Tim, are you ready for my more challenging app request???
This one bugs me a lot and for a long time, I think several other users would like this one as well. I have two DLink DCS930L video cameras, each powered by a smart power outlet. Cameras turn ON when I leave home (mode Away Day or Away Night) and turn OFF when I return home.
Seems like a waste to use the smart power outlets for this reason, we should be able to control the camera directly. Either camera power on or off or just the motion detection on or off.
My DLink pictures are sent to my email address and I do not care about seeing them or the video on the ST app.
Scott, did some great work on this but we could never get it running:
Hmm⊠somehow I was notified of this thread. Maybe I was mentioned at some point⊠I wrote the original Honeywell WiFi thermostat devicetype⊠and I also have DLink cameras⊠who knowsâŠ
But to your question of turning them on/off when you leave. That does seem like overkill. What I do, is when I am home I turn off the motion sensing, and when I am gone or sleeping i turn it on. Super simple to doâŠ
Eric,
Interesting. Could it be controlled automatically by Mode change? The cameras would get used more this way.
Any changes to my router settings or does the app just require MyDLink name and password? And my DLink pics continue to go to my email?
Certainly. I like to have my Roomba active while Iâm away, but doing so requires the wired motion sensors of my Honeywell alarm to be deactivated lest the Roomba trigger them. Since I prefer not to deactivate those sensors I usually run the Roomba while home which makes it somewhat less useful.
I realize none of this is supported by ST. The Honeywell panel setup requires the card mod to function with ST, and the Roomba doesnât speak - at least not the model I have. A giant headache Iâm sure, but I would like to think it possible in the future.
Yes⊠when my motion sensor notices I wake up in the morning, my DCS alarm turns off, camera motion sensing is turned off, and various other things⊠same thing at night. When it senses I am no longer up, my alarm gets set, my camera motion sensors come on, etc⊠all via Mode change.
The code is not setup for LAN communication, and does not require your MyDLink account information. I have ports open on my router, so the cameras are on the internet⊠could be changed over to LAN communication.
And yes, it just sends the pics to where ever you want them to go. Mine go to my NAS, but it could be email.
If your alarm system sees your Roombas, then your motion sensors are set too sensitive. Usually there is a switch on the sensors to ignore pets, which the Roomba is smaller than. I have my vacuums set to run while I am gone and have not had a false alarm.
Sounds interesting, I guess itâs the open Port that I donât like messing with.
So I donât need a motion sensor, I could just do it on straight Mode changes?
Cell phone leaves home, mode changes to Away etc.
The official Roomba remote is an infrared (IR) device like a TV remote, so not immediately compatible with SmartThings. There is a zigbee radio in some models, not all, but it uses a proprietary dialect, so not much joy there, either. There is a serial port inside the device and some people have made an arduino shield device that plugs into the serial port and then has a transmitter, but thatâs some serious overkill,looks ugly, raises the footprint so it may run into stuff like when going under chairs, and voids the Roomba warranty, so probably not a first choice solution.
There is a commercially available version similar to the arduino hack but it costs 100 euros and only works with older Roomba models. @sidjohn1 was able to get this (called thinking cleaner ) to work with his SmartThings, but itâs obviously an expensive way to go, especially since it only solves the Roomba issue.
Itâs pretty easy to control a Roomba via an iTach WiFi to IR bridge, but while a more elegant solution than the Arduino path, it requires some fairly serious DIY commitment. Cost is about $100 for a bridge but you can control multiple devices from that. @scottinpollock could say more about the iTachs, he uses them for other IR controllable devices like home entertainment systems.
Some people have been able to get one of the various Harmony remote models to work with one of the various Roomba models, but thereâs not 100% compatability and you still need something to connect the Harmony to SmartThings, which isnât easy right now.
For the newer models, there is a WiFi option with JSON files and a lot of third party developers have taken advantage of that to create Roomba controllers that work as smartphone apps or with other home automation systems.
RooWiFi , for example, has plug ins for Vera and Domotica. Those are NOT zwave protocols, theyâre using a webservice interface.
I would expect something like this could be built for SmartThings as well, it just doesnât look like anyone has.
So for the technical audience, thatâs three completely different ways of accessing the Roomba controls: via standard IR one way communication, like the official remote; via a new antenna plugged into the internal serial port; or as a WiFi connected web service.
ENGINEERâS SOLUTION: SMART PRESSURE MAT AT THE DOCKING STATION
From a completely different direction, if you park the Roomba under a shelf or sofa, someplace sheltered, you should be able to put a proximity sensor so you can tell when the Roomba has left or returned to the docking station.
You should also be able to do this easily and more cheaply than any other solution with a pressure mat that the Roomba drives over, but it would have to be high sensitivity as many cheap pressure mats donât trigger until thereâs 25 pounds of pressure to avoid false alarms. However, LondonMat does make some nice ones that trigger at a ânominalâ 5 pounds of pressure. Some Roomba models are over 7 pounds, and I suspect these would successfully trigger. You would still have to attach a contact sensor to these to make them networkable, but thatâs just the âsmart door matâ project:
LondonMat manufacturer site, but these are available at other retailers as well. See their online shop for their pricing. The minimal force ones are called âswitching matsâ or âsignal mats.â
Oh, and hereâs a guy who made his own roller switch pressure mat using LIttleBits, then used its WiFi connector to talk to IFTTT (thereâs a LittleBits channel). I suspect the total cost would end up being more than buying a pressure mat, and you might run into a 15 minute IFTTT polling delay that wouldnât fit the alarm code use case, but it looks like a fun project and at least demonstrates proof of concept for the pressure mat idea.
Is it possible to have the ST presence sensor beeps 4 times less than 4 seconds when pressing the beep button under the ST presence preference? Right now it will goes off only once. I would love to have this so I can rig my car engine remote starter.
Just want to echo the thoughts on the DLink Cameras. My number 1 wish is to have my Dlink cameras turn on/off motion detection based on whether Iâm home or away. Donât need anything else, and just let the cameras themselves handle emailing me the pics.
I learn things about my roomba everyday so I wouldnât be surprised, and I know the roomba works on IR, but how could you trigger it to start with IR?
Along the same lines as @JDRoberts suggestion of using pressure mats, would something like the URBEST Single Beam Photoelectric Detector Active IR Sensor ($12 on Amazon) connected to an ecolink door/window sensor possibly solve your problem. If placed near the docking station it could let you know when the roomba leaves and returns. Cheaper solution than the mats but could possibly trigger false alarms based on placement and/or pets.
