Control a group of Hue bulbs from one VD

[Dalle1985 15]

Hi guys,

So there are several VDs to control a single Hue bulb on here, but controlling several devices together is somewhat more difficult. When I try to control several devices by sending the commands to the individual bulbs there is a noticeable delay between the lamps turning on or off - sometimes one might miss a command all together.

So here is a guide on how to create a group of Hues and how to control them.

Setting up the group

Step 0 - Create a user (if you haven't done it already)

On the bridge, set up a user, using the Hue Api:

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Step 1 - Get Python

Install Python -

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Step 2 - Download Phue

Get the Phue script from Github -

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- and extract it to a folder of your choice.

Step 3 - Launch Phue Script

Launch Phue into the IDLE environment (Python script handler):

Open IDLE -> File -> Open -> locate the Phue.py script -> press "Run" -> press "Python Shell"

Step 4 - connect to the bridge

Type the following command in the python shell:

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This imports the function which will open the connection

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The script will return an error, this is normal. Press the link button and try again it should return some lines of "Info" and you are now connected to the bridge.

Step 5 - Set up your group

Now you should be ready to create a group. Type in the following code:

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Replace XX and YY with the IDs of the individual lights to include in the group. Add as many lights as you feel like.

Step 6 - Check the group ID

Type in:

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Check the response, it should look something like this:

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This has two groups:

ID1 called Gang

ID2 called Bedroom

And you are done! You've hopefully set up a Hue Group successfully (this is the only way I have gotten to work yet). Phue have several different functions and is built to be integrated, go through the readme for all the functions.

The VD

Import the attached VD

Change below variables in ALL the elements of the device.

"hueIP" should be the IP of the bridge

"hueUser" should be the name of the user you created in the hue API

"hueID" should be the ID of the GROUP you created using Phue.[/code]

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