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    HSM100 Usage with HomeSeer

    Update: Our Wiki has a page dedicated to the HSM100 with more information:

    http://www.homeseer.com/wiki/index.php/HomeSeer_HSM100

    Hello,

    For you HSM100 owners out there, I thought a little "leg up" on how to use them would be a good idea. Since they are so popular, I only got one a couple of months ago, so I was a little green on them myself, but I definitely understood the HomeSeer side of things...

    Before I get into my examples, let me discuss some of the principles of HomeSeer (triggers/conditions) that are important to understand:
    • Triggers are instantaneous - when the trigger item changes, HomeSeer immediately evaluates any conditions on the event, and if they are satisfied, the event's actions are run.
    • Conditions are able to be used in conjunction with triggers, or by themselves acting as a trigger, but when they are the trigger, they act differently. Conditions as a trigger are evaluated approximately once a minute, at least, although if one of the conditions change, the entire set is evaluated immediately. This is best understood with an example - if you have 3 conditions, one of which is that the office light is off, this condition set is evaluated about once a minute. Now let's say a different event changes the state of the office light - the conditions in this event are all evaluated immediately because one of the conditions references the office light, which just changed.


    Additionally, it will help to understand some things about the HSM100 which are different from an X-10 or hardwired motion detector and how those would be used with HomeSeer:
    • The HSM100 does not report each time there is motion - it only reports motion once, and then it reports no motion after the time period you specify has gone by without any motion. The detector keeps tracking motion, but with this arrangement, it only has to turn on the Z-Wave radio once in a while which helps reduce battery consumption.
    • Temperature and Light Levels are not reported whenever they change either - they are reported at an interval you set, which was also by design so that battery consumption can be somewhat determined by you, the end user.
    • The HomeSeer devices created all operate using device value changes - the displayed status text is updated in some cases by status/value pairs (motion/no motion), and in other cases the text is set after the value is set - values, however, are what you want to use for all of your events referencing these devices.


    If you were using the HSM100's motion detector to light a room, you'll note that you wouldn't need to use delayed device actions and removing delayed device actions because the HSM100's design eliminates the need for this - an event when there is motion, and an event when there is no motion and you're done!

    OK, so with those key pieces of information, let's look at how I used the HSM100 to automate the lights and ceiling fan in my home office:


    The first four events run the ceiling fan. There are three events covering three situations where I want the fan turned off if it is on - when the temperature comes down, when the security system is armed (we are away), or when there is no motion in the office (I have left). The interesting two events are the ones that turn the fan on and off by temperature, as they show how one of the variants of the device value trigger can be used. In the case of turning off the fan, there was a couple of ways (at least) that I could have done it, but I chose the one that makes less sense just to have something different to show you - value ranges. Normally, I would have just entered a trigger of the value being less than 800 (80 degrees), but by saying it is NOT in the range of 800 to 999 (80 to 99.9 degrees), I am able to show you how a device value range trigger is set up.
    The event for turning on the fan could have been set up as several events using triggers, just like the off events, but there was no reason to have the fan turned off instantly when the sensors dictate, so I was able to use a condition to get everything into one event. Conditions being evaluated at least once a minute was good enough for this since: A) the HSM100 sends signals at most every 6 minutes, and B) when the HSM100 wakes up to report something and HomeSeer updates the associated devices, it will force all of the conditions in this event to be evaluated. With this arrangement, this condition trigger behaves almost as quickly as a regular trigger based event.

    The last three events dealing with the light actually has an error - did you catch it? One event turns off the light if the light level gets above 19% and there is no motion, but that is not needed since there is an event that turns off the light when there is no longer motion. It does, at least, show you yet another way to use the device value triggers. The way this came about is an exercise in "duh". Originally the event worked fine, but then after I got everything set up the way I wanted, I moved the multi sensor to its permanent location in the office, but there it was getting the direct light from the light that was being automated -- yep, you guessed it - darkness would cause the light to be turned on, then the light would cause it to be turned back off! So, I added the condition to check motion without thinking about the event I already had in place to turn off the light when there was no longer motion. The "on" event is pretty straightforward, but you might wonder why (again) it uses a value range for the light sensor rather than a "less than" condition? The answer is simple - conditions do not have value greater than or less than conditions!

    I hope this helps - feel free to post your questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
    Regards,

    Rick Tinker (a.k.a. "Tink")

    #2
    Thanks Rick,

    Your tutoring is fantastic. I have been waiting to purchase this device as I wanted to understand how it worked and make sure it was worth the investment. I am ready.

    Comment


      #3
      Nice write-up, Rick! You gonna add that to the HSM100 Wiki page?

      Comment


        #4
        Hs100 question - RE: Motion during timing interval

        Rick,

        Thanks in advance for your help! I just received two of the HS100 units. I set one up in my kitchen as an 'occupancy' sensor. There are many ways of using homeseer for timing but I wanted to identify exactly how the HS100 works.

        I set the motion timing interval to 1 minute for testing. I walked in to the room and then out of the room. The unit reports motion to homeseer and then a minute later reports no motion. (LEDS flash on the unit when detecting initial motion).

        For my next test, I stayed in the room walking around for several minutes. The LEDs flashed on initial motion. One minute later the LEDs flashed again. So the HS100 came back to life after 1 minute and then went to sleep for one minute, etc. It was my understanding that the HS100 would not start timing until 'motion stopped'. What does 'motion stopped' mean? I thought that during the timing period if there was motion, the timing period would reset and begin timing again. This would be the proper operation for an occupancy sensor.

        The typical motion detector that is sold at Home depot senses motion turns the light on and then turns the light off after a fixed period of time. It is then ready to detect motion again. Is this what the HS100 is designed to do? Or is it designed to reset the timer when there is motion during the timing period.

        Roy

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by TechnoCat View Post
          Nice write-up, Rick! You gonna add that to the HSM100 Wiki page?
          Techno,
          Sorry, I did not see your post until just now. I think Wiki's are nice, but I'll leave this one up to anybody who wants to take it on! I got my hands pretty darn full right now.
          Regards,

          Rick Tinker (a.k.a. "Tink")

          Comment


            #6
            Roy,

            Motion stopped means just that - no more motion for a period of time. Here is the deal - each time the detector has to send a Z-Wave command, it has to turn on the radio which takes more battery life than anything else on the detector. So, let's say you have it set for no motion after 5 minutes. When you first walk into the room, the detector catches you, wakes up the radio and sends a signal that tells HomeSeer (or some other device) that there was motion. After it sends that signal, the radio is turned OFF, and now the detector is continuing to operate. As long as you are moving around, the detector sees this and keeps resetting itself. If you are moving for 10 minutes, then there is still motion and so no further signals need to be sent. Now let's say you stop moving - now the detector realizes that there is no more motion so it starts counting seconds... If five minutes goes by (the period you set as the timeout), and there is no more motion, then it wakes up the radio and sends the OFF or NO MOTION signal to HomeSeer or a device.

            So you see, the motion timeout is just that - no motion for that period of time. The detector is being as good on batteries as it can so that they last as long as possible. The wake-up interval for the temperature and light level are critical to battery life because this forces the radio to be turned on to transmit the data levels, so setting this wake-up period too low will cause your batteries to go away fast.
            Regards,

            Rick Tinker (a.k.a. "Tink")

            Comment


              #7
              HS100 - Timeout period not extending when there is motion

              Rick,

              I read you loud and clear but I don't think that is how my HS100 is functioning. I have homeseer setup to speak when the HS100 sends an off command (which I assume is only at the end of the timing cycle.

              I have the HS100 delay set for 1 minute (for testing). I walk into the kitchen and see the led flash for a second or so on the HS100 (motion detected). I continue to walk in and out of the kitchen simulating motion. At one minute Homeseer speaks and notifies me that the timing cycle is over. I would think that I wouldn't hear anything from Homeseer until 1 minute after I have left the kitchen (no motion).

              Please advise.

              Thank you,

              Roy

              Comment


                #8
                Changed time-delay to 4 minutes

                Rick,

                I changed the time delay to 4 minutes and it seems like the unit is behaving as you described. If I walk in to the kitchen during the 4 minute delay, the delay is 'reset' back to 4 minutes.

                Thanks again for your help!

                Roy

                Comment


                  #9
                  Need help with HSM100

                  Received two HSM100s and they are working OK when they are set up as an association with a light but NOT as a trigger set up in an event. The event is quite simple...when motion is on, turn light on to 30% dim.
                  Is there something I am missing here?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Is the HSM100 associated with HS or the device? I use Device Value change - when multisensor value becomes equal to motion - trigger - hope that helps

                    Comment


                      #11
                      The HSM100 is associated with Homeseer AND the device. This seems to be the only way it works but it is not my preferred option. When associated like this, the light comes on when there is motion. But, the trigger functionality doesn't seem to work when set up as a trigger for an event with another device.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I don't associate the MultiSensors with particular devices only HS - if you remove the association with the device when the Sensors' value becomes equal to Motion you should be able to trigger whatever you want and when the Sensors' value becomes equal to No Motion you should be able to trigger what you want.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Yep...that's the theory but it is not doing it. Very simple command...if motion is on, dim kitchen light to 30% is the event. The only association is with homeseer.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Did you try deleting the Homeseer association and re-adding it - I have had to do this a couple of times to get things working.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              You'll want to also set your trigger to "if status becomes motion on" (or whatever the status string says) so it only triggers the 30% dim once.

                              Just a thought.

                              I have one of my HSM100's associated with HS, and do the triggering of things via script as well as just triggering and it works just as you say you want it to work.

                              If it's important, I can do a screen capture of the event settings if you don't get it working by verifying the HS association is working correctly and deleting and readding as required. These units are a might tricky IMHO.
                              huggy_d1

                              Automating made easy

                              Comment

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