Lutron Caseta or Clearconnect RF support

It’s not a Lutron limitation. You can use the pico buttons with Vera, for example. Or for that matter with Sonos. It’s just the way wink chose to implement it.

http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=26562.0

Fascinating. So the RasPi bridge just uses the open API?

The newest one? You’d have to ask the author, but I think so. :sunglasses:

As expected, yet partnerships are always 2-way so I suspect SmartThings also has reasons for NOT including a Lutron interface, e.g. licensing costs, etc.

SmartThings competes with more expensive, yet less flexible Lutron Radio RA and other implementations ( http://www.lutron.com/en-US/residential-commercial-solutions/Pages/residential-solutions/integrationconnectivity.aspx ) of the Lutron protocol.

This webpage outlines Lutron’s current multiple partnerships:
http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Company-Info/Pages/AboutUS/Partner-Affiliates/RSIntegration.aspx
Obviously it does not include SmartThings.

Any ideas when Lutron patents on the relevant protocols ( http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/Clear%20Connect%20Technology%20whitepaper.pdf ) might end?

Lutron has many different patents. They are an engineering-driven lighting company. One of their patents (regarding “instant status”) that is commonly discussed on home automation forums expired this year, but a second covering some of the same features is still in force for another year. And they have many other patents that will remain in force for another five or 10 years. Or longer . They just got a new one about a year or two ago on the Caseta line which is what enables those switches to run a radio even though they don’t use a neutral wire.

There are a lot of things to like about Lutron switches and they continue to invest much more in engineering research and development than most Home automation companies. (for example, smartthings itself doesn’t hold any patents that I know of, and I don’t believe wink does either.)

Thank you.

These research inks:
https://www.google.com/?tbm=pts#tbm=pts&q=Lutron+Electronics+Co
https://www.google.com/?tbm=pts#tbm=pts&q=lutron+electronics+co+rf
and other search variations might be of use to developers working on desinging open source work arounds.

Open source workarounds for …?

Lutron publishes an open API for lighting control using its systems, that’s really all you need to do an integration. :sunglasses:

http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/040249.pdf

The Lutron® integration protocol will allow third-party equipment, such as touch-screens, universal remote controls, and software applications, to control and monitor devices in a Lutron® lighting control system
The protocol supports three basic types of integration operations:
• Execute an action in the Lutron® system
• Query the status of the Lutron® system and Lutron® devices
• Monitor responses from the Lutron® system

And, yes, that includes the Pico remotes. :sunglasses:

Thank you, much more to the point.

Personally, I do not have the time to pursue this.
I hope others do.

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Actually no it doesn’t use the open API. The API mentioned below in this post (Lutron integration protocol) seems to only be available on the smart bridge pro which I don’t have. There’s an unpublished way to control things via SSH which is what the raspi bridge uses. I believe although am not certain that this is why wink cannot make use of the pico remotes. The regular smart bridge doesn’t provide a way to interface with those remotes like the pro does thus there is no way to have them control other things.

I really don’t understand why lutron and ST haven’t found a way to work together when everyone else sends to have done so. Nevertheless my bridge works very well for my purposes and has been quite reliable as well.

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I’m just going put in my additional support here for this thread. I’m about to have Lutron Serena shades installed in my apartment. They are literally the only thing that that I won’t have an easy work around for to get integrated with my SmartThings hub.

And the notion that there are USB expansion slots on the SmartThings hub means that there should be no problem with them offering an add on antenna.

Except the USB expansion slots are inactive at present. Nothing works with them. :disappointed_relieved:

As far as the shades, you probably already know this, but you can get limited one – way integration through the IFTTT channel. That is, you can set up something on the SmartThings side that will change the shade position.

The problem is if you change the shade position with a Lutron control, including a pico remote, smartthings won’t know about it.

But you can certainly use SmartThings to automate shade activity if that helps.

Perfect! Great job!

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even Comcast integrates with the Lutron API in their mobile app for Xfinity Home. Every light and scene that is built in the Lutron App also shows up in the Xfinity Home app. We’re talking about Samsung here…if Comcast can come to an agreement with Lutron for integration, surely Samsung could as well!

Lutron Caseta Update

On January 23, 2017 I emailed Lutron to ask when the integration would take place. Here is their response:

All I have for an ETA right now is “early this year”. After speaking to the members of our engineering team, I think early second quarter is a more realistic estimate than first quarter.

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@slagle any update would be greatly appreciated. I would also like to know how pico remotes can be used in the official support. E.g. can a pico be used to control other non Caseta devices. Cheers.

One of the SmartThings engineers has already said in the forums that the pico will not be able to be used through this integration.

That’s common for a cloud to cloud integration, for example the Lutron Caseta IFTTT service/channel doesn’t recognize pico presses either. :disappointed_relieved:

Hey JD, thanks for the quick follow-up. Would have been nice but oh well. Still excited to connect my Caseta switches .

Any word on support for their blinds. We haven’t chosen a motorized blind solution yet but I figure frequent use will be via some type of wall or remote device so Pico’s controlling their Serena shades is probably where we’ll end end. Would be good to have ST automation too.

You can get decent Lutron Serena shade integration already just with the Lutron Caseta IFTTT service/channel. Again, smartthings wouldn’t know if you had used the wall switch, but you can certainly include the shades in other smartthings automations. There may be a slight lag because of IFTTT, but that usually less of a user acceptance issue for shades than it is for lights.

You can get a similar integration with the Logitech Harmony hub acting as the “man in the middle.”

So if we get Serena shades integration through the new official SmartThings/Lutron integration my guess is it would be about the same but with a little less lag. We’ll see.

Another alternative for window coverings is Z wave. Zebra Blinds is one Company that has a specific SmartThings integration and one of their employees participates frequently in these forums so you can ask him any questions you have about their products. :sunglasses:

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So is it possible to use the SC as a secondary controller to use a Pico to control a group of z-wave and zigbee lights on the ST hub?

If not, could I only pair the zigbee lights + pico with the SC, and pair everything else with the ST, and then be able to control the group of z-wave and zigbee lights using the pico through the SC?

If you want to use picos with SmartThings, The best way as of August 2017 is probably to use a SmartBridge pro (instead of the standard SmartBridge) and then use the method in the following thread (this is a clickable link). It works very well and is simpler than trying to use the staples connect approach just because you only have one Z wave controller to deal with. It also allows you to use the pico for anything that smartthings can do. :sunglasses:

This project provides integration between Smartthings and you Lutron Caseta Devices. This works with both Standard and Pro model Lutron SmartBridge devices. It consists of a Smartapp, several device types, and a python script which must be setup and run on a server of some sort. I personally use a Raspberry Pi, however an always on PC or Mac can also be configured as your server. This integration allows full control of your Lutron Devices from within ST. You can turn lights on and off as well as control dimming, You can also add your scenes to ST and trigger them. Lastly, for PRO hub users ONLY you can add your Pico devices into ST and using an additional Smartapp, use them to control whatever ST device you wish.