Ecolink Z Wave Plus Motion Sensor - Association Group Command Access

Devices & Integrations
#1

I just bought an Ecolink Motion Sensor, and in the user manual it says it has the ability to send On/Off commands to nodes added to association groups. Using the default DTH there isn’t a way to enter device ID’s and the DTH made by krlaframboise doesn’t allow for that either.

Has anyone come across a handler that I’ve missed, or is this a relatively new ability by these motion detectors.

Currently the Classic app takes about 1 second to turn on a light when triggered, and the new app takes about 2 seconds when triggered. I’d like the ability for the motion sensor to send out on/off commands directly when activated/cooled.

Thanks

#2

I’m very new at this, so these questions might be dumb, but is there a way to ask a device for its capabilities? Or is that something that you’d need to get from the manufacturer?

This DTH has the ability to add association to groups and I’m wondering what it takes to do the same for other devices.

I’ve starting looking at the smartthings developer documentation, but if there’s more sites to help me get my toes wet, I’d love to get some direction. My programming is limited to LISP and VLISP for autocad, but it would be fun to get into the nuts and bolts of home automation.

Thanks

#3

I forget the name but someone did create a generic DTH that simply queries for all capabilities of a device as well as lets you set any option or any association group. It doesn’t serve any other purpose so you only want to use this DTH to query/configure the device and then switch back to a “normal” DTH.

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#4

Thanks! I’ll try looking for that.

@JDRoberts did a really amazing write up here of the information I was looking for:

I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort learning to handle devices on the old app, when that will be changing at some point in the near future, but it would still be a nice skill to have.

#5

That’s the “Z wave tweaker“ and it’s a really useful DTH, but unfortunately last I heard it can only work with mains powered devices, not battery powered. :disappointed_relieved:

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#6

Also, you probably already know this, but most of the time because smartthings is a multi protocol platform we don’t use Z wave direct association.

if you use direct association it happens every time. Every time the motion sensor is triggered, the light comes on, or the siren goes off, etc.

You can’t put any other logic around it like mode or time of day or who’s home or anything. And it will only work with other Z wave devices.

There are almost always better ways to do the same thing through the more advanced features of the smartthings platform. :sunglasses:

At this point, the most common use is for three way light switches in areas like an attic and the auxiliary switch at the bottom of the ladder where you want to make sure it always comes on even if you your Internet is out. But other than that, it just doesn’t get used much now except for lifeline notifications to the hub.

#7

And to answer the next obvious question:

:wink:

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#8

Yes, I know that it sends a direct command to the device ID in the association. I was trying to cut the time it took for the light to come on when motion was detected. I got that to work by using the smart lighting app, along with default handlers that all operated locally (at least I think it was all local, there wasn’t a noticable delay).

But since I made this post, I’ve added more automated lights, so my needs changed. I also installed webcore and it’s been able to do anything I can think of. I’m amazed that someone was able to create a platform like that, that is so easy to use by anyone who has ever done basic programming or had to use pseudocode.

Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it!

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