Detecting an ON / OFF from an X10 motion sensor

kewpro · Post by **kewpro** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 6:19 pm

I've been playing with the software for a couple of days -- pretty darn cool so far! I'm getting the swing of it.

But I don't seem to grasp the method to detect the ON (and then delayed off) signal from an X10 motion sensor for use in triggering a task. I don't really want the sensor to trigger an actual light or device- just start a task and let the Housebot software do the work. Can someone give me a quick theory or technical lesson?

Thanks.

Keith

[email protected]

Post by **ScottBot** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 11:28 pm

Keith,

The general idea is to create a Task (global task, not manual) that will have a condition to test for the motion detector 'Power State'. When it changes to the desired state (probably On), it will execute other actions. Here's a quick step-by-step.

- Create an "X10 Transmitter" Device for the motion detector. Give it the House Code and Unit Code of the detector. If setup correctly, whenever the motion detector is triggered, the Power State Property of the motion detector Device should change.
- Create a Task and make sure the 'Manual' check box is UNCHECKED.
- Add a condition to the Task to test whether the motion detector Device Power State Property equals "On".
- Add conditions to the Task for each action that you want to happen when the motion detector is triggered.

Hope this helps,

Scott

kewpro · Post by **kewpro** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 12:30 am

Scott,

Thanks for the help. It turns out I didn't grasp the meaning of Manual.

I thought it meant it "could" be used manually.

All seems to be coming together now. This program is great - thanks!

Keith

Post by **ScottBot** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 10:09 am

Yea, I need to change the 'Manual' term to something else. You're not the first to be thrown off by it.

Scott

Redbeard25 · Post by **Redbeard25** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:50 pm

Scott or any readers,

I'm new with HouseBot, but I LOVE it... it does everything I need it to do for my limited X10 setup, and the price is perfect.

I want to set up a Task to turn on several lights at my house when we walk in after work, but I don't want to turn all of the lights on every time we pass the motion sensor... just the first time we pass it in the evening.

So... i'm this far:

If ('System Time.Sunrise Indicator' is Equal '0') And
If ('System Time.Time Without Seconds' is Greater Than '5:00:00 pm') And
If ('Laundry Room Motion Detector.Power State' is Equal 'On')

Then
(Power State On)
(Power State On)

etc.

... and I'm stuck there! If I just left the macro like that, any time we tripped the motion detector, it would trigger. I'd like to say something like "If ('Laundry Room Motion Detector.Power State' is Unchanged since '4:00:00 pm')" or "If (This Task' has not run Today)" or something like that.

Any help?

Thanks,

Patrick

update: I'm playing around with the Software Properties and making a flag to test whether the task has been run or not. Film at eleven. :-D

Post by **ScottBot** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:20 pm

Patrick,

I think you're on the right track. You could add a Property/flag to a Device that your Task will first check to see if it has not been set before turning on the light. If it turns on the light, it can then set the flag/Property.

You will need another task that runs periodically (at midnight maybe) that will reset the flag for the next day.

Note: you can add a Property to any Device, but many of the Devices will not allow added Properties to change. You can always use a Null Device to add Properties for this type of thing.

Scott

Redbeard25 · Post by **Redbeard25** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 9:24 pm

I added a Null Device called "FLAGS" that I can add flags to at will. Right now, I have a grand total of one flag called "Test for Home." It is set to "No" at 9:00 a.m. each morning. Then, in a separate task, if it's between 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. each weekday and the motion detector is triggered, it sets the flag to "Yes" and turns on the extra lights. Otherwise, we're still not home!

As intimated in the above post, I did manage to figure out about the Null Device in the help file. However, it took some digging. The context-sensitive help is nice... unless you're out of context! It would be nice to have a master index to the help file, if that's an option with the product you're compiling it in.

Thanks for such a great program, Scott.

Detecting an ON / OFF from an X10 motion sensor

Detecting an ON / OFF from an X10 motion sensor

Ahh - Unchecked Manual