What Can HarmonyHub Do?

[vbPhil]

I'm using a Harmony Hub with a couple Remotes to control the TV, Receiver, Fire Stick, TiVo Bolt, TiVo Stream and Blueray. It also is linked to a Honeywell Thermostat and HueEmulator NS PG2.

I was using the HueEmulator for linking Insteon programs to the Harmony Companion Remote Home Control Buttons. Turns out I didn't use them much so I may not go to PG3 with that Node Server.

I was just wondering what I could do with the HarmonyHub. 

[Athlon]

I used to use my Harmony Elite to control the lights in my HT room by issuing commands with the remote to my ISY (it had  the IR function).  Here is how I made that happen.

I added the ISY as a device to my Harmony Hub.  Then, I added it to all of my activities.  I told Harmony to leave it powered on when changing activities, and power it off when I use the off button on my Harmony remote.  (Of course, the ISY doesn't actually power off, but the Harmony thinks it did.)

Then, I added a different IR code to the power on and power off routine of the ISY in my Harmony software.

Now, when I turn anything on in my HT room with my Elite (or from anywhere in my house using my Echo), my ISY knows I've turned on an activity and executes a program based on time of day to set up the lights in the room.

I've also added additional IR codes from the ISY and added them to the Home Control buttons on the Elite so that I can further control my lights and fan while watching TV or listening to music.

The 'off' IR command used when I turn everything off with my Elite when I leave the room (in addition to turning off all of my HT equipment) turns everything off in the room and turns a light on in the next room (if after sunset) so we can see our way out.

On one of my Home Control buttons on the Elite I can even send an IR command to my ISY activating a program to control a lamp plugged into a TP-Link Smartplug.  

On those Home Control buttons you can use both short and long presses.  The Hub will then send the correct IR code to the ISY.

There was very little delay (if any), by the way.

Now that I have a Policy, I've done something very similar, although much easier to program, by using the Harmony Node Server with PG3.

[Athlon]

By the way - there's a thread here that may give you some ideas:

 

 

[vbPhil]

@Athlon Does the HarmonyHub NS expose any of the remote home control buttons? Also, do you add the HarmonyHub NS as a Home Control Device in Harmony? I guess what I'm asking is how do you get from pushing a home control button on the remote to controlling things in the ISY via the HarmonyHub node.

[Jimbo.Automates]

The HarmonyHub NS is meant to control Harmony devices with the ISY.

The HueEmulator NS is used to control ISY devices with the Harmony Hub Remotes.

The Harmony API does not expose the Home Control buttons, you must use the HueEmulator NS.

 

[Athlon]

The NS has all of the buttons from all of the remotes associated with each of the devices I have registered to my Harmony.

(TV, Blue-Ray Player, Chromecast w/Google TV etc.)

It does not have the buttons from my Harmony remote, however there may be a way to make that happen - I just don't need it.

As for listing the NS as a device - no - I do not. I used to list my ISY, however I no longer need to do that, as I'm now using Alexa Routines to turn my Home Theater (lights and all) on and off. ISY is a skill available with Alexa. (Also - I have a Policy now which does not have IR like my ISY did.)

When we ask Alex to turn off the TV, the Alexa Routine runs my Home Theater Trigger Program on my ISY which does the following:

HT Trigger - [ID 0003][Parent 0001][Not Enabled]

If
        From    Sunset 
        To      Sunrise (next day)
 
Then
        Set 'Fireplace Lights' On
        Set 'Kasa Controller / Blinds' On
        Set 'Speaker Lights' Off
        Set 'Fan' Off
        Set 'Fan Light' Off
        Set 'Kasa Controller / Mantle' Off
        Set 'Counter Lights Sink' On
        Set 'Ecobee - Family Room' to Sleep, Hold Type Hold Next
        Wait  10 seconds
        Set 'Ecobee - Living Room' to Sleep, Hold Type Hold Next
        Wait  10 seconds
        Set 'Ecobee - Bedroom' to Sleep, Hold Type Hold Next
        Wait  10 minutes 
        Set 'Fireplace Lights' Off
        Set 'Counter Lights Sink' Off
 
Else
        Set 'Kasa Controller / Blinds' On
        Set 'Fan' Off
        Set 'Speaker Lights' Off
        Set 'Fireplace Lights' Off
        Set 'Fan Light' Off
        Set 'Kasa Controller / Mantle' Off
 

The fireplace lights come on so we can see our path out of the room, and the counter lights are in the next room (kitchen). The thermostats lower the temp earlier than their usual schedule for bedtime.

We have a similar program that executes when we turn the TV on. Clearly, I have the Kasa and Ecobee node servers as well.

[Athlon]

As a follow-up - Alexa is able to turn off all of my HT equipment directly because of HDMI-CEC. (When my TV turns off, it automatically turns off everything connected to it.) There is an Alexa skill for the brand of TV I have.

[vbPhil]

12 minutes ago, JimboAutomates said:

The HarmonyHub NS is meant to control Harmony devices with the ISY.

The HueEmulator NS is used to control ISY devices with the Harmony Hub Remotes.

The Harmony API does not expose the Home Control buttons, you must use the HueEmulator NS.

 

@JimboAutomates thanks, that's much clearer.

[vbPhil]

@Athlon I see you've given this a lot of thought. I haven't yet been won over by the concept speaking commands. I've only tried 2 where Alexa mutes the TV or sets Movie lights on. but still, I'd rather push a button or have it done on schedule.

[vbPhil]

17 minutes ago, Athlon said:

The NS has all of the buttons from all of the remotes associated with each of the devices I have registered to my Harmony.

......

@Athlon Can you explain what you're saying here. You mean, for example, your TV is registered in Harmony therefore in  ISY using the HarmonyNub NS you can activate any action against the TV that is part of the TV's remote commands that are exposed in Harmony? The same TV commands you would see in Harmony if you were editing the Harmony remote buttons for that TV activity? hope that question was clear.

[asbril]

I don't know if this is of any help, but I use the Harmony Hub nodeserver to switch the TV ON as part of a wake-up program. It selects the channel and the volume. Very useful.

[lilyoyo1]

3 hours ago, vbphil said:

@Athlon Does the HarmonyHub NS expose any of the remote home control buttons? Also, do you add the HarmonyHub NS as a Home Control Device in Harmony? I guess what I'm asking is how do you get from pushing a home control button on the remote to controlling things in the ISY via the HarmonyHub node.

You would use programs to accomplish what you want. It comes down to your imagination and what you are trying to accomplish

[vbPhil]

I installed the HarmonyHub V3 and now I understand better. It is as @JimboAutomatesdeclared earlier. The HarmonyHub Node will expose Harmony Devices and Activities. You can "control" the devices with commands found in Harmony for the Device either manually from the AC or in a program from the Then or Else clause. What you can't do is trigger off of device commands issued from Remotes and use that in a program If clause.  Hence you won't be able to control ISY devices (ie lamps) from Harmony remotes with the HarmonyHub.

[carealtor]

24 minutes ago, vbphil said:

What you can't do is trigger off of device commands issued from Remotes and use that in a program If clause. 

True.  This is limitation of Harmony Hub.  The hub simply does not have a way to "see" button presses on your network. 

39 minutes ago, vbphil said:

Hence you won't be able to control ISY devices (ie lamps) from Harmony remotes with the HarmonyHub.

Sure you can.  That's what the Hue Emulator NodeServer does.  Jimbo stated this earlier.

If you are referring to the non-Home Control buttons, there are two work arounds I can think of.  One is to set up some kind of IR receiver connected somehow to ISY. The other way is the concept of a Roku Emulator.  No one has written a NodeServer that is a Roku Emulator, so it will have to come from somewhere else, like Home Assistant for instance.  

 

[Athlon]

13 hours ago, vbphil said:

@Athlon Can you explain what you're saying here. You mean, for example, your TV is registered in Harmony therefore in  ISY using the HarmonyNub NS you can activate any action against the TV that is part of the TV's remote commands that are exposed in Harmony? The same TV commands you would see in Harmony if you were editing the Harmony remote buttons for that TV activity? hope that question was clear.

Yes - you nailed it!

[lilyoyo1]

10 hours ago, vbphil said:

What you can't do is trigger off of device commands issued from Remotes and use that in a program If clause.  Hence you won't be able to control ISY devices (ie lamps) from Harmony remotes with the HarmonyHub.

That is partially incorrect. You can trigger lights based on the status of the activity as well as the status of device states. For example, depending on the time, turning off my system will trigger my goodnight scene (room dependent). Starting different activities will set the accent lights to the correct color as well overhead lights. If I'm watching a movie and my DVR is paused (yes I still prefer hard disks), the room lights will dim on slightly and the hall lights will come on. If i trigger my movie scene, my air purifier will turn off (or simply not run). For anything else, I've found voice to be much easier than nondescript buttons

The harmony buttons won't work as already stated but i never wanted to use them anyway. It's not intuitive (needing to remember buttons for something not often done) nor do guests understand how they work.