Hi all,
I wish to retrofit a manual roller blind handle to be a smart, electrically assisted one. I’m not keen on a fitting a brand new whole smart blind.
Is there such a product which will work natively with SmartThings? Or one which will work with just a little bit of tweaking.
I have a SmartThings Hub v2
Links to Amazon UK please
Please see picture below:
In the past, Zemismart was popular. They offer rebranded tuya devices in both Zigbee and Wi-Fi in a lot of different combinations. And they used to offer their own DTHs. They are available in both North America and UK/EU.
However, they have indicated they are not going to create custom edge drivers, and I don’t know which, if any, work with the new ST platform. 
Hopefully other people will respond with specific devices which are known to work. But if you want to start researching some of the individual Zemismart Models, here are those:
Thanks.
Sorry - what’s a DTH? Bit new to all of this.
Been looking on the Zemismart website - which should I be purchasing: a wi-fi model or Zigbee model? If the choice of either wi-fi or Zigbee connectivity makes any difference as to whether or not another third party bridge/hub is required to make it work, I’d rather with the option that doesn’t need another birdge/hub.
Up through the end of 2022, communications between a smartthings/aeotec hub and an end device were done with a DTH (“device type handler,“), similar to a printer driver in that it changed a standard smartthings command like “open The blinds“ to the specific format that the device was expecting. DTHs were written in the groovy programming language. Many of these ran in the smartthings cloud.
The new architecture, which is now the only one available, instead uses “edge drivers“ which are written in the LUA programming language and run on your own hub.
Read the first section of the community FAQ on this transition, and it should tell you everything you need to know in this regard.
FAQ: I have no idea what Edge is. Is that a new developer tool? (2022)
As far as Wi-Fi versus Zigbee, either is fine with SmartThings. Do you have a smartthings/aeotec hub? Or intend to get one? Zigbee Devices will require that you have a smartthing/Aeotec hub or their own Zigbee Hub which has a cloud to cloud connection to smartthings. Wi-Fi devices typically do not require a hub, but only some have integration with smartthings.
Some of these devices, like Philips hue bulbs and switches, will require their own bridge/hub in order to be able to integrate with smartthings. That’s just something you have to research individually as you look at candidates.
Thanks for all of that
As it happens I have a SmartThings Hub v2, which I have used for number of years along with:
But that’s the first time I’ve had DTH properly explained to me, so thanks a lot. I genuinely had no idea that this whole transition had gone on.
I’m now looking for a good blind motor to complete my setup, and which will work with SmartThings.
Ok, that model of hub supports zwave, zigbee 3.0, local LAN, and matter over WiFi. It does not support thread, but you might have another thread border router in your home that would allow you to bring those devices in. This is most commonly a smart speaker like an Amazon echo device, a Google Nest, Home device, or an Apple HomePod mini. (Only some models of each, though)
So you should have a lot of candidates to choose from. 
Thanks, any other ideas for potential roller blind motors, based on the fact I can use Z-Wave Zigabee and the like?
On the Smart Things app itself it lists a range of ‘Window Treatment’ devices which have (native?) support with SmartThings. Hoever none of these are quite what I’m looking as aren’t purchasable in the UK and/or are whole new smart blinds and/or are about retrofitting an existing already electrically assisted blind.
Are there other roller blind motors which are not natively supported by Smart Things, but would still work? - e.g: through custom Edge drivers for specific models, or generic drivers for any and all Zigabee or Z Wave devices?
It depends on whether you want mains power or DC, motors are available to fit in a number of different blind tube diameters. most can have limits set by double tripping the current flow in the required direction when the position is reached.
This obviously involves some DIY replacing the pivot at one end and inserting the motor. As my motors are DC (I run two blinds as a single unit).
I then have a Quibino flush shutter DC Z-Wave in-pattress module in the momentary rocker switch box in the wall.
To this I run 24v from a wall adaptor.
I used to have nightmares with this and a hand cranked DTH. However since the demise of Groovy it appears the default window treatment edge driver manages it fine.
Only issue is it uses ON for close and Off for open.
However last night I created a Edge vDevice switch and linked this virtual blind with automations to the actual blind controller. Now I can use Alexa close blinds and open Blinds which is so much more natural.
