Repeating On/Off Schedule Every Hour?

I am trying to set up a scheduled switch ON for XXmin, than OFF for XXmin. Or ON for XXmin on the hour, repeating every hour.

This is for a smart switch to have my mister go on for certain amount of time throughout the day for my daughters frog.

This sounds easy enough, apparently is not!

TIA!

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I recommend webCore

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I’m trying to install WebCORE, but already at a blocker…

I don’t see WebCORE or Custom in my list of SmartApps to install.

start here to install the code:

when you get to the section to install in the classic app ( Installing webCoRE), switch to the link you posted above

Um, wow. I’m a simple person. I can kern letter character pairs, or design a mean book layout. But this looks beyond my capabilities or patience. :stuck_out_tongue:

I was lost at “push you to the right shard”.

that means login @ https://account.smartthings.com

you can ask the folks on the webcore forum if you get lost. they can answer any questions or help build your pistons (rules).

I’m heading off for the night

@daweav has a method for doing this without needing Webcore, just using the delay feature.

That said, I absolutely would not put anything on smartthings that might endanger the health of an animal if it failed to run as expected. Because it probably will fail to run as expected occasionally. :scream: This is true whether you are using Webcore or not.

That’s not just my opinion: the company says so themselves in the product usage guidelines:

Data accuracy and consistency from SmartThings sensors, including those provided by SmartThings directly, resold by SmartThings, or supported by SmartThings, is not guaranteed. Therefore, you should not rely on that data for any use that impacts health, safety, security, property or financial interests.

https://www.smartthings.com/guidelines

I’m not at all sure what you would use for a mister, so this example would use a SmartThings outlet plug that would turn on the outlet for a duration of ‘x’ minute(s) every hour and uses a virtual switch as the countdown timer for re-triggering the Automation. The virtual switch turn Off value must be longer than the outlet turn Off value. Essentially it should loop constantly.

Automation
If
Outlet is Off
Virtual switch is Off
Then
Turn On Outlet and Auto Turn Off in "x’ minute(s).
Turn On Virtual switch and Auto Turn Off in 1 hour.

However, any Automation comes with risks because if the power goes out at any time, then who knows what condition the outlet would be in when power is restored, and even then I have no idea how this would kick off when power is restored. In fact, you’d need to toggle the power outlet to Off and toggle the virtual switch On/Off to even start the trigger in this Automation example. So, in case of power outages, I would think that you would need some sort of power outage sensor that could be used as the trigger for an Automation If power is restored to Then turn the outlet Off and turn the virtual switch On and then Off a few seconds later when power is restored to get this Automation example to trigger and start looping after power outages.

Don’t they make fish tank pumps or something else that can do this manually (mechanically) and is impervious to power outages and environmental conditions? I’d go to some place like Petco and ask.

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This really cries out for a low tech solution.

We used to have a Tower Garden that came with a timer that could cycle as often as every 15 minutes.

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I do not know how this thread appeared to me as unread and in case you are still interested in turning on a light for a cyclical time, it can already be done with an automation in the app.

  • In this example: IF a switch is “off” for 45 minutes Then it is turned on and added to turn “off” after 15 minutes.

  • It running that way indefinitely until you deactivate automation.

  • To start it, you must activate the automation and turn the light switch “on” and “off” one time.

  • If you want it only work for a period of time, add the desired period of activity in the IF part.
    As the light is programmed to turn “off” X minutes after turn “on”. When it is turned “off” and has exceeded the uptime period, it will no longer turn back “on”.

  • If you want it to start automatically every day, create another automation that turns it “on” at a specific time and turns it “off” X minutes later.

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another solution is to link alexa to smartthings and use Alexa Routine as mentioned here SOLVED! Interval timer or repeated routines - VoiceBrew

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Everything above is useless. Been trying for 3 years. That link is EXTREMELY useless.

Well, it’s from almost a year ago . . .

If you want to repeat something on an interval, use the Sharptools Rule Engine. You can easily set things to trigger on an interval by designing a loop. Basically, trigger on a variable changing, do the action, delay and then change the variable. Changing the variable creates a loop, causing the rule to run again.

Research or post in the SharpTools community if you need help.

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Anything prior to September 2022 is probably using the old architecture, so may well be out of date.

That said, the delay method mentioned above should still work as long as you create the virtual switches for the new architecture:

Alternatively, yes, as @jkp mentions it’s even easier to do this with the third-party app, sharptools, and it is also working with the new architecture. They have a free tier for basic functionality or a $30/year pro license if you need the advanced features.

So you should be able to do it, but the methods may be different than they were on the old architecture. :thinking:

Don’t need webcore or any other complex pishicaca. Just use 2 routines. KISS

Routine A:

If:

  • Time Frame: 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM
  • Device State: OFF for Custom (59 minutes or whatever interval you want it to stay off)

Then:

  • Device State: ON

Routine B:

If:

  • Time Frame: 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM
  • Device State: ON for Custom (1 minutes or whatever interval you want it to stay on)

Then:

  • Device State: OFF

working on ver 1.8.12.21

That looks like AI generated code that does not apply to the SmartThings architecture, and this forum is for people who are using the Samsung SmartThings ™ Home Automation platform so all of the questions and answers are expected to be in that context.

We don’t ban AI generated code in this forum, but we do ask that people identify any posts where they are using AI to produce the recommendations, so that people can be on the lookout for the typical kinds of problems that those have. Like in this case, not matching up with the underlying architecture.

When you say “we”, who are you referring to?