Querying Motion sensors, GH's unusual linguistics

[bruceyeg]

The fact that you can query motion sensors is not mentioned in the Wiki. I'll give 2 useful examples.

 

Example 1

 

Outside my house I have many motion sensors. If someone approaches any of these, a program is triggered which sounds a chime. However, I didn't know which sensor was triggered until I got a Google Home. The "spokens" for my sensors are

 

porch sensor

driveway sensor 

side door sensor

deck sensor

 

When I hear the chime, I ask Google "which sensors are on?" Google might reply "The driveway sensor is on. The porch sensor, the side door sensor and the deck sensor are off"

 

Example 2

 

I like to change the batteries on my 22 Insteon motion sensors as soon as the low battery sensors turn on. To make me aware that a sensor has a low battery, I set up a program which is triggered if any low battery sensor turns on. This program causes a chime to chime every minute until the battery is replaced. The problem is to find out which of my 22 sensors has the low battery. 

 

I added all 22 devices into the Portal for Google Home with spokens such as "Change battery kitchen".

 

In Google Home Control I created a separate "virtual room" for these devices. The room is called Duracell.

 

Now I can say "OK Google. What is on in the Duracell". Usually the reply is "22 lights are off". But if the low battery in my kitchen motion sensor comes on, then Google will say "Change battery kitchen is on and 21 lights are off".

 

 Linguistics

 

The point here is that "kitchen lights" and "lights in the kitchen" are NOT the same. Understanding the difference can be very useful.

 

My kitchen has 4 devices. Here are their spokens and the name of the room I assigned to them in Google Home Control:

 

kitchen ceiling light -- in room "kitchen"

kitchen sink light -- in room "kitchen"

kitchen speaker -- in room "sound room"

change battery kitchen -- in room "Duracell"

 

Note that I put my audio equipment in the "sound room" and not in the kitchen.

 

"OK Google. What lights are on in the kitchen?"

Reply: "The kitchen ceiling light is on. The kitchen sink light is off"

 

Not that "lights in the kitchen" refers to ONLY the lights in the room called "kitchen"

 

"OK Google. Which kitchen lights are on?"

Reply: "The kitchen ceiling light and the kitchen speaker are on. The kitchen sink light and the change battery kitchen are off"

 

Note that "kitchen lights" doesn't just refer the device assigned to the room "kitchen", but it also includes all other devices with the word "kitchen" in the device name.

 

Suppose I say:

"OK Google. Turn on the lights in the kitchen"

Reply: "Turning on 2 lights"

 

"OK Google: Turn on the kitchen lights"

Reply: "I'm sorry. There was an error"

 

The error occurred because "kitchen lights" includes the device "change battery kitchen" which can be queried but cannot be turned on.

 

Now you understand why I did not put the change battery kitchen and the kitchen speaker into the room "kitchen". I often want to control only the lights in that room without including the motion sensor or speaker.

 

Querying Programs

 

It is also not mentioned in the Wiki that programs can be queried. A program is ON or OFF according to whether it is listed as "True" or "False" in the Admin Console. That value is set the last time the program was run.

 

Example

 

I have a number of devices which are controlled by a schedule, the weather, or the time of day. An example is my irrigation. However, I can choose between turning off irrigation or running it according to its schedule. The "irrigation timer" is a program which turns irrigation on or off.

 

I put the following spokens into Google Home

 

irrigation timer

mosquito zapper timer

fountain timer

birdbath heater timer

christmas yard timer

 

"OK Google Which timers are on"

Reply: "The birdbath heater timer is on. The irrigation timer, the mosquito zapper timer, the fountain timer and the christmas yard timers are off"

 

 

 

[lilyoyo1]

Sounds cool but I found receiving a text message much simpler since I don't have to ask. Should any battery powered device need new batteries, I will receive an alert stating exactly which device needs changing, what type of battery, and how many.

 

This way I can always go back to the message for reference instead of hoping to remember based off a query

[Teken]

That's pretty cool to know I have a custom email alert sent to me indicating what sensor is low. Julie U.S. follows up with telling me verbally what sensor is low also. She will continue to inform me until I change the battery every 24 hours.

 

I'm working on a *Digital Reader Board* to do the very same.

 

The long term goal is to have all notifications, alerts, warnings, and emergency messages displayed on the network reader board.