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Using Association from a PIR, is it possible to turn on light, but not turn it off


RohitNz

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I have two sheds that have PIRs connected to fibaro switch. The scene to turn on the light on entry (detected by PIR) is a tad slow.  There is also an issue when you turn the light off and walk away and a few seconds later it turns on (in response to your presence a while ago).

 

I was thinking that I could use an association.  But is it possible to only turn on the light on PIR detection.  I don't want the association to turn it off.

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It depends on the PIR, which motion sensor is it?
You can check in the manual if there is a parameter which defines the way that associations are being send.

As an example, our FGMS v3.2:

Please login or register to see this image.

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If you change this parameter to 1 then it will only turn on associated device.

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I use a motion sensor in my garage to turn the light on and off. There are two block scenes. In the first I turn the light on whenever it detects motion. That's easy. Because this way once it's on, it stays on.

The other block scene turns the light off. Whenever it detects "safe" (i.e. no motion). It triggers the light to turn off, but there is a 10 minute timer before it turns off. Now my experience is that if there is motion during that 10 minute delay, it seems to stop the "Off scene" so it won't turn off until 10 minutes after no motion has been detected. It works reasonably well for my needs. However, sometimes it can be slower turning on than I would like. But that's more a function of the motion sensor.

 

I did try the association route with my devices but I can't seem to quite figure out what it's doing. I didn't try very hard because I understand the block scenes and I can't seem to muddle my way through the write ups I get on associations. Because the z-wave devices communicate locally I get very good response time. Even better they continue to work even when my internet connection goes down.

 

I hope this helps you.

 

Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • On 6/21/2023 at 4:40 AM, PeterV959 said:

    The other block scene turns the light off. Whenever it detects "safe" (i.e. no motion). It triggers the light to turn off, but there is a 10 minute timer before it turns off. Now my experience is that if there is motion during that 10 minute delay, it seems to stop the "Off scene" so it won't turn off until 10 minutes after no motion has been detected. It works reasonably well for my needs. However, sometimes it can be slower turning on than I would like. But that's more a function of the motion sensor.

    Hi Peter, I have this too.  My problem is the reverse, there is a long delay before the motion triggers the scene.  This is probably because there are many errors in communication.  The stupid thing insists on talking to it directly.  I placed a sacrificial device in the middle to act as a repeater, but it does not use it.

    On 6/21/2023 at 3:11 AM, m.roszak said:

    It depends on the PIR, which motion sensor is it?
    You can check in the manual if there is a parameter which defines the way that associations are being send.

    As an example, our FGMS v3.2:

    Please login or register to see this link.



    If you change this parameter to 1 then it will only turn on associated device.

    It is a security PIR that has no settings at all.  The Fibaro installer put it in.  But the above looks like it might work.  I will give it a try.  I have not found a decent description of associations, it's still like black art to me.  The naming of terms makes no sense to me.  I have to do trial and error.  :-)

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    I saw a posting somewhere that said associations are a holdover from the early days when there were no smart hubs. I found their use less than satisfying given the better control I have in scenes. My garage is used as my roommates' smoking den/man cave. They can spend time in the garage playing on their phones so there is not a constant motion while they sit there. I presume there's enough motion to trigger the detector which keeps the light on long enough that neither one is complaining. The response can be fast and they whole process works even when my internet connection is down and that is REALLY nice. It makes the whole thing seamless. Sadly my garage door opener cannot work through the hub without the internet. It is proprietary and relies on the cloud and since most people view Smart Home Automation being the use of Alexa/Google Assistant/Siri in their control then there's no issue for the manufacturer. But those of us who are enlightened and see more uses for our systems than simply using a voice assistant are left hanging in the wind. I find my voice assistant to be far less reliable than my hub.

     

    Good luck. I hope you find an answer that satisfies you. 🙂

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  • 3 hours ago, PeterV959 said:

    Sadly my garage door opener cannot work through the hub without the internet

    It should work.  Do you not have garage door button on the wall ?  I thought every one did.  I have a relay module behind it in parallel.

     

    But my gate controller has no such thing.  I used a raspberry pi with a relay board to implement rest calls.  I cannibalized one remote (by soldering wires from the relay and replaced the battery with power from the pi).  Now I can control my gate as well.  

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  • 3 hours ago, PeterV959 said:

    I find my voice assistant to be far less reliable than my hub.

     

    Actually, I am finding mine more and more useful.  Only because I am using a product called Automation Bridge.  It sits between Alexa (or Siri or Google or all 3) and Fibaro.  The response time is much faster.  And it has heaps of nice features.  For instance, I recently implemented notification on it.  So Alexa spits out

    1. "Septic System has been off for too long", if a scene hasn't turned it off and it has been off for 3 hours.  A scene turns it off at the times when my wife is gardening, so she doesn't get sprayed with the water.
    2. "One of the Garage Doors is open", starting at 7pm, on the hour until 11pm if one has been left open.  I have microswitches on the garage door connected to implants to detect if the garage door is closed or not.

    I am going to add lots more.

     

    It also has a feature of location, where it will detect whether you approached the house or are leaving it (using your phone's location in Fibaro) and run scenes based on that.  I am going to have it open the gate as I am approaching the house.

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    Quote

    It should work.  Do you not have garage door button on the wall ?  I thought every one did.  I have a relay module behind it in parallel.

    The button on the wall isn't a dry contact. Instead it seems to communicate through the wire and command the door. I went down that route. It does have a hub but the API is proprietary. It's all made by Chamberlain but they also have another brand. The hub is called MyQ. I am working on something like a raspberry pi to make it work but I got frustrated with my building the device driver. I'm working on another one that is less involved using just a json command sent locally to the device. I'm having better luck with that and I'll go back to the garage door soon.

     

    I will look into the Automation Bridge. It seems like a good system from what you describe. I would say Alexa works about 80% of the time. And asking again usually gets my desired result.

     

    Thanks for the info. Good luck with your motion sensor setup.

     

    Peter

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