blueman2

Wow. A Rube Goldberg process to get there, but I really think this is great! This opens up a lot of opportunities for doing very neat things with Alexa without developing a skill. Well done!!

Wow, I guess Amazon is still working out their strategy and operations for the Echo. Things seem to change almost weekly with them. But I cut them some slack for at least moving fast and from my experience, responding to customers' needs. So what does this mean for us? More time, or perhaps in increase in annual costs, or both? I am assuming this is around being able to list ISY in the Connected Home section of the Echo app just like Hue, Insteon Hub, and others are currently listed.

As for lock/unlock, open/close, these do work with some friendly names but I am not certain exactly how to use them. For example, "set temperature to 70 degrees" will only work with friendly name Thermostat and when using intensity.percent. I know at one time I was able to say lock/unlock to alexa for a z-wave door lock I had, but it no longer works consistently for some reason. As for the fan high/medium/low, I am taking advantage of the fact that Alexa is very loose with how you address a device. So if you create a friendly name "Fan Medium", you can address it by "Alexa, turn on Fan Medium" (as you would expect), but also by "Alexa, turn fan on to Medium" and "Alexa, turn on Fan to Medium", or "Alexa, turn fan on medium". So long as you only have one device with the terms 'fan' and 'medium', then alexa gets it. I use this trick for a lot of my friendly names. Note that about 50% of my home 'devices' are actually programs on the ISY which Alexa calls. I find programs to be much more flexible. Also, I can change a program at will, and do not have to do a re-discover with Alexa. I find that very helpful in testing phases.

themlruts, this is also exactly what I do. Create a program for Low, and you can just say "Alexa, turn fan on low" and it works. BTW, did you remember to set the rc.local to execute? (chmod 777). Just use my rc.local above as an example.

Big517 asked a question about my setup that I thought I would copy here for those interested. For Harmony "Activities", I am using Barry's config tool to allow me to say things like "Alexa, turn on Den Television" or "Alexa, turn on Den Music". This talks to the Harmony which then gets my audio/video equipment all set up correctly. So Echo=>BWS Hue/Harmony Bridge=>Harmony=>IR devices for all harmony activities. But I have also decided it is good to have my ISY directly talking to the Harmony hub as well, using the networking module that I have purchased for the ISY. For example, I have created networking resources for all of the number buttons plus 'enter' on my DirecTV receiver. I have created ISY programs for all my most watched channels, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, CNN, etc. Each program just contains a blank IF and ELSE, with only the THEN populated with the commands to press the numbers for that channel then the enter button. I then use Barry's tool to create an Alexa link to that program. I can then say "Alexa, turn on CNN", and the TV will turn to channel 202 (for DirecTV CNN). So Echo=>BWS Hue Bridge/Harmony Bridge=>ISY Program=>Harmony=>IR devices. Amazingly, even with all these link in the chain, the result is instantaneous when I given Alexa the command. The only issue with ISY talking directly to the Harmony Bridge requires the use of the OLDER Harmony program in addition to the new one integrated into the HA-bridge software. That is because the newer integrated one (1.1.0) does not allow access to the core Harmony functions. Gets kind of complex to get it all set up, but it works great! For channel change via Alexa, here are the screen shots of my ISY so you can get the idea how it works: First, I set up network resources for all the buttons I need (number 0-9 and enter): Here is the detail for one of the buttons. Note, this networking command is talking to the older, stand alone BWS harmony software: And here is the program for CNN: I then use Barry's tool to make alexa trigger the CNN program. Finally, here is my rc.local file from my Pi: #!/bin/sh -e # # rc.local # # Print the IP address _IP=$(hostname -I) || true if [ "$_IP" ]; then printf "My IP address is %s\n" "$_IP" fi #The following is for multiple emulators on the same machine #echo "Starting the Echo Bridge Emulators" nohup java -jar -Dvera.address=192.168.1.145 -Dupnp.config.address=$_IP -Dharmony.address=192.168.1.127 -Dserver.port=8080 -Dupnp.response.port=50000 -Dupnp.device.db=/home/pi/echobridge/data/device80.db -Dharmony.user=XXXXX -Dharmony.pwd=XXXX /home/pi/echobridge/ha-bridge-1.1.0.jar > /home/pi/echobridge/logs/log80.txt 2>&1 & nohup java -jar -Dvera.address=192.168.1.145 -Dupnp.config.address=$_IP -Dharmony.address=192.168.1.127 -Dserver.port=8081 -Dupnp.response.port=50001 -Dupnp.device.db=/home/pi/echobridge/data/device81.db -Dharmony.user=XXXXXX -Dharmony.pwd=XXXX /home/pi/echobridge/ha-bridge-1.1.0.jar > /home/pi/echobridge/logs/log81.txt 2>&1 & #Harmony for ISY to talk to java -jar -Dserver.port=8086 /home/pi/Harmony/harmony-0.1.4.jar 192.168.1.127 USERNAME PWD > /home/pi/echobridge/logs/log86.txt 2>&1 & exit 0

Intensity.byte is correct for dimmable devices. You use Intensity.percent for things like Thermostats. Also, the command I use is "Alexa, set Den to 50 percent". That seems to work reliably. Finally, dimming only works on DEVICES, not on SCENES, at least for me.

Barry, this is EXACTLY what is happening to me. I tried going back to prior versions of software on my Pi, but to no avail. Was there a software update to the Echo recently? I have not posted a lot on this because I thought it was an issue with my router or something that suddenly came up. Also, while it does take several tries to discover all the devices, once they are discovered, the control works just fine. This first came up for me 1 week ago. See my original post #782

Themlruts, Well, now I am starting to have your issue. First time ever. I have 2 emulators running, and the Echo will only discover one of them. If I re-do discovery enough, it will eventually find the other, but never both of them at same time. Good news is that once it discovers, the commands from Echo will work, even if it does not discover that emulator next time. Not sure why this is suddenly happening. Can't be related to Barry's code since that is not even running during discovery. Must be something that showed up in HA-bridge 1.0.7 but I just never noticed because I had not been doing a lot of discoveries.

I am curious, for the $_IP, did you use the lines to define that variable first? Maybe just use the actual IP of your Pi rather than the $_IP variable just for testing. Also, are you using Wired or Wireless for the Pi? There have been issues where one or the other just will not work. I think due to some uPnP issues that crop up. Try both (one at a time) to see if one works. Here is the rc.local that is in the /etc directory on my Pi, set to chmod 777. Note that I am using Harmony integration, so remove those fields if not needed. Also, I am running 2 copies because I have so many devices being controlled. Finally, I create log files so that I can go back in and see what is going on. #!/bin/sh -e # # rc.local # # This script is executed at the end of each multiuser runlevel. # Make sure that the script will "exit 0" on success or any other # value on error. # # In order to enable or disable this script just change the execution # bits. # # By default this script does nothing. # Print the IP address _IP=$(hostname -I) || true if [ "$_IP" ]; then printf "My IP address is %s\n" "$_IP" fi #The following is for multiple emulators on the same machine #echo "Starting the Echo Bridge Emulators" nohup java -jar -Dvera.address=192.168.1.145 -Dupnp.config.address=$_IP -Dharmony.address=192.168.1.127 -Dserver.port=8081 -Dupnp.response.port=50001 -Dupnp.device.db=/home/pi/echobridge/data/device81.db -Dharmony.user=XXXXXX -Dharmony.pwd=XXXX /home/pi/echobridge/ha-bridge.jar > /home/pi/echobridge/logs/log81.txt 2>&1 & nohup java -jar -Dvera.address=192.168.1.145 -Dupnp.config.address=$_IP -Dharmony.address=192.168.1.127 -Dserver.port=8080 -Dupnp.response.port=50000 -Dupnp.device.db=/home/pi/echobridge/data/device80.db -Dharmony.user=XXXXX -Dharmony.pwd=XXXXX /home/pi/echobridge/ha-bridge.jar > /home/pi/echobridge/logs/log80.txt 2>&1 & exit 0 Finally, try playing with the uPnP variables in the command line for the program. My feeling is that this could be a uPnP issue. -Dupnp.strict=<true|false> Upnp has been very closed on this platform to try and respond as a hue and there is now a setting to control if it is more open or strict, Add -Dupnp.strict=<true|false> to your command line to have the emulator respond to what it thinks is an echo to a hue or any other device. The default is upnp.strict=true. -Dtrace.upnp=<true|false> Turn on tracing for upnp discovery messages. The default is false. See my signature below for my current software config, but at this time it is: ISY994IR Pro Z-wave 5.02 ELK M1 Gold 5.3.8 Echo integration - HA-Bridge v1.0.7 (Hue emulator w/ Harmony support by BWS Systems) on RPi2 - ISYnnode.js (NEST bridge by xKing) on RPi2 - AWS-Config 5.0.21 (Configuration tool by Barry Gordon) on Win7 laptop for setup

thermiruts, Let me spend some time tonight documenting what I have set up so that others can follow it. It is rather hard to read through 38 pages of posts to figure this stuff out!!!

Barry has been working pretty much all day on updating his app! Given that he does not even own a Harmony, the amount of effort he has put into making his app fully integrate with Harmony is just epic. He is a huge contributor to this community! I did test a version for him and it appears to resolve all the issues. I am guessing he will make it public tomorrow sometime.

yes, the reason the off always works is that there is only 1 off command for Harmony. It never changes, so cannot go wrong. I think Barry is working on an update. There is also a new version of HA-Bridge software that combines Harmony and Hue Bridge into one .jar file. Hold off on using that for now, though. We need to confirm it all works with Barry's tool.

Yes, this confused me too. Harmony has 2 ways to identify the device: a deviceID number, and a harmony 'friendly name'. Either can be used. But then we also have a totally different Echo 'friendly name' that Echo uses for recognition. If you use the Harmony friendly name and keep it separate from the Echo friendly name, we are fine. The problem in the code was not an issue of Harmony DeviceID vs Harmony Friendly name, it was an issue of Harmony Friendly Name vs Echo Friendly Name. However, there is an advantage to using the DeviceID number. That number does not change if you decide to later change the name of an activity in the Harmony App. Whereas if you use the Harmony friendly name in the JSON field, the user will have to 'update' that device in your program after making the change in the Harmony App. Downside of using DeviceID is that it is less 'readable' for users. If that matters.

OK, I can confirm that something odd has happened recently. Indeed, the Echo is not finding some of my Harmony activities for ON command, but does work fine with OFF. Give me some time to track down what is going on, and I will work with Barry to give him feedback. EDIT: OK, I found the issue!! AWS-config is inserting the Friendly Name (what you tell Alexa to call it) into the JSON data field, rather than the DeviceID (What the harmony calls it). I have let Barry know. The reason I did not find this is that I mostly had the same DeviceID and Friendly name, so it never was an issue! Also, be default, the friendly name is the DeviceID, but I (like you probably) changed the Friendly name to something more, uh, Friendly. That is where the bug rears its ugly head.

I too have had a lot of issues with Alexa not clearly understanding my ON command when referring to Harmony events. She hears my command, says "OK", but when I look at History in the Echo web page, she thinks I said OFF. That is why nothing appears to happen. And why OFF seems to always work. Apparently, the Echo is 'OFF' happy. I have found that when I stand closer to the Echo, it works 100%. But it sounds like your issue is different in that she does not find the device at all? Let me do some more testing on my system today. I was using my own custom created commands for harmony devices but have now completely migrated them to commands created by Barry's tool. I will see if I can duplicate your issue.

Sure. First, are you able to get just the HA-bridge software from BWS working with Barry's config and your echo? EDIT: Barry and I posted at same time. Barry's questions above are same as mine. We will help you get it going. Just need more info on where you are now.

Actually, this is smart thinking on Amazon's part. They tend to do a good job of looking at commands such as Thermostat, Light, Door, etc. They allow Open Garage Door as a command because that is pretty safe. But CLOSE garage door? Pretty dangerous if there is a person or car in the way.

+1 Well put. In my mixed world, I plan to use my own RPi setup to do the 'home control' portion that has commands going directly to Alexa. While I have not seen the UDI offerings yet, I am one who likes to tinker and tweak to my own needs and feel better having my own mini-server running in my home and being able to tweak all the settings for integration with new devices (like with the harmony remote and with my pool controller). But, I think I am in the minority in terms of wanting to 'roll my own' for this. For the Skill portion, where we need to have Alexa 'ask Izzy to...', I will probably use the UDI portal skill. Depends on how hard it is to create my own skill. I have started the process of creating my own skill, but it may be more complex than I desire. For example, I had to sign up as a developer and Amazon could theoretically take away my ability to run my own skill at some point since I am not creating a mass market product with it (I would be the only user!).

BTW, one of the things that allows me to use the Hue Emulator with such success and high WAF is that Amazon does a very good job interpreting 'friendly names'. For example, I have a Hue emulator entries with friendly name "House Fan Low", "House Fan Medium", and "House Fan High". While you can say "Alexa, turn on House Fan Medium", you can also switch the words around as you wish. So the following also work: Alexa, turn house fan on medium Alexa, turn on house fan to medium I am surprised at how well the Echo parses phrases to get to the right result. Of course, it can also be maddening at times when you have too many devices with the same words in it. In that case, it comes back with "I do not know which device you mean" or something like that.

I do not view the two as mutually exclusive. The configuration I am using above is based on "Primary" Echo invocations. They are all directed to Alexa using the Hue emulator. This creates some limitations, but also some simplicity. Especially from a WAF perspective. Being able to say "Alexa, turn on TV" is easier than "Alexa, tell Izzy to Turn on TV". Especially since my wife and I are using Alexa constantly for lights, TV, Den Music, whole house FAN, ceiling fan, thermostat temperature, etc. All of these are done with fewer words because they are all directed to Alexa. My most common uses are: Alexa, turn on TV Alexa, set thermostat to 69 Alexa, turn house fan on medium Alexa, turn on Kitchen Area Alexa, turn on door chime (this tells the ELK to set door chime to active) Alexa, turn on night mode (a special program on my ISY that sets everything I need to go to bed, such as checking all door locks, turning off all lights, etc) Alexa, turn on Den Music (turns on Roku to Pandora station I like, and turns on receiver for sound) Alexa, turn on Den Loudness (turns up the receiver by 4 volume up button presses) Alexa, turn on Den Mute (mutes the TV and Receiver in the Den) I doubt I will ever want to change these basic functions over to the ISY skill/portal because I do not want to have to add the "tell Izzy to..." wording to each command. BUT, there will be things that are too complicated or impossible to do with the direct commands based on the Hue emulator. That is where the ISY Skill/portal will come in. So I think both will stay around for some time. I plan to purchase the ISY skill/portal service as it matures, but also plan to keep my RPi setup as well.

Barry has done an amazing job with his AWS Config tool. I am running the latest versions of the BWSSystems apps (ha-bridge-0.4.10.jar and restful-harmony-0.1.4.jar) on my Raspberry Pi 2, and running Barry's AWS_Config v4.0.0 tool on my laptop to configure the setup. The wonderful thing about Barry's tool is that it auto populates everything you will need from your ISY (Devices, Scenes, Programs, Variables) and from your Harmony (Activities, Device Buttons) and has very well thought out logic for how to use those devices and options. One of the neater things Barry did was to include the option for button pairs. For example, volume up and volume down. If you select Volume Up button on a device, it will automatically populate Volume Up for the "ON" command and Volume Down for the "OFF" command. And since it is configurable, you can put in any pair you want. For me. I use Aspect ratio of 4:3 and 16:9 as a pair. When I say "Alexa, turn on aspect ratio", my TV goes into 4:3 mode. When I say "Alexa, turn off aspect ratio" the TV goes back to normal 16:9. As you can see, this opens the door to a lot of on/off options. Of course, this program also will allow you to turn on and off any Harmony Activity by simply saying "Alexa, turn on TV" or "Alexa, turn off TV". Along with the NEST controller program by xKing (also running on my Raspberry Pi 2), I have pretty much all the automation I originally wanted with the Echo. I am a very happy camper!

I definitely vote for Izzy. I love it.

Here are the 'friendly names' I am now using very successfully with the Echo today. Items in () are alternatives that also work well. House Fan House Fan Low House Fan Medium House Fan High Air Conditioner (AC) Heater (Heat) Thermostat Door Chime Night Mode Kitchen Area Kitchen Desk Kitchen Island Kitchen Sink Kitchen Table Den Area Den Right Lamp Den Left Lamp Den Light Front Entry Front Lights Front Yard Back Yard Swimming Pool Dining Room Living Room Jims Room Marys Room Hallway Garage Guest Hallway Laundry Room As for Invocation name, my understanding is that they require a hard syllable in the middle. X or Z are ideal. Which is why Alexa and Amazon work fine. I continue to think Izzy would be great, even if it is close to easy. Since it is not the INITIAL invocation name (to wake the Echo up), there is less of an issue for word confusion I would think.

This is really great, Barry (and BWS Systems)! You are both going above and beyond here. Barry, you should really consider going with the Harmony hub. I have been using a far more complex (and higher end) remote set up for my own viewing room (as opposed to my wife's), but plan to move to the harmony hub after seeing how much better the integration can be with other devices. Only downside is that Harmony is more consumer grade and has dumbed-down some of the features compared to pro-grade remotes. But I can live with that.

Barry, Let me know if you need/want my account info and I will email to you. I am of course happy to do whatever testing, etc you need. I wish I had an extra hub as I would send that to you. I just hate to take this one from my wife! It works so well!