Hi all, this may have bee asked / answered already, if so id appreciate the link to the answer.
Ive got th RGBW hooked up but im only using it to control a srip of white LED no need for colour at all or all the assocatiatd options.
The strip is usd to light some steps, i have a ST motion sensor top and bottom of th steps and just want the light to come on as th steps are used and turn off after a minute or so.
I used the Smart Lightig Smart app to set this up.
When the sensor detects motion the virtual switch turns on but the LEDs dont.
I can turn them on and off in the app no problem. Some searching ive done has shown me that the smart lighting app is no good for th rgbw controller
Can someone please advise a way of doing it or a simple bit of code i can use to make this happen.
I am a very basic code user so id need an idiots guide.
If you are only using white then you have gone a very expensive way about it.
I did a similar thing and just used a cheap white only led strip, a smart socket and a cheap plugin 12v power supply.
Motion sensor detects motion -> turns on socket -> powers leds via power supply.
Motion stops -> cuts power to the socket.
If you are committed now then I would ask:
What does the virtual switch do?
How is that connected to the RGBW controller?
Iām surprised that smartlighting wonāt āturn on and set colourā or brightness when triggering from a motion sensor
Hi
Thanks for the reply. Yes i see what your saying but i wanted the dimming capability and also for it to be part of my lighting ring which is why i went for the dimmer!
I too am surprised that the smartapp doesnt work!!
The virtual switch activates and shows āonā when motion is detected but does nothing else. If i then open the ST app and select āwhiteā or slide the dimmer up to 99 then the lights come on.
I tried to alter the level on the smartapp to higher to see if that did it and I had no luck!
Sorry should have added the virtual switch is ST so its just the built in/ default device set up that is installed when i added the dimmer to my hub
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Ok. I think we are getting confused with terminology.
The motion sensor is not a virtual switchā¦ we just call it a montion sensor
In ST a virtual switch is something you can create which behaves like a normal switch but is not related to a hardware device.
Thatās what was confusing me when you said you were setting up a virtual switch.
So, what you actually need is a small smartapp that reacts to a motion/no motion event and turns on/off the RGBW controller to a set level and set colour
Am I correct?
Btw I would not publish your email account here - it can be picked up by spam bots
Best to edit your post and remove it
Hi. Thank hadnt noticed my email on it. Sorry i thought a virtual switch was the switch on smartthings that i can toggle on and off rather than a physical wired switch.
Anyway, im using the Fibaro RGBW controller and yes I need something that turns the white on when motion is detected. Im very new to all this so ive seen some code but ive got no clue how or what needs to be edited to make what i need work.
Ive see a few people on various forus asking a similar questioto me, it seems that ST smart lighting app just int good enough for Fibaro gear!
I have a number of these RGBW controllers and have found the best DTH (similar to a device driver for IT equipment - It allows ST to ātalkā to the device and use all itās features) is the one created by: @codersaur you can find it here:
This thread by @JDRoberts is an excellent howto for using custom code.
After you have installed this then I can probably write you a smartapp to control it via a motion sensor
I would not edit it at all!
Once you install a smartApp you shouldnāt have to go into this section again.
Butā¦ you have the facility to use different colours/programs should you ever decide to use them.
Editing the DTH code is not a good idea if you donāt know exactly what you are doing.
Also the app I will write may use stuff you edit out and may not work if you ātinkerā with it.
Now thats installed the smart lighting app has given me more options and seems to recognise that its a colour controller now so Stand by on doing anything until i can check if it works a bit later when im off this bloody train.
Cheers
Right the good news is that it works.
Im a little fussy in that i dont like the app as its a bit clustered but ill live with it.
However the lights snap on and off - taking away the while point of having dimmable LED and dimmable controller. They have a very nice dimming curve and can start very low and fade up and then fade soothly down. Is there any way to write this slow dim into the sequence?
Thanks alot for sorting this
