patryk.szady Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Hi all, Currently I have an Alexa-Harmony-ISY set up. Because calling Harmony goes through IFTTT it takes a LONGGG time to get IR responses. I’d like to get rid of it and replace it with Global Cache. I’ve read great things about it and IP-2-IR seems to integrate with ISY well via Network Resources. The easiest way to control Global Cache via alexa is a skill called Eddy. The catch here is that you have to say “Alexa TELL Remote Control to turn off TV”. ISY Portal has a virtual A/V devices that I’d love to take advantage. The only reason I have Harmony is because I can say “Alexa turn on tv”, that will trigger an IFTTT applet and send the status of the tv to ISY via a variable. Vice versa, I click the TV keypad button off, IFTTT gets the signal, and Harmony turns it off. All great minus the delay because we have to use IFTTT to talk to Harmony. It would be amazing if I can incorporate Global Cache into ISY and then attach the Global Cache devices into the ISY Portal under virtual devices so that Alexa is calling my A/V devices directly thought ISY and with simple commands like “Alexa turn on the TV”. Unfortunately I’m not advanced enough to set something like this up and any pointers in the right direction would be extremely helpful. Has anyone setup a Global Cache (or similar) IR system and was able to incorporate it into Alexa or an idea of how to get something like this up and running, if even possible at all? Thank you! Patryk Link to comment
drprm1 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I set up my Global Cache to control my tv using info in this thread https://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/4810-the-global-cache-wf2ir-works/?p=37381 I then set up a program to trigger the network resource, and used the portal to link to Alexa. It works fast and you don’t have to preface a skill in your command. Link to comment
patryk.szady Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Thanks! I'll start my work/research on that. It sounds like exactly what I’m looking for. Link to comment
barrygordon Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 The only thing I will add is to throw something like a Raspberry Pi into the loop. The strings needed to deal with a Global Cache are not trivial and a royal PIA to enter into the ISY. My RPi handles (among many other things) the communications to the Global cache. The Pi maintains a library of the proper IR strings for my IR controlled devices. The interface to the RPi from the ISY is very simple. A JSON formatted payload specifying the end device to receive the IR (using a nice symbolic name like KTV (for kitchen TV)) and the command, once again a nice symbolic name like "PowerOn" for the obvious. The PI keeps in its library the port used for the device (KTV) on the Global Cache, The name of the IR file that contains the strings for that device, and the name of the specific string to send. the JSON looks like {"RPI_command":"Do_IR", "Device":"KTV", "cmnd":"VolUp"}. This makes the ISY side much easier. The RPi also obeys the protocol for the Global Cache and doesn't blindly just send a command Link to comment
drprm1 Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Figure it out how to do it with only Global Cache first. Maybe just a simple on/off first. Barry relies on many, many Rpi’s in his system and I’m not sure how another piece in the puzzle would benefit anything. Link to comment
barrygordon Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Initially I had multiple RPi;'s in my system, now I have only one RPi in my system. It handles all my Central Home Automation requirements. It replaced a homeseer system running on a PC. It runs a single NodeJS program that I wrote which consists of independent functional modules Link to comment
patryk.szady Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Thanks for the feedback. I’m getting my first iTach today so I will be starting with the global cache way first and see how that fits into my setup/what I untimely need at the end. I will be getting back to you shortly when I get stuck I’m sure. Thanks, Patryk Link to comment
patryk.szady Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Btw Berry, a RPi is definitely on my list to implement (5.0 nodes). I don’t think I’m there yet with my install. Link to comment
patryk.szady Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 So I got the global cache setup with my first device. Yay! My vol up and down keypads work great in the basement. I linked it to Alexa in the portal -> it works! “Alexa, turn up the volume on Basement Speakers” runs my program right away. However, Alexa thinks for a long time and comes back with a “Sorry Basement Speakers is not responding.” Has anyone had the same issue? Not sure how to proceed. Link to comment
drprm1 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 My vol up and down keypads work great in the basement. I linked it to Alexa in the portal -> it works! “Alexa, turn up the volume on Basement Speakers” runs my program right away. However, Alexa thinks for a long time and comes back with a “Sorry Basement Speakers is not responding.” Don’t quite understand Link to comment
patryk.szady Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 My vol up and down keypads work great in the basement. I linked it to Alexa in the portal -> it works! “Alexa, turn up the volume on Basement Speakers” runs my program right away. However, Alexa thinks for a long time and comes back with a “Sorry Basement Speakers is not responding.” Don’t quite understand When I Say “Alexa, turn up the volume on Basement Speakers”, the speaker volume goes up as expected right away. However my Echo comes back with "Sorry Basement Speakers is not responding.” statement, even thought the action worked. Link to comment
drprm1 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 You might consider starting a new thread on that. I don’t remember ever having that issue. Link to comment
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