Constructing a series of events for motion controlled lighting

[quinn]

Thanks. I think this is quite an important thread for people trying to make HomeSeer do the essentials. I was using Vera/Pleg, but depending so heavily on an unofficial plug in did not seem to be a very secure boat. Sorry that it needs to be "reconstructed" as opposed to recovered..

[randy]

Thanks. I think this is quite an important thread for people trying to make HomeSeer do the essentials. I was using Vera/Pleg, but depending so heavily on an unofficial plug in did not seem to be a very secure boat. Sorry that it needs to be "reconstructed" as opposed to recovered..

I think I was able to reconstruct the second and third posts in the thread. Also note that I have replaced my Jasco switches with HomeSeer HS-WD100+, allowing me to replace ON-OFF-ON with central scene triggers.

[socalsharky]

I am trying to create a series of events, virtual devices, counters and timers that will allow me to suspend motion control of my garage lights. The main difference between my system and is the fact that I am using a switch and motion control sensor within Lutron Radio RA2. With this system, the motion sensor communicates with the switch outside of HS3, thus, I cannot turn that communication off from within HS3. In addition, the motion sensors within RA2 are "dumb" in the sense that they only broadcast their status; you cannot change their status externally. I have also researched this on the Lutron forums, and Lutron does not support this type of functionality.

I was thinking of creating a series of events that would detect when the sensor reported no motion, and then immediately turn the light back on. The problem is that there is no way to distinguish when the lights are turned off manually versus when they are turned off by the motion detector.

[The Profit]

I think I was able to reconstruct the second and third posts in the thread. Also note that I have replaced my Jasco switches with HomeSeer HS-WD100+, allowing me to replace ON-OFF-ON with central scene triggers.

Hi Randy,
Wondering if you might have some time and would mind updating either this thread or make a new one “Updated for HS Switches”? I’m sure your events have come a long ways since 2015! I’m thinking you probably don’t have some of those VD since EasyTrigger schedules....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[randy]

Hi Randy,
Wondering if you might have some time and would mind updating either this thread or make a new one “Updated for HS Switches”? I’m sure your events have come a long ways since 2015! I’m thinking you probably don’t have some of those VD since EasyTrigger schedules....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I just saw this post today. I will try to show the changes in some additional posts. I do use Easy Trigger schedules and HomeSeer Central Scene switches, but the underlying logic for motion control remains the same.

[The Profit]

I just saw this post today. I will try to show the changes in some additional posts. I do use Easy Trigger schedules and HomeSeer Central Scene switches, but the underlying logic for motion control remains the same.

Thank you Randy! I look forward to seeing the updates that you've made!

I haven't been able to get Tapatalk notifications working again so I just ran across your post by accident. Most everyone else has gotten it working so I'm thinking I'm just going to be left out in the cold on the issue so I'll keep checking back.

[randy]

Here goes...

Since I initially posted the HomeSeer scene capable switches and dimmers became available as well as Spuds excellellent Easy Trigger plug-in. This provided much more flexibility and ease of configuration as compared to my original method using Jasco switches with counters and timers and a master motion control virtual device. Now, instead of a virtual device to determine when motion control was desired, I use an Easy Trigger schedule. I currently use three schedules, exterior, interior and basement. These schedules account for sunrise and sunset times. In addition, I have a "Low Light" virtual device that is controlled by the luminance sensor on my rooftop weather station. Here is one of the schedules



For each lighting group I use two virtual devices - Motion Master and Motion Enable. Motion Master is used to suspend motion control until it is specifically enabled again. Motion Enable is used for temporary suspension allowing the lights to remain off or on until they are manually controlled.

There are also some subtle changes to the Events. Here is the On by Motion Event:



There are two sections, scheduled and low light. Each is triggered by motion, require that the lights are off for at least 30 seconds (so that they will not trigger as I am leaving the room) and that the two virtual devices are on. If the Low Light Device is On, it will allow motion control outside of the schedule.

Here is the Off by No Motion Event:



The Off Event also has two sections. The first will cause the event to run if there has been no motion for at least 15 minutes, that the lights have been on for a few minutes and that motion control is enabled. The second section is a failsafe that will not let the lights stay on for more that 2 hours, unless there has been recent motion.

I have two Events for temporarily suspending and resuming motion control:


If the top or bottom paddle on the HS switch is held, motion control is temporarily disabled. This will leave the lights On or Off until manually controlled.



If the lights are turned on or off at the switch or set to off by event, the motion control is resumed. My "House to Sleep" routine turns all household lights off. Since the 3rd trigger is dependent on the lights being "Set" to off, this will restore motion control.

There are two Events allowing me to turn motion control Off or On on a persistent basis. These Events use Central Scene controls from the switch, instead of counters and timers with the Jasco switches. The old methods worked, but the Central Scene gives me much more control and easier Event construction.

[randy]

With dimmers, much is the same, except I use a set of level setting events that will set the dim level based on time of day, low light, etc. Each of the 6 default levels can be set through virtual devices.



When the lights are controlled it is through a level set Event. I call this level Event from the motion controls, or when controlling the lights from other Events.



This will set the lights to a level based on time of day or low light as well as being set to the last level if lighting defaults are not employed (controlled by the "Use Defaults" Virtual Device). Each of the called events will run based upon Easy Trigger schedule time of day and Virtual Devices. Here is for Night-Awake level:



If "Use Defaults" is Off, this Event runs



My master suspend and resume Events are the same as for switches. I only use a temporary suspend in the On position, since holding a paddle also will increase or decrease the level. To allow me to increase or decrease the light level, I added a pair of Events using the Central Scene double tap. Tapping the top twice turns the lights to On.



Tapping the bottom twice returns them to the default level.

[The Profit]

Hey
Thank you for posting! I think just a couple of questions:
1) I don't understand the difference between "Motion Master" & "Motion Enable" virtual devices. Motion Enable is temporary and will automatically turn itself back on if any type of light control is made after Motion Enable was turned off, correct? Where Motion Master will allow user to control the light after Motion Master is turned off and won't turn motion back on unless it is three tapped? If the three tap isn't performed on the way out of the room, is there another event that you have that will automatically reset it back to On? I think you said that your good night event would reset the Motion Master....turning the light off does too, correct?

2) Do you have events for motion with Dimmers? I assume the tap and hold wouldn't work with dimmers?

3) If I remember correctly, a lot of your motion sensors are tied in with your security system, correct? I'm thinking about how the motion sensor (if not wired) settings would need to be set? My initial thought would be to set them so they trigger similar to wired, in that they reset to No Motion every 60 seconds?

Thanks Randy, really appreciate the amount of time you spend and detail that you put into your posts.

[randy]

Hey
Thank you for posting! I think just a couple of questions:
1) I don't understand the difference between "Motion Master" & "Motion Enable" virtual devices. Motion Enable is temporary and will automatically turn itself back on if any type of light control is made after Motion Enable was turned off, correct? Where Motion Master will allow user to control the light after Motion Master is turned off and won't turn motion back on unless it is three tapped? If the three tap isn't performed on the way out of the room, is there another event that you have that will automatically reset it back to On? I think you said that your good night event would reset the Motion Master....turning the light off does too, correct?

Motion Master is a device which will disable motion control on a persistent basis. The device must be turned on and off, it is not reset at midnight. It is a means of disabling motion control indefinitely. For consistency, I include the device in the package of Virtual Devices for all lights, but in reality there are only a couple of groups that I use the Master Device with. I currently have motion control disabled in the backyard (because the dogs will set it off) and in my wife's bathroom because she doesn't like it. For some reason she cannot live without it in the basement rooms, but doesn't like it in her bathroom. The backyard motion control is enabled when we are out of town. When our occupancy mode is "Vacation" the backyard motion controlled lighting is enabled along with many other changes. It is disabled when not Vacation. While I could just use the Occupancy Mode device to disable backyard motion but as above, I like consistency among groups of devices.



Motion Enable is turned back on whenever the top or bottom paddle is pressed, or if the switch is "set" to Off. My "House to Sleep" Event sets all lights to Off, so the Motion Enable devices are turned on each night when we go to bed.

2) Do you have events for motion with Dimmers? I assume the tap and hold wouldn't work with dimmers?

In the second post yesterday I wrote about it. We have more switches than dimmers on motion controlled lights and dimmers are set with default levels whenever the lights are turned on with the defaults being just about exactly where we want the lighting from day to night. As the time transitions from day to twilight to night, the light levels are adjusted. The top paddle held will work, but the timing is very tight. There is a brief moment where the paddle will show key held, before the level starts changing, but adjusting the level of the lights will always trigger a key held and released scene. My current workaround is to set the light to On with a double tap of the top and back to the default level with a double tap of the bottom. A push and hold of the top or bottom will still disable the motion control, but the timing is close on the top paddle. We have found we rarely want to temporarily disable motion control on any of the dimmers with the light on, only when it is off. Alternately a double tap could be used to temporarily enable/disable, but that would be inconsistent with the switches.

3) If I remember correctly, a lot of your motion sensors are tied in with your security system, correct? I'm thinking about how the motion sensor (if not wired) settings would need to be set? My initial thought would be to set them so they trigger similar to wired, in that they reset to No Motion every 60 seconds?

Yes, mine are DSC and Bosch PIRs tied into my DSC security system. They are almost immediate in changing state based on motion. The Events will work even with Z-Wave motion detectors with a longer timeout, since I am turning the lights off only after the sensor has been no motion for xx minutes. I set my Z-Wave devices to a 1 minute timeout when I was using them. I like the near instant reaction of the wired sensors because it affords me the ability with a counter and timer to determine if there is continuous motion over a set period of time. There are some areas where I only want something to happen if there is continuous occupancy For instance if I count 6 or more motion triggers within 2 minutes and the door becomes closed the extractors in the bathrooms are turned on. The extractors are turned off after there is no motion for 10 minutes and the door is opened. If a guest closes the door when exiting, the fan will still be turned off after 20 minutes.

Thanks Randy, really appreciate the amount of time you spend and detail that you put into your posts.

Sure. I hope the above makes sense

[bhollehday]

What is the easiest way to set up so that I have 3 different lighting conditions:

1. dusk-dawn
2. day light
3. night light

So that the lighting group turns on at a different brightness for each condition. Would I just create virtual devices for each:

Virtual Device:
1. Motion Control Day Light
2. Motion Control Night Light
3. Motion Control Dusk-Dawn

And then in each event group an ON/OFF event based off of times for each virtual device. Then just add an event for each condition that has an "if motion control day light is on"?

Or could I even do it this way:

[randy]

What is the easiest way to set up so that I have 3 different lighting conditions:

1. dusk-dawn
2. day light
3. night light

This is how I do it. It might be way more complex than you desire, but you might get some ideas from my methods.

I have several lighting modes in the house as reflected in this Virtual Device. This device just shows the current lighting mode and is not used in events.
The actual lighting modes are determined by 3 Easy Trigger Schedules and 2 Virtual Devices.

The three schedules are

Daytime



Twilight



Night



These schedules do not overlap.

There are two Virtual Devices . One is the lighting management mode



The second is a low light virtual device. It is controlled by several Events that look to our PWS luminance device.


Then there are a group of Events for each lighting group.



One looks to any default level changes and forces a change in the lighting. This allows me to trim any level and see the results as I adjust.



Another Event looks for changes in management mode, low light or schedule. If any change is encountered, the lighting is set.


If default levels or time events are triggered they run a level set Event. This Event is also used for motion controlled activation.



There are 6 or 7 Events that will determine the level of the lighting. Only 1 of the Events can be true at any time based on schedule, low light and lighting management mode. .

I use a group of Virtual Devices to determine the lighting level for any of the lighting modes. These Virtual Devices allow me to trim any of the levels. Originally I hard coded the levels into the events, but decided to provide a means of adjusting any of the default levels.



All Events are similar, here is for Night Awake. It checks that the schedule is correct, that the lighting group uses default levels and that the management mode is normal. If all the conditions are met, it sets the lighting group to the appropriate default device using Easy Trigger's set a device to another device.


Here is the night asleep Event, the only difference from above is the management mode.



These routines were developed years ago and have served us well. Motion controlled lighting simply runs the "Level" Event so they come on at the appropriate level. Additionally, if the lighting is On and a new mode is entered, they will adjust accordingly.