Goose66

Amazon recently released version 3 of the Smart Home Skills API. It expanded the capabilities (actions, commands) of devices that can be reported in discovery, provided for asynchronous responses to calls, and allows push-based state reporting. There appears to be no "room" functionality included in the new API nor is a "room" attribute included in the discovery response payload. The way that Alexa is handling rooms is that the user must place an Echo/Dot/Show/etc. in a group with the devices in the same room in the Alexa app. The Echo should then properly control devices in that room with shortcut descriptions (I have not yet tested this). But this has to be setup in the Alexa app and I don't see a way for the ISY Portal information to perform this function or influence this process. So for now, the "room" attribute in the ISY Portal is still "not used" for Alexa users. EDIT: IMO, the most exciting thing about the v3 API is the ability to report specific capabilities for devices. It's probably a ways down the road, but once UDI can get the ISY to report capabilities for Nodes supported by node servers based on their definitions in the nodedef.xml, it will open up some amazing capabilities. For example, I will be able to ask Alexa to increase the temperature in the pool, report the spa temperature, or set custom modes in the alarm system (to date I am running all of my Alexa home automation through the ISY instead of using native capabilities where available).

I can set my Motion defectors to on only and control the timers via programs. This also allows me to turn on the floods via Insteon and have them stay on after motion.

+1 - replaced the motion detector flood lights on my new house with regular flood fixtures controlled by dual-band Insteon dimmers and added Insteon motion detectors (v1). I already owned the dimmers and v1 motion detectors from the old house, so it was a no brainer for me. But it does provide a little more flexibility in programming and control than the micro dimmer w/ 120V PIR detector.

How do you prevent it from turning off the light on end of motion. In other words, if you turn it on via Insteon command, then there is motion, it will turn off at end of timer, right.

The Micro Dimmers sense line is load level, i.e., 120V in the U.S.. So your PIR would have to have a 120 V trigger.

And you presume to know my budget how?

Precisely the point of my reply. We are only in the "early stages" of Home Automation if you think the timescale for Home Automation is like 100 years. Based on where we were in the early 90's, and compared to how the Internet and mobile phones have progressed, we should have us a J.A.R.V.I.S. by now - not something like Alexa that I can play parlor tricks with my telling her to turn on my fireplace, but a real AI that can see the big picture in the house and control things in a way that makes life safer, more secure, and less expensive.

My PC controlled the lights and thermostat based on my comings and goings. That's home automation.

I don't know how old you are, but I have been working on automating my home since 1995. At that time, I had a computer in a closet controlling lights via x10 switches and plug-in modules, a custom interface to my thermostat controlled by the Centronics parallel port on my computer, a genlock that allowed web pages, automation status, and messages to be displayed over my TV signal, and an IBM voice command card that allowed me to turn on and off devices by voice (granted I had to speak directly into the computer mic.) After 22 years, I am constantly shocked at how little progress we have made in home automation since that time. Regardless, I certainly don't consider this the "early stages" of home automation.

If you look in the ISY Log, you can see commands for devices listed, and the commands have codes like DON, DOF, DFON, DFOF, etc. When you are writing programs and putting in a control condition, "If Control 'Dining Light' is switched On" and "If Control 'Dining Light' is switched Fast On" are two distinct conditions. Note, however, that both of them will result in the status of the Dining Light being "On", so the condition "If Status 'Dining Light' is On" in a program will be true as a result of both commands. It is important to understand the difference between how Control conditions and Status conditions work in programming. Commands and status are two distinct things in the ISY.

Actually a "Fast On," to use the ISY and Insteon vernacular. The code for this in the log would be "DFON."

Ok, then I can see why my instructions were confusing. I agree that you want the A button in "Always On" mode and you should put it in a separate scene as a Responder so that your program can turn it off. It doesn't have to be in there by its "lonesome" - I have some scenes with multiple KPL buttons in there as responders.

Yes, I am equally confused that "If 'Outdoor Garage Door-Closed' is switched Off" works and "If 'Outdoor Garage Door-Closed' Status is Off" doesn't. That doesn't make any sense.

Isn’t the A button the On button? Maybe that’s where I’m confusing you. I converted my only 6 button to an 8 button when I moved a year ago, so I My be forgetting how it shows up in the ISY.

In Insteon, the settings for each device in a scene (present levels and ramp rates) only work with an On command from the controllers. A Fast-On command (double-tap of the controller button or switch) sends a Fast-On to all of the devices in the scene. Similarly, the Off and Fast-Off commands send Off and Fast-Off to the devices in the scene, respectively. Therefore, if you put button A on a 6-button KPL as a controller in your scene, pressing the A should set all the devices to the preset-levels (0 in this case) regardless of the previous status of the button or the devices, since the A-button is stuck in Always On mode, and pressing the F button (bottom button) should turn all the devices in the scene off, since the F-button is stuck in Always Off mode. Are all the devices you are wanting to turn off dimmers?

I too hoped that the Room function was going to be something passed through the API - we already have Room setup in the portal, so just needed the Echo to supply it. Also in the announcement, if I recall, was the ability of Alexa to do complex tasks when i say "Goodnight." Is that in the API or is that going to be something done through the Alexa app like the room groups? Again, here's hoping it's in the API.

The Else branch is hardly ever usable in ISY programming. Your original program is a case in point. This program is going to be triggered 1) at 10:30 PM and 2) every time the status of "Outdoor Garage Door-Closed" changes. So if the garage door is opened or closed at any time other than exactly 10:30:00.0000 PM, you are going to get a message (in addition to getting the message at 10:30 PM if the garage is open). You want something like Techman suggested with the message sent in the Then branch, except "And Status 'Outdoor Garage Door-Closed' is Off".

Maybe. AFAIK, on a 6-button KPL the On and Off Buttons are always in Always On/Off mode, so controlling the light on the button probably won’t work nor is it necessary to have the On button (button A) always send an On command. If the scenes are setup in the ISY and properly written to the devices, setting the devices to Off should work in the scene. Try restornig each device to ensure the links are written to each. The KPL button should be a controller in the scene and not a responder. Alternatively, sInce you are running a program anyway, why not turn off the devices in the program? The program should read “If device.button A is switched On” to get the proper trigger. Make your changes in the Then section. To change a KPL button LED state in a program, create a scene with the KPL button as a responder only. Then set the scene to off at the end of the Then section in your program.

Is that 5-button controller the old table top controller? I could never get either of mine to work with anything short of simple device on and off, and they died rather quickly (less than two years). I would suggest going to a newer 6-button or 8-button KPL that is dual-band. It may give you more reliability and work better with Insteon scenes.

The the LampLinc is a much cheaper solution and would allow you to use a conventional brass floor outlet with a screw cover, in case you ever need to sale your house.

Is the outlet underneath furniture? I connect the floor outlets in my living room via a 1 foot 3 prong extension cord to a LampLinc that sits under my couch or table.

Lucky for me my lifestyle doesn't include the need for a "lock down." Seriously, if someone wanted to listen in on my conversations, it would be a heck of a lot easier to stick a suction cup microphone to a window than it would be to hack my Alexa. Plus I don't often blurt out passwords to my financial accounts or anything in the house, anyway. I am certain far more personal information about me was obtained in the recent Equifax hack than could be obtained from listening to me watch The Tick on Amazon Video in my living room.

I'm not sure native integration into Alexa is such a great thing, anyway. Especially for things like individual light bulbs. What am I going to do - every time it's time to go to bed, do I say "Alexa, turn off the Hall Ceiling Can 1," "Alexa, turn off Hall Ceiling Can 2," "Alexa, turn off Hall Ceiling Can Thre...," well you get it. Voice control of individual devices is a cool trick to show your friends and all (and, yes, I know about Groups), but in practicality there is a limited number of things regarding home automation that I want to do with voice. The majority of these are multi-step, composite functions that may involve lights, security, AV settings, etc. Having the ISY accessible to the Alexa through the Smarthome 2.0 API and ISY Portal is ideal for me, because I can setup the scenes, programs, conditions, etc. I want to control on the ISY and make them accessible to both buttons on KPLs and specific voice commands that I determine. So I can say "Alexa, turn on the Spa" or press the "Spa Mode" keypad button and I get the same complex mixture of pool equipment control (now through my new node server), outdoor lighting, audio output to outdoor speakers, and the like. Try doing that with some of the items being native to Alexa and some not - it's too hard. And once Amazon releases multi-step programming in October, "Alexa, goodnight" and "Alexa, good morning" will allow me to link a goodnight and goodmorning ISY program to set conditions the way I want while Alexa reads me my calendar entries or the news. Again, try that with some things being controlled natively and some not - it's just too much to maintain!

Amazon Alexa devices don't send anything to the cloud service until you say the "Alexa" or wakeup keyword.

Thanks for clarifying. For me, the deciding factor for the ISY over Insteon Hub, HomeKit, SmartThings, and several others is the fact that it can operate independent of an Internet connection. Connectivity to cloud services (like the ISY Portal) is great, and I wouldn't even mind if the ISY Admin console was moved to the cloud. But having the core functionality depend on connectivity to the cloud (and/or mobile devices, in the case of HomeKit) just doesn't make sense for me.