Has anyone tried the Sensibo yet and does it integrate with Smartthings? It uses it’s own hub and a protocol called 6lowpan. It has IFTTT support though. Would there be a way to allow button control in Smartthings via IFTTT?
As far as I can tell it’s a brand new startup with an IR blaster device very similar to Tado (which is from a more mature company). Sensibo has just started shipping, so no real reviews yet.
The sensibo IFTTT channel only appears to have on/off command at present. It should work fine with a virtual switch through the ST IFTTT channel with the usual caveat about a possible polling delay of up to 15 minutes.
I really want to know how Sensibo works to learn the ir commands. I emailed them and they said “sensibo knows the code of every ac that exsits” I find that hard to believe and it doesn’t explain how it determines which is the correct set of commands.
I am also worried that it needs a hub and talks to the cloud. Why ?
I currently use the zxt-120 ir sender and it works well but I wish I had to guess at the codes to use and although it works it doesn’t exactly match the way my remote behaves. That has me interested in the Sensibo so I have been watching for more details.
The IR code databases exist (Harmony has one, as do many universal remote manufacturers). It’s not impossible that Sensibo purchased one.
But the usual way is just to have an IR sensor that you can set to “learn” mode.
Then you use an existing remote for the device you want to capture codes for. Press each button, and your learning sensor just records the code the remote is sending. And there you have your code map. So you emulate the receiver in order to learn how to emulate the transmitter.
This is how the iTach works, for example.
Most air conditioner remotes have 8 buttons or less, even asking the customer to map each button isn’t that big a deal. Even the fancy IR ones rarely have more than a dozen. Although having a database for the most common models would be even better.
All these units have an IR/wifi bridge, which is what allows you to control it from a phone app. (One of the most common HA requests for air conditioners is to start them before the person gets there, so the house is cool when they arrive.)
So the cloud is primarily used to give you out of home control.
The Mistubishi remote is much more complicated. It keeps track of your temp settings. So it maintains state. Also your can have settings different based on mode for example you would likely want the vents shooting up for cool and down for heat. Again the remote remembers these settings so turning on Cool also sets your other options. I am not completely sure how this works but I can tell you the zxt-120 gets it wrong. If I turn on cool with my remote the unit sets the vents upward, set the temp to 75, sets the fans to auto, etc. If I turn on cool from the zxt-120 which just has a library of IR code also. It doesn’t set every thing the same. The fans turn on low speed, the vents don’t change, but it does turn on cooling. In addition when I use the remote the unit only beeps once. When I use the zxt-120 it beeps twice. Clearly the IR codes for the Mitsubishi are much more complicated then 6 simple buttons that can be easily learned.
Yep, as soon as the remote has multiple meanings for each button based on Mode or last setting you’re toast when it comes to another remote learning the IR codes. You have to just hope they’ve shared them through a codes base.
Hi !
I created the Sensibo integration project. It still waiting for approval but you can test it in you can load it in your SmartThing dev portal:
The projects(2 parts) is on my GitHub at
1- The Sensibo (Connect) SmartApp to connect to the devices
2- The SensiboPod device type to manage the device itself
@Brutalboy how do you like the Sensibo ? I was considering but their support was real flippant about compatibility with my Split AC system insisting on stating only that “Our device has EVERY AC unit in it’s database”. I found that difficult to believe. And they would not answer my questions about how the unit learns. Does it detect your system, do you have to configure it, they would not say.
Anyway if you can share your experience I would be very interested.
I was septic as well but I was surprised.
Sensibo have a learning mode (you put your remote in from of the pod and you press power and it will detect).
It took 2-3 retry to detect it correctly but it does it. My AC model is not a commun one and I’m from Canada(far away from Israel).
The support staff are really good to fine tune the AC model. Mine AC was detected but not all the feature was available, they made a change remotely to adapt the “sub-model” and now it work well. They are responding quick 1-2 days) and they have a beta program with a facebook private group.
For now, it is supporting : TargetTemperature, heat/cool/fan mode, fan speed (low,medium,high,auto). They told us they will add swings and other features later on.
Hope this help
does it work with Inverters AC systems?
As soon you have a remote control (IR), it should work