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Can I say Alexa OPEN the garage door instead of Alexa turn On the garage door


pz1122

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Posted

I have the garage door insteon relay and have it hooked up to my ISY.  Right now I have to say " Alexa turn on the garage door"  Is there anyway I can change it so I can say "Alexa open the garage door"  TIA

Posted
3 minutes ago, pz1122 said:

I have the garage door insteon relay and have it hooked up to my ISY.  Right now I have to say " Alexa turn on the garage door"  Is there anyway I can change it so I can say "Alexa open the garage door"  TIA

I use mostly Google Home and created a short cut so that I can say OK Google open  bedroom curtains, etc. I believe that Alexa has routines that can be set up for the same .

  • 5 months later...
Posted

New to this Alexa talking to the ISY stuff, what's the 411 on setting up the routine to open the garage door with the Alexa open the garage door?

 

Posted (edited)
40 minutes ago, arw01 said:

New to this Alexa talking to the ISY stuff, what's the 411 on setting up the routine to open the garage door with the Alexa open the garage door?

 

Haven't done that specifically but....

You can have any trigger cause anything to operate using the Alexa routines.

I would have a vocal expression operate a variable.
Then I would have a program triggered by the variable open the garage door and reset the variable.
A second copy of this path would close the garage door.

Then I would create another variable to report the change in status when detected.

I don't operate my garage doors with ISY at all but I detect their positions and have Alexa report "A garage door has opened" or "Both garage doors are closed". In conjunction with that I have a corner lamp flash red while any door is open and if all lights are turned off and bedroom motion is detected, the bedroom table lamp flashes at full intensity so I have to go to the garage entrance and close the door or not get any sleep.

All variables used with ISY Portal must  be State Type.

Edited by larryllix
Posted

I created a state variable and a program so when I say Alexa, Open garage door in a routine, that increments de state variable to 1 and then execute the program, 

Posted

 

You can have any trigger cause anything to operate using the Alexa routines.

I would have a vocal expression operate a variable.
Then I would have a program triggered by the variable open the garage door and reset the variable.
A second copy of this path would close the garage door.

Then I would create another variable to report the change in status when detected.

 

How do you make a phrase spoken to Alexa trigger a variable?  I'd LOVE to be able to do this, but I thought there are only specific triggers that Alexa understands?

Thanks.

JLOB

 

 

 

Posted
38 minutes ago, JLOB said:

 

You can have any trigger cause anything to operate using the Alexa routines.

I would have a vocal expression operate a variable.
Then I would have a program triggered by the variable open the garage door and reset the variable.
A second copy of this path would close the garage door.

Then I would create another variable to report the change in status when detected.

 

How do you make a phrase spoken to Alexa trigger a variable?  I'd LOVE to be able to do this, but I thought there are only specific triggers that Alexa understands?

Thanks.

JLOB

 

 

 

https://www.techhive.com/article/3327501/how-to-use-alexa-routines.html

Posted (edited)
45 minutes ago, JLOB said:

 

You can have any trigger cause anything to operate using the Alexa routines.

I would have a vocal expression operate a variable.
Then I would have a program triggered by the variable open the garage door and reset the variable.
A second copy of this path would close the garage door.

Then I would create another variable to report the change in status when detected.

 

How do you make a phrase spoken to Alexa trigger a variable?  I'd LOVE to be able to do this, but I thought there are only specific triggers that Alexa understands?

Thanks.

JLOB

 

 

 

Sorry. That is not quite correct. An Alexa routine can cause a program, listed in the ISY Portal table, to run that can operate a variable value.

Look in the app on a mobile device, under "Routines". Any trigger can cause almost any action in Routines. I don't see variables under the Smart Home venue.

Edited by larryllix
Posted

I just finished doing this exact thing. You could use state variables but the problem is that if someone opens the door with a remote or the wired button in the garage it throws off the state variable. I used the sensor built into the Insteon IOLinc to determine garage state. 

I have a set of programs that make this all work. I can give details after work when I can look at my ISY. But this is the gist:

program 1 (called by Alexa routine)

If nothing

then run open garage

else run close garage

program 2 (open garage)

if garage sensor is open

then do nothing

else turn garage on

program 3 (close garage)

if garage sensor is closed

then do nothing

else turn garage on

 

Then in the ISY portal add program 1 as a scene. In the Alexa app discover the scene. Add a routine that triggers on the voice command “open the garage” to turn scene “program 1” on (this calls the “then” portion of the program). Add another routine that triggers on “close the garage” to turn scene “program 1” off (this call the “else” portion of the program). All of the above programs must be “disabled”. This basically makes them subroutines that activate only when called. 

  • 4 months later...
Posted
On 7/24/2019 at 7:48 AM, kfrazack said:

I just finished doing this exact thing. You could use state variables but the problem is that if someone opens the door with a remote or the wired button in the garage it throws off the state variable. I used the sensor built into the Insteon IOLinc to determine garage state. 

I have a set of programs that make this all work. I can give details after work when I can look at my ISY. But this is the gist:

program 1 (called by Alexa routine)

If nothing

then run open garage

else run close garage

program 2 (open garage)

if garage sensor is open

then do nothing

else turn garage on

program 3 (close garage)

if garage sensor is closed

then do nothing

else turn garage on

 

Then in the ISY portal add program 1 as a scene. In the Alexa app discover the scene. Add a routine that triggers on the voice command “open the garage” to turn scene “program 1” on (this calls the “then” portion of the program). Add another routine that triggers on “close the garage” to turn scene “program 1” off (this call the “else” portion of the program). All of the above programs must be “disabled”. This basically makes them subroutines that activate only when called. 

i am very new to the home automation, i have successfully installed insteon light switches, receptacles, door switches, and just got the insteon garage door opener to work. Also all devices work with my amazon alexa. 

My question is how do i control the garage door with alexa and also have alexa know the state of the garage door so the device does not open the garage when you say close the garage etc. I am very new to this so please if you could explain the process is much detail. What is isy?

Posted
57 minutes ago, bob9119 said:

i am very new to the home automation, i have successfully installed insteon light switches, receptacles, door switches, and just got the insteon garage door opener to work. Also all devices work with my amazon alexa. 

My question is how do i control the garage door with alexa and also have alexa know the state of the garage door so the device does not open the garage when you say close the garage etc. I am very new to this so please if you could explain the process is much detail. What is isy?

If you're asking what an ISY is then you are missing the necessary equipment and infrastructure for someone to detail what you need to do. 

If you can detail what you do have currently we may be able to point you in the right direction to accomplish what you're trying to do

Posted

i am running the insteon hub with all insteon devices. Currently have a insteon garage door opener the I/O and is operating like it should per the insteon app. I am trying to get my amazon alexa device to open the garage door and close the garage door. But also know the state of which the garage door is in, so if the garage door is closed and you say alexa close the garage door or alexa garage door off that it does not just send a signal and opens the garage door. Does this make sense?

Posted

It does. Unfortunately you can't do what you are trying to do with the hub. 

The isy is a more advanced controller than what your hub is. While it is worth buying, there is a learning curve with it. 

Posted

is the isy944i controller take the place of the insteon hub? Also any good instructions or manuals come with the isy944i controller or is it one of those things you teach yourself? 

Posted

Yes, it takes the place of your hub. There is information (ISY wiki and ISY cookbook) to get you started but for the most part i've found its mostly self taught. With every home and individual being different no manual can teach how to do everything....even most things. Only through trial and error do you really learn the system.The ISY can do so much trying to read and learn makes things seem worse than they are is there is so much information to take in. 

There is the ISY cookbook with has lots of detailed information on howto do things and how stuff work. IMO, while highly infomative, it contains so much information that its information overload for a newbie. https://www.universal-devices.com/docs/production/The+ISY994+Home+Automation+Cookbook.pdf

 

Posted

bob.. go to universals devices website and you can see the ISY... there is definitely a learning curve with it, but it is well worth it if you would like to really control things, both automatically, and via Alexa or your phone etc.

For example, I have three garage doors. I have programs that if any of the garage doors are open, several keypad buttons light up around the house. If after dark, they will start to blink to attract my attention. I can then either press any of them, or ask Alexa to "close the garage doors". The Isy will then determine which doors are open, blink lights in the garage as a warning, then make two attempts to close them. If any of them fail to close after 2 attempts, then the house announces the problem (could be through Alexa) that one of the doors is still open. If they all close successfully, the same keypad lights will blink slowly and an announcement will be made if my rear access door is also left open (often done in the summertime). Meanwhile, I can at anytime, open or close any of the doors simply by asking Alexa ("Alexa, open the north garage door") or pushing a "dashboard" button on my cell phone mobillinc app. All very easy. 

The point is, that with ISY, there really is no limit to what you can do; it just takes time, patience and a little experimenting to figure it all out.

This forum is an excellent resource, but at times, some of the answers you may get may be a bit more complicated than often is needed for a beginner, so just keep asking. 

Posted (edited)
On 12/26/2019 at 1:28 PM, bob9119 said:

Very well, i have insteon devices working with alexa. If i were to go the isy route, what is a good isy controller to start with?

@bob9119 ISY is a bridge of protocols, device styles, and translates triggers into device operations.

ISY is also a home automation system. Alex is a remote control system and doesn't do conditional things, but that is slowly changing also.

Eg. Can Alexa do this?
If no motion is detected for 120 minutes in the gathering room, or 20 minutes in the mudroom, or 180 minutes in any bedroom, only between 9:00 AM and 11:00 PM, and the gathering room stat is set on vacation mode, notify me of how many minutes the HRV ran, The HVAC ran, humidifier ran, all found indoor and outdoor temperatures, wind speed outside, wine cellar ventilator run times  along with humidity in the wine cellar, if any motion has been detected in any room, water has been detected at five different places, any battery devices have reported low batteries, at 8:00 AM each morning via text message and email.

 

EDIT:

I misread his posts as "If i were to go the isy route, what  good is the  isy controller to start with? " instead of his actual words "If i were to go the isy route, what is a good isy controller to start with? "

Apologies for jumping too high! :) 

Edited by larryllix
Posted

 

4 minutes ago, dbwarner5 said:

Larry. Lol. And that is only the tip of the iceberg....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oooops reado...My bad. see previous post.

Posted
3 minutes ago, bob9119 said:

Is it $49 for two years to link the isy controller to the alexa app?

IIRC that was only the first purchase. I don't like subscriptions either but it was worth every penny. It is not only for the Alexa voice. It gives remote access without DDNS services (that will charge you) or forwarding ports in your router, and your ISP IP address changes hiding your access and creating security holes.

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