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How to set up Alexa control for AVR / Network Resources?

waffles

By waffles
in Amazon Echo

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waffles Advanced

waffles

Posted
Posted

What is the best way to set up Alexa control for an AVR?

 

I'd like Alexa to send a set of commands to turn on my receiver, e.g.

1) turn on Zone 1,

2) set Zone 1 set to Input 1

3) turn on Zone 2,

4) set Zone 2 set to Input 1

....

 

I have set up the individual commands (IP) as network resources on the ISY.

 

I have 'mastered' the control of my Insteon devices/scenes via Alexa.

 

What I am missing is the link on how to 'trigger' one or multiple commands (network resources) via Alexa.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

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waffles Advanced

waffles

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Got it, Paul!  Thanks much!

 

(For Programs:

  • Turn On: “Alexa, turn on the kitchen light” - runs Then
  • Turn Off: “Alexa, turn off the kitchen light” - runs Else)

 

I was not sure what to enter under "If", so I left it blank. It seems to work.

 

 

I see an A/V tab in the Portal. From what I understand this for an yet to come feature, correct?

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paulbates Advanced

paulbates

Posted
Posted (edited)

Got it, Paul!  Thanks much!

 

(For Programs:

  • Turn On: “Alexa, turn on the kitchen light” - runs Then
  • Turn Off: “Alexa, turn off the kitchen light” - runs Else)

 

I was not sure what to enter under "If", so I left it blank. It seems to work.

 

 

I see an A/V tab in the Portal. From what I understand this for an yet to come feature, correct?

 

In this case, Then and Else are simply "procedures" for True ("turn x on") and false ("turn X off")  conditions from Alexa. You don't need anything for the "If"

 

I believe the A/V portal options are new for the ISY Alexa Skill 3. At a minimum you'd need to upgrade to 3. I've seen notes, but personally not up-to-speed on that. Benoit has had recent posts on ISY Skill 3.

 

Paul

Edited by paulbates
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bmercier Advanced

bmercier

Posted
Posted

What is the best way to set up Alexa control for an AVR?

 

I'd like Alexa to send a set of commands to turn on my receiver, e.g.

1) turn on Zone 1,

2) set Zone 1 set to Input 1

3) turn on Zone 2,

4) set Zone 2 set to Input 1

....

 

I have set up the individual commands (IP) as network resources on the ISY.

 

I have 'mastered' the control of my Insteon devices/scenes via Alexa.

 

What I am missing is the link on how to 'trigger' one or multiple commands (network resources) via Alexa.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

There are 2 ways. If you want to run a sequence of event, Paul's approach is best.

 

If you want to want granular control through Alexa, use the virtual A/V device.

 

To do so, just click Add | A/V, then map your AVR commands. The last tab is used for the input select.

 

For the input select specifically, you can map up to 8 inputs. As an example, under input 1, choose "Network resource", then select your network resources that changes the input to let's say "Game", then give that input a name: "Game".

 

When you say "Alexa, change input to game", this will run the network resource.

 

The virtual A/V does not have a concept of zone. However, you can create several A/V devices, one for each zone.

 

Benoit

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stusviews Advanced

stusviews

Posted
Posted (edited)

Most of my "Echo" programs have no condition. A few take advantage of extant programs that do have a conditional and are used each way (with and without the conditional). For those Echo commands that do need a condition, I use "run" as Then and/or Else statements.

Edited by stusviews
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bmercier Advanced

bmercier

Posted
Posted (edited)

Wouldn't I need to tell Alexa which device I want the input changed to game?

 

Good catch.

 

The exact way to ask is: "Alexa, change input to game on <device>", device being the spoken assigned to your virtual A/V.

 

All Alexa A/V commands ends with "on <device>", except for turn on/turn off.

 

So a sequence could be:

Alexa, turn on tv

Alexa, turn on home theater

Alexa, turn on dvd player

Alexa, change input to dvd player on home theater

Alexa, increase volume on tv

Alexa, play on dvd player

Alexa, pause on dvd player

 

Benoit

Edited by bmercier
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giomania Advanced

giomania

Posted
Posted

Good catch.

 

The exact way to ask is: "Alexa, change input to game on <device>", device being the spoken assigned to your virtual A/V.

 

All Alexa A/V commands ends with "on <device>", except for turn on/turn off.

 

So a sequence could be:

Alexa, turn on tv

Alexa, turn on home theater

Alexa, turn on dvd player

Alexa, change input to dvd player on home theater

Alexa, increase volume on tv

Alexa, play on dvd player

Alexa, pause on dvd player

 

Benoit

Whew!

 

Call me when she can read my mind, and I can just say "Alexa, just do it"!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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larryllix Advanced

larryllix

Posted
Posted

Whew!

 

Call me when she can read my mind, and I can just say "Alexa, just do it"!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wrong brand!

 

With google  they will do what they think you should do...and please don't call them "skynet" or tour HA win not respond for a predetermined punishment period each time, that escalates every offence!

Please don't mention I said this :)

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rogerwise Newbie

rogerwise

Posted
Posted (edited)

Maybe I should have been more specific.  I have a stereo that has a midrange enhancer that's switched on/off but has a numeric setting.  Is it not possible to insert a state variable directly into a network resource?  Would I need to create separate programs to do it the way I envision?

 

I should add that the enhancer changes the sound and boosts the center channel.  I'd like to decrease the center channel equal to the amount I'm boosting, which is the reason doing it with variables

Edited by rogerwise
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bmercier Advanced

bmercier

Posted
Posted

Maybe I should have been more specific.  I have a stereo that has a midrange enhancer that's switched on/off but has a numeric setting.  Is it not possible to insert a state variable directly into a network resource?  Would I need to create separate programs to do it the way I envision?

 

I should add that the enhancer changes the sound and boosts the center channel.  I'd like to decrease the center channel equal to the amount I'm boosting, which is the reason doing it with variables

 

To my knowledge, it's not possible to dynamically set the content of a network resource.

 

If someone really wanted that, I guess you could configure 20-30 network resources with each a specific numeric value, 20-30 programs, and use a state var to trigger the corresponding network resource. But that's a lot of network resources and programs for the task.

 

Benoit

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rogerwise Newbie

rogerwise

Posted
Posted

Agreed.  I had seen in V3's Virtual AV section that you one send a command to a state variable (for volume for example) and I was just going on what makes sense.  Actually I just now got an idea.  I can make a variable volume_shadow and if program that asks

IF

volume<shadow_volume

THEN

Network-resource-add-one

ELSE

Network-resource-sub

 

And drop that in a folder that runs

IF volume!=shadow_volume

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Charlie_Morlock Newbie

Charlie_Morlock

Posted
Posted

I've had pretty good results with the AV controls, but changing the volume is a little awkward. Alexa responds to softer or louder, but on a sharp TV, only 1 increment at a time. But I don't think that is an isy problem.

 

Perhaps not even Amazon, since the command set allows either setting volume to a specific level, or simulating pressing the volume buttons on the remote.

 

And, on the remote, you usually hold down the button until you get the sound level you want.

 

Given all the brands out there, I can't think of how they could generalize that to all scenarios. Do you offer a number of repeats per command? Seems like it my flood the network. Default duration? Same issue,

 

So, back to specifying a value. I did see in the wiki that you could make the variable a delta by specifying a + or -, but I couldn't get it to work.

 

But, watching Monday Night Football was pretty cool being able to say 'alexa rewind', and she would do it. Don't get nearly the same result when I ask my wife to do that.

 

I do have Directv with DVR, so was able to find protocol online for DVR commands.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using Tapatalk

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MWareman Advanced

MWareman

Posted
Posted (edited)

To my knowledge, it's not possible to dynamically set the content of a network resource.

Benoit,

 

Since a few versions ago (4.3.26), you can do (most) email substitutions in network resources, as long as you don’t check ‘Encode’... The ones you cannot do are those that include # to indicate the triggering device. These are all listed on the Wiki.. https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-994i_Series:EMail_and_Networking_Substitution_Variables and certainly includes state and integer variables.

Edited by MWareman
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bmercier Advanced

bmercier

Posted
Posted

Benoit,

 

Since a few versions ago (4.3.26), you can do (most) email substitutions in network resources, as long as you don’t check ‘Encode’... The ones you cannot do are those that include # to indicate the triggering device. These are all listed on the Wiki.. https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-994i_Series:EMail_and_Networking_Substitution_Variables and certainly includes state and integer variables.

Ok great, I was not aware of that.

 

Benoit

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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dpower Newbie

dpower

Posted
Posted

I'm working with Alexa using the ha-bridge java service and it's working quite well at this point.

 

I'm wondering if it's possible to trigger a network resource directly (i.e. through the REST interface?) rather than embedding them within a program and then calling the program via REST.

 

Has anyone had success with this?

 

Thanks,

dp

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