Well... it does :-), nice.

All good so far. So if the Virtual Node is mapped to Comfort Output 3, how do I get that Virtual Node to change state when my Switch change? I need an Association here. I associated the Switch output to the Virtual Node created earlier. So now, if I toggle the Switch manually, using the trigger button on the actual Switch, then the LED follows the state - this is promising.

Next, I want to test if I toggle the Switch using my Remote and see if the LED follows that. Pressing the Remote button the Switch toggles On|Off but the LED stays as dead as a doornail. Very curious... I then remembered that the Remote button is called a Scene and only the Switch is part of that Scene. Strange that it doesn\'t follow the Switch action but ok, I can\'t expect everything to be as simple as Cbus.

I then added the Virtual Node to my Remote Button 1 Scene and Voila!!! When I toggle the Switch using the Remote both the Switch and the LED toggles together. I just dread the day that these two go out-of-sync. When they do go out of sync I just send the DA4E03 command in Comfort to toggle Output03.

I tried one more thing, I mapped a Counter to the Physical Switch via Comfigurator. If I press the Remote button now I have two things happen in Comfort, both Output 3 and Counter 1 toggles On|Off.

I hope this helps someone trying something similar. Luckily I have a test system and I can play around. Also note, I am a Cbus integrator and stay away from Zwave because things seem to be a hassle to get going so I am a complete novice on Zwave.

Ingo

PS. For those who wondered, my Primary Controller is a Razberry which works 95% correct and gives lots of info. It\'s still only a demo, as the creators market it, but there is constant improvement.

[slychiu]

Thanks for that information, Ingo

I was expecting a \"BUT this thing does not work...\"

There is quite a lot of complexity behind z-wave if you don\'t use it for the simplest functions ie using a remote control to switch lights.

[Ingo]

Just give me enough time, I\'ll find one... :-)

[Ingo]

Ok, I finished some more testing and would like to add two findings that are significant things to consider:

1. When assigning a Comfort object EG. Counter, to a physical Zwave Switch you will receive updates in Comfort no matter how the switch is triggered. Either locally, via scene or primary controller. The Comfort object reflects the state of the Switch BUT it all depends on the polling by the UCM/Zwave. When the device is very active it\'s polled more frequently. If the device is idle most of the time the polling slows down and you might get a Counter update only +10s or more later.

2. When you go for the Virtual Node and assign it to a Comfort object AND associate it to the Zwave device then you will get near instantaneous updates BUT it only updates the Virtual node when triggered locally. If you trigger the Switch using the Primary controller or a Scene then the virtual node is not updated and you will get the out-of-sequence issue I mentioned in the first post.

Now selecting the wrong option could potentially open holes in your security system. The Second option will work for a Door/Window Switch. If you chose Option 1 then if the switch has been idle for a while you can open and close the door without it notifying Comfort. So this option is not secure enough for me.

Option 2 will not work as a Power switch control. I want to control the plug with a Remote Control, ComfortClient or a response in Comfort. Neither of these will trigger the Virtual Node and you will get incorrect status updates or nothing at all. The only time the Comfort object is updated is if I press the Power switch local trigger button.

Depending on what you want to do you can select either of the two options. Be sure to use the one that won\'t give false or delayed updates or none at all.

[leonchue]

Ingo wrote:

2. When you go for the Virtual Node and assign it to a Comfort object AND associate it to the Zwave device then you will get near instantaneous updates BUT it only updates the Virtual node when triggered locally. If you trigger the Switch using the Primary controller or a Scene then the virtual node is not updated and you will get the out-of-sequence issue I mentioned in the first post.

If you include the virtual node into that same Scene, then the virtual node will be updated too and hence, it will not get out-of-sync.  

[Ingo]

Correct yes but unfortunately my Primary controller doesn\'t do scenes (yet).