Help with motion program-Kids NIght Light

[Ajax]

OK guys seems like I cant even write a simple program... I moved my kids to the basement and set up a motion sensor. So I have a scene that sets the bathroom and hallway light to ~20% (I trigger the scene with mobilinc) to act as a nightlight. Figured the only way I can have ISY know the scene is active is to check the status of that light. Once the scene is on I want the motion sensor to be "active" so once the walk in the hallway it would trigger another couple lights on the way to our room. And turn the same lights off again after 1m30sec. Everything works great except the motion sensor still kills the lights even if the "scene" is not active( the basement shower 25%)Meaning during the day the lights still shut off. And the what is the best way to cancel I scene? Below are the 2 programs I use at this moment.

 

Girls On - [iD 0009][Parent 000B]

 

If

       -(

       |     Status  'Basement Shower' is 25%

       | And Status  'Basement Motion-Dusk.Dawn-Sen' is On

       -)

 

Then

        Set 'Stairs Main Area' 20%

        Set 'Front Door Stairs' 25%

        Wait  1 minute and 30 seconds

 

Else

        Set 'Front Door Stairs' Fade Down

        Set 'Stairs Main Area' Fade Down

 

 

 

Girls Off - [iD 000A][Parent 000B]

 

If

        Time is Sunrise - 10 minutes

 

Then

        Set 'Basement Shower' Off

        Set 'Basement Hallway' Off

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

 

[larryllix]

 

OK guys seems like I cant even write a simple program... I moved my kids to the basement and set up a motion sensor. So I have a scene that sets the bathroom and hallway light to ~20% (I trigger the scene with mobilinc) to act as a nightlight. Figured the only way I can have ISY know the scene is active is to check the status of that light. Once the scene is on I want the motion sensor to be "active" so once the walk in the hallway it would trigger another couple lights on the way to our room. And turn the same lights off again after 1m30sec. Everything works great except the motion sensor still kills the lights even if the "scene" is not active( the basement shower 25%)Meaning during the day the lights still shut off. And the what is the best way to cancel I scene? Below are the 2 programs I use at this moment.

 

Girls On - [iD 0009][Parent 000B]

 

If

       -(

       |     Status  'Basement Shower' is 25%

       | And Status  'Basement Motion-Dusk.Dawn-Sen' is On

       -)

 

Then

        Set 'Stairs Main Area' 20%

        Set 'Front Door Stairs' 25%

        Wait  1 minute and 30 seconds

 

Else

        Set 'Front Door Stairs' Fade Down

        Set 'Stairs Main Area' Fade Down

 

 

 

Girls Off - [iD 000A][Parent 000B]

 

If

        Time is Sunrise - 10 minutes

 

Then

        Set 'Basement Shower' Off

        Set 'Basement Hallway' Off

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

 

Just a few things t think about

• You have no program triggers based on motion.
• You have a time delay after all other lines of program code. You are waiting for nothing.
• I don't know what 'fade down' does. I have never used it.

Edited October 17, 2016 by larryllix

[Ajax]

 

Just a few things t think about

• You have no program triggers based on motion.
• I thought this was a program that if the status from the motion sensor turns to  on if the light is at 25% it runs what is in "Then" otherwise it ignore the program? That is my intent anyways.
• You have a time delay after all other lines of program code. You are waiting for nothing.
• I had the "fade down"  in the "Then" But that did not make a difference
• I don't know what 'fade down' does. I have never used it.
• Just fades the lights to off

 

Great thanks, but I am new to this so the points you made, does not really mean something to me.

[larryllix]

I really don't completely understand what you want but from my best guess, here is the logic.

 

 

To turn on your night lights

 

If

...MS.motion is switched ON    <-----use the motion sensing node, not dark node

...And  from sunset +/- X minutes

..........to sunrise +/- Y minutes   <--- this triggers Else section

Then

...set some lights to 25%

...Wait 12 hours <---just in case

 ...run This program (else)    <----turn them off in morning

 

Else

...set the same lights Off

 

 

For the extra lights

If

   MS.motion is switched On   <---use the same trigger as many times as you like

Then

...turn on other lights

...Wait 1 minute 30 seconds

...turn off other lights

Else

    ----

 

 

Make sense?

Need more help just keep asking.

Edited October 17, 2016 by larryllix

[Ajax]

I will give that a shot thanks. Just realized that I used the wrong motion trigger. What I need from the program:

 

I turn on a scene using mobilinc to turn on two lights at 25%

If the scene is on- I want more lights to turn on for a couple minutes and turn off if no motion is detected.

I only want the motion sensor to work if the scene for the 2 lights at 25% is on- not on a schedule.

 

That way when I put my kids to bed I turn on the scene that gives some some light (25%) incase they want to go to the bathroom, but if they want to go upstairs (dark) they will enter the hallway where the motion sensor is and turn some lights on for them towards our bedroom but only for a couple minutes then turns off.

 

The second program is just to cancel the scene (25% lights) that I turned on the night before to activate the motion sensor.

 

Thanks again

Edited October 17, 2016 by Ajax

[larryllix]

OK then the logic I gave you is close except for the mobilinc input.

 

Some things. Scenes cannot be detected. They have no status. Devices can be detected and have statuses.

 

I am wondering why you want to use mobilinc to turn on the scene for the night lights when there are many ways to do it easier or automatically?

 

How many MS units are involved and should all lights referred to be involved with the response or just hall lights for wanderes at initial bedtime runs?

[Ajax]

1. See that is what I read about the scenes and figured I would have the program check the status of that light (25%) that way it would know if that scene is on. Or is there a better way to check the status?

2. The only reason I am using Mobilinc is to minimize confusion with the family we just build the house and did everything Insteon, My kids are still too short to really push the buttons perfect-There is a lot of double                  tapping and holding of buttons. So I cant really use fast on or something simple, unless you have some other ideas that is not schedule based.

3. Not familiar with "MS" and only the hallway lights should be activated with the motion and turn off after a couple minutes. Was curious why or what is the best way to to turn on a scene at a certain % on level. I have a

    couple virtual 3-way scenes  with the hallway lights but when I select the scene I do not have the option to pick a % for the on level (Ok I just checked something else and for a couple virtual 3 way scenes I can under actions-devices select % but some scenes I cannot? The only difference is the ones I cant has a fanlinc as part of the scene.)  . So then I just select a device in that scene and I can set the % on-level but then the

    3-way scene is out of sync?

4. There are 2x 3-way scenes that I would like to turn on at 25% when motion is detected.

5. Also I checked my motion sensor in Isy and there are 3 options: (Basement Motion.Dusk.Dawn-Sen)  (Basement Motion.Dusk.Dawn-Dus) (Basement Motion.Dusk.Dawn-Low)

 

Thanks again

Edited October 18, 2016 by Ajax

[Ajax]

OK I think what I have is working!

 

Girls On - [iD 0009][Parent 000B]

 

If

        Status  'Basement Shower' is 25%

    And Status  'Basement Motion-Dusk.Dawn-Sen' is On

 

Then

        Run Program 'Motion' (If)

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

 

 

Motion - [iD 000C][Parent 000B]

 

If

   - No Conditions - (To add one, press 'Schedule' or 'Condition')

 

Then

        Set 'Stairs Stairs 3-way' 25%

        Set 'Stairs Main Area' 10%

        Wait  1 minute and 30 seconds

        Set Scene '3-Way Switches / Basement Main' Fade Down

        Set Scene '3-Way Switches / Stairs' Fade Down

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

[nickp]

Follow up question on this program...

 

I was having this discussion with a friend, and we thought that the nightlight solutions was great, but like all things we need to come up with exceptions to make sure it's happy.

 

The though process was that a nightlight for the kids was a great idea in a hallway to a bathroom - come on for XX seconds, and then turn off.

The exception process came up with - what if I then want to force the lights either on or off?

Example.

I specifically want the lights on at 100% and I want to cancel the motion sensor - because one of the kids just threw up in the hallway and I need to clean it up.

 

I think the solution is to have separate MotionON and MotionOFF programs.

Have the MotionON program call the MotionOFF program after XX seconds.

Have the MotionOFF program check the light level before it turns off the lights, and if they're above 25% then exit and don't do anything with the lights.

Can I check for a light level?

 

Also, would it be worth checking if there is still motion in the hallway, and if so to wait an additional XXX seconds and test again.

 

Lastly, can I hit the OFF button, and start a timer that disables the motion sensor for 5 minutes.

So, I can force the night light off when I'm playing tooth fairy.

 

??

[oberkc]

Nickp,

 

I really appreciate the fact that you are trying to figure out WHAT you want to do before figuring out HOW to do it.  I think this is a critical step often missed, especially critical as things get more complicated.

 

Some alternatives for your consideration:

 

FASTON (double-tap) could turn on lights and disable motion program

FASTOFF could turn off lights and enable motion program

A program triggered each morning which re-enables the motion program, in case it was forgotten from the prior night's activities

Use the beep function to confirm disabled motion programs

 

or

Tapping ON when the lights are already on could disable the motion program, or extend the timer perior

Tapping OFF when the lights are already off could re-enable motion

[Ajax]

Here is one that I use to just disable it while i am working in the basement: Copied from another post

 

Then the Override program:

Pendants Override-

If
Control 'Kitchen / Kitchen Pendants' is switched On
And Control 'Kitchen / Kitchen Pendants' is not switched Off

Then
Disable Program 'Pendants Timer'

Else
Enable Program 'Pendants Timer'

Hope this helps.

[Ajax]

OK I of course could not leave my program alone and tried to tweak it a little, but sometimes its acts strange. The "Basement motion lights" contain 2 light sources-each light source as a virtual 3-way, so 4 switches total in the scene. Everything seems to work fine, but sometimes the one source will not turn off after the timer ends? Below is the programs I use:

 

Girls On - [iD 0009][Parent 000B]

 

If

        Status  'Basement Shower' is 25%

    And Control 'Basement Motion-Dusk.Dawn-Sen' is switched On

 

Then

        Run Program 'Motion' (If)

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

 

Motion - [iD 000C][Parent 000B]

 

If

   - No Conditions - (To add one, press 'Schedule' or 'Condition')

 

Then

        Set Scene 'Basement Motion Lights' On

        Wait  1 minute and 30 seconds

        Set Scene 'Basement Motion Lights' Off

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Override - [iD 0019][Parent 000B][Not Enabled]

 

If

        Control 'Stairs Main Area' is switched On

    And Control 'Stairs Main Area' is not switched Off

 

Then

        Disable Program 'Motion'

        Set Scene '3-Way Switches / Stairs' Off

 

Else

        Enable Program 'Motion'

[nickp]

Hey Ajax.

 

I wrote a night light program that uses state variables to keep track of the "override" function.

http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/20357-night-light-program/

 

Not sure if this will be helpful or not, but think it could completely apply to your program here.

Basically, I use one variable to control the status of the lights (on/off)

I use a 2nd variable to see if I'm allowed to control the scene (on/off).

If a user changes the state of the lights (either up or down - anything that does not match the scene) then I disable the control.

I only enable the control after the lights are manually put back into a certain state (in my case off, but if you have a "night scene" that sets them to 25% then look for that status.)

 

I hope this helps.

Nick.

[Ajax]

Nickp, I will have to give your program a shot but at this point it is a little above what I can comprehend at the moment, once I figure out the simple programming I will start messing with variables. Do you know why the program  "Override" does not work? It seems to disable the program until motions is sensed and resets to enabled.

 

Girls On - [iD 0009][Parent 000B]

 

If

        Status  'Basement Shower' is 25%

    And Control 'Basement Motion-Dusk.Dawn-Sen' is switched On

 

Then

        Run Program 'Motion' (If)

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

 

 

Motion - [iD 000C][Parent 000B]

 

If

   - No Conditions - (To add one, press 'Schedule' or 'Condition')

 

Then

        Set Scene 'Basement Motion Lights' On

        Wait  1 minute and 30 seconds

        Set Scene 'Basement Motion Lights' Off

 

Else

   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

 

Override - [iD 0019][Parent 000B]

 

If

        Control 'Stairs KeypadA / Stairs KeypadB' is switched On

     Or Control 'Stairs KeypadA / Stairs KeypadB' is not switched Off

 

Then

        Disable Program 'Motion'

 

Else

        Enable Program 'Motion'

[elvisimprsntr]

And no one questioned the wisdom of moving the kids to the basement? Is it a walk out or has emergency egress?

Edited December 1, 2016 by elvisimprsntr

[Ajax]

And no one questioned the wisdom of moving the kids to the basement? Is it a walk out or has emergency egress?

 

I am up in Iowa, we all have fully finished basements with a walkout or egress windows which is code for a bedroom around here. Not sure what you guys do in Florida since I have never been there...

[G W]

And no one questioned the wisdom of moving the kids to the basement? Is it a walk out or has emergency egress?

And exactly what is wrong with kids having a bedroom in the basement?

 

I'm Gary Funk and I approved this message.

[larryllix]

And exactly what is wrong with kids having a bedroom in the basement?

I'm Gary Funk and I approved this message.

Fire, smoke, bronchitis, CO2, Radon gas, SADS, illegal

 

Florida? Basements? Underwater? LMAO!!!

Edited December 2, 2016 by larryllix

[G W]

Fire, smoke, bronchitis, CO2, Radon gas, SADS, illegal

 

Florida? Basements? Underwater? LMAO!!!

I live in Colorado. What's water?

 

I'm Gary Funk and I approved this message.

[mwester]

Fire, smoke, bronchitis, CO2, Radon gas, SADS, illegal

 

Florida? Basements? Underwater? LMAO!!!

 

Fire danger in basements is no greater than anywhere else - and egress windows/walk-out basements address exit requirements.

Bronchitis?  How?  Proper HVAC installation ensures air quality is no different on any floor.

CO2?  See above.

Radon?  Tested, none here.  Last house had a radon reduction system installed.  Problem solved.

SADS?  How is the basement more dangerous?

illegal?  Say what?  Is that what the Canadian government has been up to?  Making laws about what floor is habitable?  Good grief, talk about government overreach!

 

Anyway, to help you stay on topic, why not just imagine that the OP wants a night light because his root cellar / freezer is down there, and it would help in those midnight snack runs!

[larryllix]

Fire danger in basements is no greater than anywhere else - and egress windows/walk-out basements address exit requirements.

Bronchitis?  How?  Proper HVAC installation ensures air quality is no different on any floor.

CO2?  See above.

Radon?  Tested, none here.  Last house had a radon reduction system installed.  Problem solved.

SADS?  How is the basement more dangerous?

illegal?  Say what?  Is that what the Canadian government has been up to?  Making laws about what floor is habitable?  Good grief, talk about government overreach!

 

Anyway, to help you stay on topic, why not just imagine that the OP wants a night light because his root cellar / freezer is down there, and it would help in those midnight snack runs!

Imagine the topic had raised concerns about problems with basement dwelling in Iowa and Florida or you could just respond to the OP and not increase the off-topic post count more.

[Ajax]

Its ok, did not actually realize there are people that are not familiar on the function of a basement! Any hows I think I have it figured out. I was disabling the wrong program I should have disabled the "Girls On" one instead the one that calls to run the motion program, not the motion program itself.