Control smartthings with computer?

[trickyrick (Rick Johnson)]

I leave my PC on all the time and have two monitors connected I want to connect a zwave outlet to the monitors and somehow control it with the keystroke of the keyboard or mouse movement to turn the zwave outlet on
Any ideas

[JDRoberts]

ActionTiles is a very popular dashboard program for smartthings. It will run in pretty much any browser, including on a laptop. You do need an Internet connection, but it would give you the most options, I think. A license is about $30 (per hub, I believe, not per device), so you would also be able to run it on a tablet or your phone as well on the same license.

Home

Alternatively, if it really is just one device for on/off, just open IFTTT.com in a browser and run an applet from there.

IFTTT

[jeubanks]

I think he’s meaning like using EventGhost that on a keystroke it will signal ST to turn on the power plug. I use this for lighting control in my office/family room when I’m home working.

Why not adjust your monitor power settings on your computer to put the monitors to sleep when not in use and the computer will turn them back on.

[sage419 (Steve)]

You could stick a multipurpose sensor to your keyboard to detect the vibration when you touch it, and have that trigger the outlet.

[jeubanks]

I tried that with a multipurpose sensor on my chair… it never noticed when I sat down or got up.

[trickyrick (Rick Johnson)]

Id really like to turn the monitors off sometimes I dont use them for a couple days I know on standby they dont draw much power. Im using a motion sensor right now but Ive notice that If I dont move much they will turn off. I have it set for no motion in 30 min. Maybe Ill change that to 60 see how that works
Thanks.

[ksnax]

If all you want is on/off, use a button. Tap on. Hold off. Or if you use the Magic Wand SmartThings App, you can toggle multiple devices with a single button depending upon the codes you setup.

[RELEASE] One button to rule them all (device control using morse code)

I created a button application that makes a single button to control arbitrary number of devices and trigger routines. A button can either pushed or held that is used as morse code (./-). A morse code is assigned to a device and the button used to generate the morse code to toggle the device state or trigger a routine. This app can be used to toggle a switch/lock/alarm or trigger a routine. I am putting it here in case anyone looking for something like this. Magic wand The application can be found here “rainbowbridge/smartapps/magic_wand.src”

[rontalley]

Something’s are already there and needs no additional “Smarts”. PCs have a very robust power management system. You could simply tell the PC to turn off the monitors in 10 minutes of no activity. They will automatically turn back on with a keyboard stroke or mouse movement…

I use EventGhost to control various things on my PCs via SmartThings. The biggest plus is to turn my PCs off and keep track of their status. I even have Virtual Switches that follows when the PCs are active or not.

Here’s a tutorial:

(Tutorial) PC on/off and Activity Monitor with SmartThings

How about: Turn on Kitchen PC Turn off Bedroom PC Mouse is Active Turn on Kodi Even Works with Alexa or Hey Google!! This Tutorial will not only show you how to make your PC a totally controllable Switch in ST, but also use Virtual Switches as a Motion device or to Execute Programs which can all be used for Home Automation! After setup, your PC status will be in perfect sync with the Virtual Switch no matter if you turn on/off the PC manually or through SmartThings. It might seem like a lot but you can have this up and running fairly quickly especially if you are already familiar with installing custom apps. It’s up to you how far you want to go down the rabbit hole! Tools used: Send Events to Event Ghost (App), Host Pinger (App), EventGhost (Free Windows Program), CoRE or webCoRE …

[trickyrick (Rick Johnson)]

Thanks Rontalley
Ill look into that