I’m trying to wrap my head around how to do this and I can’t get there.
Use Case:
ST motion sensor in basement activates lights via tp-link wifi switch. After 5 minutes of no motion, the lights go off. This is simple enough, however, I want to add the ability to ask alexa to turn off the light and not have it activated by motion while watching movies.
How would I go about this? I fumbled around in webcore but was unsuccessful. Is there something I can do with modes in ST to achieve this?
you could create a movie mode and have the rule not run in that mode. What do you watch movies with? may be able to do something with that, too.
I watch movies via my Nvidia Shield Android TV player. It’s activated by a Harmony activity
which app? there are several community apps for integrating Plex.
I use various apps, all through my Nvidia Shield. Plex, Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu and (chrome)casting from my laptops
ah, yeah, a movie mode may be best then.
any ideas on a way to get in and out of movie mode easily or even automatically? Like, if the TV is on and I ask Alexa to turn off the light, go into movie mode. If I ask her to turn on the light, exit movie mode?
just create a routine that turns on movie mode. then ask alexa to turn on that routine. When done, ask her to turn on routine to restore back to Home mode. You could also get fancy with webcore and have the mode change automatically based on harmony routine, certain switches being on/off/dim, doors closed, etc.
Does the Nvidia Shield Android TV player have a higher power consumption when it is streaming? If yes, you could use it with a power meter (most smart outlets have this included) and determine “movie” mode this way.
I recently did this by creating a simulated switch and webCore. I tell Alexa to turn on the Watching TV (virtual switch) which tells my Living Room Piston to do something different than when the switch is off. I also did something similar with a power sensing outlet plugged into the TV. When it was consuming over 50W it would cause my Piston to act differently. I was dismayed at the amount of traffic the outlet generated due to micro fluctuations so gave up on that plan.
Remove the original automation and make it a whole through webcore with adding a condition of movie mode isnt active
I agree with @farlicimo. What you need to do is create a piston in webcore that controls the lights. Use a global variable (ie. @movie) and as long as that variable is false lights turn on with motion.
When @movie = true, lights will not turn on with motion. How you want to turn on @movie variable is your choosing (ie. I use a virtual switch tied to alexa).
As farlicimo stated above, your quickest way to do this. Simply create a virtual switch in SmartThings a d call it something like Movie Switch. Create a Piston that replaced your current Routine.
When Motion is Active and the virtual switch is Off, turn on the lights for 5 minutes.
So when you sit down to watch your movie, say Alexa turn on Movie Switch and while that is On, the Piston will not execute.
You could then also add additional Pistons based on Movie Switch being turned on like firing up the popcorn maker or turning an outlet on that a heating blanket is plugged into.
Ya you could add a custom Mode, but the switch is less intrusive as you don’t have to go create something else to set the Mode back to Home or Night. You just say Alexa turn Movie Switch off. JMO.
Ah, these last few replies are really making sense. I knew I was missing something! I’ll just create a virtual switch called movie mode and then I’ll be able to ask alexa to turn on movie mode, which will disable the motion sensor activation of the lights.
Thanks all! I’ll report back if I have any issues