Philips Tap switch is Zigbee? Can we "tap" into it?

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
1

So I just read that the Philips Tap (Link) is Zigbee. Does any one know if it is something we can use directly with ST as a Zigbee device without the Hues or their hub?

I doubt there is a way to un-pair it and I’m sure Philips probably made it a proprietary setup. But, it would make an awesome remote or anywhere switch. And, given that it is battery-less, that’s even better!!!

2

It is ZigBee but it is the ZigBee Green Power protocol which is interesting as the hue bulbs are ZigBee Light Link protocol. SmartThings is ZigBee HA (Home Automation). There are probably ways to get these to play nice however. cc: @doug-st

3

Also sorry I didn’t acknowledge the awesome pun.

2 Likes
4

How many Zigbee protocols are there? Can we go back and slap the group that decided to call them all the same thing, confusing everyone in the process?

1 Like
5

ZigBee is not actually the name of the protocols, but rather the standards group brand. Unfortunately that isn’t clear in protocol names or marketing material and not all ZigBee protocols are interoperable. Annoying and confusing I know.

http://www.zigbee.org/Specifications/ZigBee/GreenPower.aspx

Green Power requires a router with ZigBee PRO 2012. This is the low layer portion of the stack that ZCL (the foundation of what the cluster profiles HA, ZLL, SEP ride on) utilizes. The stack in the field right now does not yet support that functionality. If the stack vendor begins supporting Green Power that would be the easiest path to direct connections. In the mean time we should get some devices and look into support via the LAN…

6

Does the hardware in the current hub support it? Or might this be something for Hub.V2?

7

It shouldn’t be a hardware limitation for V1 or V2. It should be possible to update the fw stack on our ZigBee hardware for both v1 and future versions.

1 Like
8

this would be a great great great idea . . . the ability to enter a room and turn on certain lights AND smart objects aswell or exit a room and turn everything off would be ace, especially with 4 switches as such built into the tap and it been batteryless make it a nice little bit of kit . . .

110% in support of this for future integration

9

It’s battery operated, so not quite a match, but the SmartenIT 3 toggle switch makes a nice wall switch in the SmartThings verse. Using the community-developed device handler you can assign zwave devices, zigbee devices, hello home actions, or custom code to it.

10

Just wondering if @doug-st or @Ben know of any plans to integrate Philips Tap into Smartthings? Would be mighty great, especially with philips expanding with their dimmer. Is it even possible after you guys looked into it a while ago?

11

@Tyler or @thegilbertchan would be the most in the know.

12

We have no immediate plans to integrate the Philips Tap. We’re making some changes to the hub to support lighting groups, so integration would come after that point.

1 Like
13

Thanks - I’ll look forward to the lighting groups at least!

1 Like
14

I think someone needs to let Amazon know about this …ha! :smile:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/813DZdnHq1L.SL1500.jpg

15

Wait a second, I don’t see anything that states ZigBee Green Power requires a router. Two ZigBee devices at a small distance from each other should be able to send signals to each other without a router. Unless you are stating that the proxy is the router? Or the sink is the router?

16

Green power is a feature of Zigbee pro. The feature can be used in conjunction with several profiles. All zigbee profiles require a coordinator to establish the network except Zigbee Light Link.

You need a router because it will create a proxy for the green power device. This is how messages can be processed for it even though it is offline until activated.

How does ZigBee PRO Green Power feature work with ZigBee PRO networks?
By creating proxies in a ZigBee router device, each ZigBee PRO Green Power device is represented as always present on the ZigBee network – even when it is not powered on or present. These proxies forward and resend packets to ensure reliable communication, especially to destination devices, called sinks, that are not in the direct radio range of the Green Power device.

The green power device will not be online to process the ACK that comes back, so the proxy has to do it, and resend the message if necessary.

http://www.zigbee.org/zigbee-for-developers/network-specifications/zigbeepro/

Detailed explanation here:

http://cache.nxp.com/documents/user_manual/JN-UG-3095.pdf

(btw, you were replying to a post which is two years old now: June '14 means June 2014. But the required router is still the same. :sunglasses:)