Hi, I used vEdge Creator V2.94 to create a virtual device in Alexa recently and then Alexa routines to turn a BG smart socket on and off depending on the state of the virtual device. However it seems incredibly unreliable, doesn’t always trigger and variable delay. Can anyone advise on whether I can fix this somehow ?
LAMP ↔ BG WIFI SMART SOCKET ↔ BG Home App ↔ ALEXA device ↔ ALEXA ROUTINE ↔ ALEXA virtual device ↔ SmartThings vedge alexa switch device
Did you create the separate contact sensor to trigger the Alexa routine?
To see if the ST Routine is running and if the virtual device status is changing, add a notification to both the ST Routine and the Alexa routine. That should help narrow down where the issue is.
Separate contact sensor ?
BG App works fine.
Changing the state of the Alexa virtual switch doesn’t seem to reliably trigger the Alexa routine to run/change the state of the Alexa BG socket device.
Are you checking the separate contact sensor in Alexa and not the Switch or default associated contact sensor. The separate contact sensor should work reliably
I installed your edge driver onto my aeotec hub for use in smartthings. It worked fine, and enabled me to create a simple virtual switch. But I am trying to get this virtual switch to show up in my Brilliant app (Brilliant NextGen - a San Mateo CA based company which integrates with Smartthings and others). While my Brilliant devices show up in Smartthings (and vice versa), I cannot seem to get my Brilliant app to recognize this virtual switch. Do you think that Brilliant’s cloud integration with Smartthings somehow doesnt support your virtual switch (even though they otherwise see light switches and other devices between them)?
I can’t answer your question but try the following. There are several ways to create virtual switched. If you are in the US try creating one using Labs under the Menu tab. I am not sure if Labs is available outside the US.
I dont think I have access to Labs - doesnt show up on my iPhone Smartthings app. I heard it may only be on Android - not even via a web interface. Havent been able to find it.
SmartThings app, menu, labs
Unfortunately, Todd is no longer contributing to this community so he won’t be replying to your inquiry.
In addition to the Labs method of creating virtual devices, you can also try the ST Advanced Web App to create virtual devices that can run either on your hub or in the cloud.
Didn’t realize that Todd Austin had moved on. I was hoping that he is well and was just quiet because things were stable. Has anyone taken over the driver code? All is working fine now (at least for my myriad Alexa switches) but sooner or later Smartthings will make changes that will break them. Thanks, the other Todd
I don’t believe anyone has taken over support for this or any of his other drivers. Honestly, I wish ST would take the popular community developed drivers and integrate them into the platform.
I know this is an old thread, and the issue is probably because I am using an old version of the edge device generator, but just in case:
I was trying to use an event on a Tuya device (washing machine power demand dropped below 5W) to trigger an Alexa routine (announce washer stopped). Alexa doesn’t see that power monitoring value, but SmartThings does. So I had the idea of having that event trigger a virtual device, and then having Alexa watch that.
The good news is that Alexa does see the virtual switch.
The bad news is that it will not let that switch be selected as a trigger for a routine.
Have I done something wrong, is this a known limitation (perhaps fixed if I upgrade), would a different kind of virtual device be a workaround, and what debugging information would you like me to gather if any?
Have you used the Alexa switch, turned on the separate contact, and used the contact in Alexa’s the trigger? If not scroll back up and find the many instructions for doing so.
Searching back, I’m still confused about where to find “separate contact”.
I have confirmed that the ST switch and Alexa switch are communicating; turning one on or off changes the state of the other.
I don’t see separate as a configuration option in either the ST or Alexa app.
I’m apparently running MQTT Device Creator V1.8, with controller version 2.3.45-9. Does this predate addition of separate? Should I drop it and install the current vEdge?
Create a Alexa Edit with the vEdge creator. Open setting on the Alexa switch detail page and select create separate contacts.
Okay, looks like that isn’t present in my version. I’ll upgrade. Thanks.
Got it. I was expecting this to be part of the mqtt device factory, and it isn’t; it’s a separate factory.
Installed that, created Alexa switch, had to stop and start the Android SmartThings app to be able to edit its settings, then was able to set it to separate mode. Haven’t yet checked that enables the Alexa routine to run, but I don’t expect any problems from here out. Many thanks!
Sorry to hear Todd has left; he was a pleasure to work with. Yes, if Samsung shouldbe better about adopting community written drivers at least into the “lab, use at your own risk, community support only” category. I can understand why they don’t want to support code they didn’t write, but come on, you’re getting free drivers, you should be able to find someone who’s willing to spend a few cycles on them.
I’ve considered doing so myself, but I already have six projects started (including catching up on Apache Xalan’s backlog, and my own devices taking advantage of Todd’s mqtt support) and until I get more organized and I’m using my time more efficiently, I really can’t take on another volunteer effort. Though I do have some device driver background.
Is there a central list of what the rest of Todd’s drivers are actually for? I can guess it’s some of them from the names, but it would be really nice if there was a page somewhere with brief description of each rather than just the name and access requirements.
You can check both his Shared Projects Channel and Test Channel which lists everything that he has made publicly available. There aren’t descriptions but you can probably find the topics where those drivers were introduced and work back from there.
There is also his Github repositories toddaustin07 (toddaustin07) / Repositories · GitHub
Is there a way to add Batterie Level to Contact Sensor? Like temp and hum Sensor?!
