Interface with Amazon Echo?

[imagamejunky]

"We had news today from the Amazon Echo Sr product manager. Amazon is about to have a new self-publishing method for connected home adapters and want us to go through it. That was supposed to be ready in late december, but the dev team is late. We are told to wait a "couple more days".

 

Benoit."

 

This sounds promising. Thanks for the update.

Junky

[GPG]

Hi Michel,

 

Like ronbo, I am also missing scenes.  I use two major folders and then sub-folders for my scenes, with the exception of one scene which is not in any folder.

 

I have quickly looked at my rest/nodes output and I see a pattern where if group flag = 4 they are missing, and those with a group flag = 132 show up.

[ronbo]

GPG,

 

Michel has confirmed that a fix should be available hopefully tomorrow.

 

Ron

[bmercier]

GPG,

 

Michel has confirmed that a fix should be available hopefully tomorrow.

 

Ron

 

Ronbo, GPG,

 

The fix is now in production.

 

Thanks,

 

Benoit

[imagamejunky]

Hi guys.

I picked up a second echo today. Toys r Us had one believe it or not.  So far I am very happy with how well these 2 echos work in my home along with the ISY. Sometimes both echos hear me and respond which sounds odd, but mostly only one picks up the command perfectly.

 

I just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work that has already been done to make these devices (echo/ISY) work together.  I really love it. In my opinion it is an awesome science fiction experience to be able to communicate with the house verbally, see a task completed, and then hear verbal confirmation. I can't wait until I can tell "her" to turn on devices without the use of the skill.  That will help with the nerd "coolness" factor!!

 

On another note, I also bought a harmony hub today to play with.  This thing works WAY better with the echo than I expected.  If you are an echo user and you are on the fence, you should buy one.  With IFTTT and a harmony activity I can now tell alexa to turn on my family room tv and go to the xfinity menu on the cable box ("Alexa, trigger watch TV"). And for an added WAF, I also created an activity that turns on the tv, and then tunes the cable box to the ridiculously stupid Bravo network. "Alexa, trigger Bravo tv"

 

And as an added bonus, I am now also able to do some minor controlling of my sonos gear.  For example, I made an IFTTT- harmony activity that turns on the family room sonos play 5, selects a pandora station, and then turns up the volume.  I then added multiple volume down commands to the Sonos OFF recipe too.

 

I'm super stoked.

 

If I can help any of you with setting any of this up, let me know. It really isn't difficult and requires no running pc or raspbery pi.

 

Junky

[timdrex]

Junky,

 

I'm intrigued about your Sonos comment-I'm a big Sonos fan, and the WAF is important. Please detail more info or email me at timdrex@gmail.com.

 

Thanks!

[ronbo]

Ronbo, GPG,

 

The fix is now in production.

 

Thanks,

 

Benoit

 

Benoit,

 

Thank you. looks much better 

[imagamejunky]

Junky,

 

I'm intrigued about your Sonos comment-I'm a big Sonos fan, and the WAF is important. Please detail more info or email me at timdrex@gmail.com.

 

Thanks!

It's pretty simple actually.

 

1- install the hub and set up each of your sonos devices in the harmony app

2- create custom activities in the harmony app. The activities have both a start sequence and an end sequence that can be edited in the app.

Example of a start sequence- turn on a sonos play 5, select a sonos favorite (pandora station?), send the play command, send volume up commands (I am sending multiple volume up commands with 1 second delays between each)

 

For an end sequence I recommend using multiple volume down commands with 1 second delays between each before sending a pause command.  This makes sure that the volume is down before another start sequence begins. Sonos will turn on with the volume up if you leave it up!

3- create a recipe in IFTTT that triggers a sonos harmony activity to start when you say a custom phrase to alexa.  You must say "Alexa, trigger...(custom words that you create)"

4- create a recipe in IFTTT that triggers the harmony activity end sequence when you say a different phrase.  I'm using "Alexa, trigger sonos off"

 

It's FAR from perfect, but it works and I'm stoked to be able to turn on sonos with alexa.

 

Problems..

I haven't been able to figure out how to tell sonos to turn on multiple devices (party mode??).  I have only been able to control one device at a time.

I have had 100% success with this method today BUT about 20% of the time there is a pretty long delay (5-30 seconds!) from when alexa responds verbally to when the sonos system reacts.  I'm not sure where this delay is coming from. It may be the harmony hub, IFTTT, the sonos system itself, or my home network...??

 

Hope this all makes sense.

 

Junky

[madcodger]

Would this work for paired Sonos players? We have some rooms that use Play 3s as L and R stereo pairs rather than having a single Sonos for the room. And for the family room, we have a Playbar, subwoofer, and two Play 3s to creat surround sound. Could we just say, "Alexa, trigger kitchen..." Or Alexa, trigger family room..."? I get the problem with, say, party mode - but what about Sonos devices that always work together?

 

Also, this whole "trigger" business they require is not natural speech. I can see my wife saying, "Alexa, play ___ on Pandora in the kitchen". But requiring unnatural phrasings like "trigger" is not helping. For many non tech enthusiasts, may as well be "walla walla humballa", or some other goofy phrase.

Edited January 7, 2016 by madcodger

[Morris Hansen]

I do pretty much all the same stuff with just an ISY. I tend to have keep my Sonos zones grouped pretty much the same. And if you send a play command to the primary zone of the group, they all respond appropriately.

 

I have not gotten the ability to add/remove zones to work outside of a Sonos controller.

[imagamejunky]

Would this work for paired Sonos players? We have some rooms that use Play 3s as L and R stereo pairs rather than having a single Sonos for the room. And for the family room, we have a Playbar, subwoofer, and two Play 3s to creat surround sound. Could we just say, "Alexa, trigger kitchen..." Or Alexa, trigger family room..."? I get the problem with, say, party mode - but what about Sonos devices that always work together?

Also, this whole "trigger" business they require is not natural speech. I can see my wife saying, "Alexa, play ___ on Pandora in the kitchen". But requiring unnatural phrasings like "trigger" is not helping. For many non tech enthusiasts, may as well be "walla walla humballa", or some other goofy phrase.

I don't have any stereo paired Sonos speakers. But I have tried 2 different zones grouped together. The play command works but I can only get the volume to adjust in one zone. The group volume will not adjust. The Harmony app will not allow volume adjustments to 2 different zones at the same time apparently.

I completely agree with you. I don't like having to say "trigger" at all. I also don't like having to ask Alexa to tell Izzy to do commands for the lighting. It's very unnatural. That is exactly why I am hoping the connected home works very soon. It will be much easier for guests in the home to just tell Alexa to turn on lights than having to remember to tell her to then tell Izzy.

Junky

[imagamejunky]

I do pretty much all the same stuff with just an ISY. I tend to have keep my Sonos zones grouped pretty much the same. And if you send a play command to the primary zone of the group, they all respond appropriately.

I have not gotten the ability to add/remove zones to work outside of a Sonos controller.

Are you able to adjust grouped volume this way? What interface are you using for control with the ISY?

Thanks

Junky

[apnar]

I have had 100% success with this method today BUT about 20% of the time there is a pretty long delay (5-30 seconds!) from when alexa responds verbally to when the sonos system reacts.  I'm not sure where this delay is coming from. It may be the harmony hub, IFTTT, the sonos system itself, or my home network...??

 

From other posts it's most likely that the delay is on the IFTTT side of things.  You can accomplish the same thing without the delay and without needing to use "trigger" by using a local Hue emulator as the brdige from the Echo to the Harmony hub.  The downside of course is need a box up 24x7 to run the emulator on.

[ronbo]

No, not alone!

 

 

Hi Junky,

 

We had news today from the Amazon Echo Sr product manager. Amazon is about to have a new self-publishing method for connected home adapters and want us to go through it. That was supposed to be ready in late december, but the dev team is late. We are told to wait a "couple more days".

 

Benoit.

Benoit,

 

 

"self publishing"  would still use the lighting API or are the introducing something different

[bmercier]

Benoit,

 

 

"self publishing"  would still use the lighting API or are the introducing something different

 

Absolutely, it still uses the lighting API.

 

It's just that they want us to use a new method to publish the connected home adapter. So far, it's been a manual process for them. Each time I wanted to publish in test mode, I had to send an email with a few information.

 

I assume the process will be similar to a skill, in the sense that you need to enter your informations somewhere and then submit for certification.

 

Benoit.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello everyone,

 

You can now test the Connected Home feature with ISY:

http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/17861-amazon-echo-connected-home-feature-beta/

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[morreale]

this is fantastic!  only issue so far is I am having trouble getting it to execute my programs that will arm my elk m1 into "stay" or "away" mode.  what is the trick?

[MWareman]

this is fantastic! only issue so far is I am having trouble getting it to execute my programs that will arm my elk m1 into "stay" or "away" mode. what is the trick?

Create a program to arm your Elk (in the 'Then' branch, nothing in the 'If' - program can be disabled to prevent inadvertantly triggering), and give it a spoken name on the portal. Ask Alexa to turn 'on' the program, and 'Then' will execute, arming your alarm.

 

I do this with my 'goodnight' program - it works every night.

 

Michael.

[morreale]

Create a program to arm your Elk (in the 'Then' branch, nothing in the 'If' - program can be disabled to prevent inadvertantly triggering), and give it a spoken name on the portal. Ask Alexa to turn 'on' the program, and 'Then' will execute, arming your alarm.

 

I do this with my 'goodnight' program - it works every night.

 

Michael.

works...that is what i was missing.  i wasn't saying "turn on".  i was just' saying "alexa and the program name"

 

thanks

[ronbo]

I have a program that dims the dining room lights, Starts romantic music playing on my sonos, and lights the electric candles.

I named the program "My Wife"

So now I say "Alexa turn on my wife"

But it doesnt work!

[jsmith6]

I have a program that dims the dining room lights, Starts romantic music playing on my sonos, and lights the electric candles.

I named the program "My Wife"

So now I say "Alexa turn on my wife"

But it doesnt work!

 

Hah, perhaps the fact that you're addressing another woman might be a factor?

[imagamejunky]

Admins. I know this has nothing to do with the ISY so if you feel it should be deleted I completely understand.

 

 

Earlier I posted this about controlling Sonos with Echo and the Harmony Hub.

....

1- install the hub and set up each of your sonos devices in the harmony app

2- create custom activities in the harmony app. The activities have both a start sequence and an end sequence that can be edited in the app.

Example of a start sequence- turn on a sonos play 5, select a sonos favorite (pandora station?), send the play command, send volume up commands (I am sending multiple volume up commands with 1 second delays between each)

 

For an end sequence I recommend using multiple volume down commands with 1 second delays between each before sending a pause command.  This makes sure that the volume is down before another start sequence begins. Sonos will turn on with the volume up if you leave it up!

3- create a recipe in IFTTT that triggers a sonos harmony activity to start when you say a custom phrase to alexa.  You must say "Alexa, trigger...(custom words that you create)"

4- create a recipe in IFTTT that triggers the harmony activity end sequence when you say a different phrase.  I'm using "Alexa, trigger sonos off"

....

I've made some changes. I thought I would share them because I feel it's working a lot better now.

 

Now I leave the "end sequence" blank for each activity in harmony.  These end sequences were causing sonos to stop playing music when I sent another command (like volume up).

I have many different harmony activities now for sonos that can be controlled from the echo as long as I create an IFTTT recipe for each one.  So far it's working great and I have more control.

 

Example-

Alexa, trigger (room name) sonos (volume up, volume down, play, pause, etc..)

 

Now I can tell alexa to trigger sonos to play a particular pandora station.  Then later I can tell alexa to trigger volume up (or pause, or whatever) without any issues.

 

Hope this helps someone.

Junky