In the device Controls screen in the upper right corner is a 3-vertical-dot menu. Tap it and then tap “Settings”. You should see the Dashboard State option. If it is not there, you may need to create a new device.
Okay that’s where I checked
The dimmer at 100% is old existing, while the one at 60% was just created.
No settings option
Thank you for the clarification. Yes the virtual contact is now recognized by Alexa. In order for Alexa to make a sound I previously needed to use a simulated Alexa switch to trigger it which was mirrored to a device like a door contact sensor. This required a device handler developed by Perron (spelling?) Now Alexa can make the sound directly from the door contact sensor. So it seems like I don’t need to use a virtual contact to trigger Alexa sounds but I will use them for other purposes.
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For my Alexa automations, I am using “Momentary Button” It is recognized in Alexa and automatically returns to the Off state. When triggered, my Alexa routing runs.
This may be a temporary anomaly with the mobile app. Try restarting your app. It should appear eventually.
I should know by now with SmartThings patience is required.
Thanks! State switches automatically according to the virtual temperature and set points now! This is what I wanted, thanks again! I wonder if it is possible in the SmartThings platform to assign the temperature value of a real sensor to the virtual temperature of your virtual thermostat. Other new feature suggestion: display the actual temperature on the tile of the virtual thermostat instead of its state. The icon shows the active (heating or cooling) state by its shade anyway, so I can see that heating or cooling is active. Maybe showing the temperature would be more useful.
Unfortunately, the active/inactive state of the icon is linked to the status shown on the tile. I don’t know why ST did it like that, but that is how it is at present.
“in the Smartthings platform” is the key phrase. I think there would be two options:
- Get someone to add the virtual thermostat stuff to an existing driver for the temperature sensor (maybe @Mariano_Colmenarejo has already done this?)
- Do it through a SmartApp
Otherwise you’d have to wait until routines or Rules have some kind of support for variables.
Outside the platform, if you had access to the temp value from your sensor, you could use the SmartThings RESTful API to set the value in the virtual device with a simple https request, or you could also use the SmartThings SDK for Direct Connected Devices if you were doing it from an MCU or Raspberry Pi. All that takes some technical skills, though.
Hi @ozsolt
I have a driver that turns a temperature sensor into a full featured thermostat.
I was using it all last winter as the main heating thermostat with the sonoff TH01 sensor (€20) and a zigbee switch (€18)
It has a greater precision in temperature changes (0.1ºc) than the thermostat I had (0.5ºc). I left the old Wifi thermostat as a backUp, 2ºc below this one and it worked perfectly all winter and I calculated it saved 10% on fuel over similar years in temps.
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This is a great piece of work, thank you! I have been using a bunch of virtual switches to kick off “Scenes” using the home automation buttons on the bottom of my Logitech/Harmony Elite remote. I was able to replace all those virtual switches with yours really easily and it works perfectly.
One thing I am having an issue with is adding one of your virtual switches to the start/end sequence of my Harmony Activities. When trying to add the virtual switch it needs to determine the current state of the switch and that is where it fails. It says it can’t communicate with the switch. It works fine with the old virtual switches that I created in the Groovy IDE. Not sure if that is fixable.
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- NO CERTIFICATION REQUIRED!ddd
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I followed the instructions and the VEDGE Switch 1 shows up in Alexa devices but when I try to edit existing routine (which triggers alexa guard home and away), I can’t change the trigger from the existing virtual Echo Guard Switch to Vedge Switch 1 as the VEdge Switch 1 doesn’t show up in list of Smart Home devices. Do I somehow need to add the Vedge Switch 1 to Alexa Smart Home and if so how do I do that? Thanks Mike in Ocala
Alexa doesn’t support switches in the “When this happens” part of a routine. You need to use a virtual contact device, which also has a synched switch, making it useful for both “When this happens” and and Action part of an Alexa routine.
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Use a “Momentary Button”. It can then be used in Alexa to trigger a routine.
@TAustin Any advice regarding the issue I posted above? I am able to successfully turn the virtual switches on/off using my Harmony Elite remote but can’t seem to add one to any of my Activity sequences. I get an error that it can’t determine the current state of the virtual switch. Works fine with the old virtual switches I created in the Groovy IDE.
I deleted it as a switch and used the edge creator to add a device as a contact sensor. It is identified as vedge contact 1. I modified my ST automations and my Alexa routines to use the Vedge Contact 1 instead of the Echo Guard Switch contact sensor but the routines and automations don’t work. I guess Im doing something wrong but can’t figure out what it is. With the Vedge Contact 1 as a contact sensor it did show up as a trigger option but routines still don’t work.
You probably need to share some more specifics about your automations so we can see what might be the problem.
I assume you have an automation on the SmartThings side that is changing the state of the contact via the switch, yes? Is that part working?
And then you have an Alexa routine that is doing something when it sees the contact change to open or close?
I have 2 automations in ST that used a virtual Echo Guard Switch (EGS - which looks like a sensor not a switch). When i run auto 1, the EGS turns off. In Alexa, when ST auto 1 runs and the switch turns off, the EGS closes and turns on Alexa Guard Away.
When i run auto 2, the EGS turns on. In Alexa, when ST auto 2 runs, the EGS opens and sets Alexa Guard to Home.
FWIW, in ST my old EGS icon shows a sensor and below the Text Echo Guard Switch shows either on or off.
When I used your developer and created a device (device type contact sensor), it shows up in ST as a sensor but below the text Echo Guard Switch it shows either open or closed NOT on or off.
The existing virtual switch came from BJPierrot and has worked fine. I am not a coder so I followed Bud’s video instructions and it has worked fine. I’m just not sure if it will work after 12/31/2022 so I was exploring your virtual as a possible replacement if it doesn’t work.
I guess I can leave it alone and see if it works after end of year.
Thanks Mike
He’s already using a switch and contact sensor combination device from my driver. I’d really like to understand the issue rather than send him to another driver from my topic, please.