Messages

1

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Re: Advice on my home automation future

« on: December 14, 2016, 11:16:23 AM »

Thanks for the replies. PegLegTV - I have played with tracker and auto voice before to make use of "ok google" and triggers. Although in the case I was using it for I didn't really like how it opened a web search in google now. I do like how your app is seamless across the different home automation systems and works along side VC. I'll have to check out your video on how you went about making it.

nime5ster - I've seen mention of Home Assistant on the VC forum, but I thought it was referring to the new Google Home Assistant air freshener looking thing. That looks like it might be a good option for a web interface program to work along with VC. I have two Windows 10 tablets that don't really get any use. It also looks like it's compatible with Wemo, TP link, and Alexa.

I'm really considering going with a Smart Things hub and some Z wave fan switches and light dimmers. Almost every room in the house has ceiling fans with a dimmer, so control of that is going to be a big part of the whole house automation. I noticed Home Assistant is compatible with Zwave via some kind of usb stick, or smartthings via MQTT bridge, as well as the Wemo, TPlink, Alexa, Chromecast and Kodi (though I don't know the extend of its capability with Kodi and Chromecast.

Will Vox commander work with smartthings? Either on its own or via HomeAssistant? Do most people use VC and HA sidebyside or do they directly communicate with eachother? There is so many ways to go with all this.

2

BEAM IR/RF Wifi transceiver / Re: BEAM for ceiling fan with 303 MHz

« on: December 13, 2016, 10:22:06 PM »

Hi wannaspeed. I have a ceiling fan that I believe is using 303 MHz and I have not had any luck controlling it with the Beam. I am able to learn codes from the fan remote but retransmitting them has no effect. I assume that the fan is too selective about the frequency it listens for.  Unfortunately I have not been able to find an equivalent transmitter that operates at 303 MHz to use in the Beam.

That's disappointing to hear, it's one of the main reasons I'm looking into the beam. Hopefully something like that can be implemented in the future. I do think most the frequencies are around that for ceiling fans. I can't be sure that mine are though, its plausible that each manufacture uses their own frequency block. However I have had 5 different remotes from different manufactures and was able to control all the fans with each remote. 

I was reading another guy that found the frequency and code for his fan, you would probably understand a lot more of what he did here than me but the frequency was 303.747mhz.  http://www.irrational.net/2014/03/22/reverse-engineering-a-ceiling-fan/

He did manage to control the fan with whats called a BladeRF, not sure what it is but maybe it will work in the sphere? Or separately with VC.

Link to the bladeRF http://nuand.com/ (looks cost prohibitive)
300MHz - 3.8GHz RF frequency range

3

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Re: Can I set a prefix to disable for X amount of time since last issued command?

« on: December 13, 2016, 09:26:23 PM »

By the way, it seems like you're having a good time exploring VC's capabilities, but you may save some time by consulting the wiki as well.

e.g. Several of the questions and issues that have come up so far are covered on the Getting Started page.

http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Getting_Started

A Google Search of the wiki usually can help find useful info as well.

Yeah I read that after I posted one of my previous questions. I've watched videos, read areas of the wiki and seen more information than I can keep track of. Maybe I'm trying to do too much too quickly, but when I run across an issue I can't remember if it was something I already read or where I saw it and when I go searching for answers I start reading other information that takes me in a new direction. The first few days I was playing with the program a lot of the website wasn't pulling up too, so I was just playing with it on my own.

4

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Advice on my home automation future

« on: December 13, 2016, 09:13:38 PM »

My current smart systems are fragmented, many of them don't work together, although until recently most of them were all at least operated from my Android. I really like Voxcommando, it's very powerful software and is a lot of fun to play with. It's not as plug and play as other systems like the Alexa or Google Home, but it is so capable. I'm just having a hard time figuring out how to integrate everything in a seamless, cost effective manor while doing what I want, or decided which products to potentially abandon.

So these are the systems I have in play:

• Two wemo switches, one for outside carport lights and one for an outside amplifier.
  
  
• Firetv with built in Alexa and Kodi installed in the livingroom. I use either amazon fire remote or Yatsi to control it. Although I might try to get it working with Vox, I've played with it a little and see it does work. Although I don't think I can launch it from voice.

• HTPC in the bedroom with voxcommando and k400 keyboard and kinect.

• I have 9 tp-link smart plugs on their way. I bought 9 because they were $6 each and i couldn't pass on a $26 per plug savings. Both wemo and tplink are compatible with Alexa, I "think" only Wemo is compatible with VC. And google home is supposed to have compatibly with both soon.
  
  
• I also bought some smart ëco plugs a couple years ago, was a 2 pack for $7, I don't think they will be part of the system, but goes to show the extent of the fragmentation.

• 3 ceiling fans with dimmers and are controlled by RF remotes. I've had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to control them via smart without losing fan speed control, and dimmer. I'm hoping the beam sphere will be my answer there. Maybe??

• For audio I was using a Logitech squeezbox, with 3 linux pogoplug squeezeboxes. This was a cost effective alternative to Sonos and worked well for multiroom audio but it reached the end of its lifespan. I have since purchased 4 Chromecast audios which work well, but I have no way to Voice integrate them unless I use google home. Google home is rather limited at the moment. Having multiple assistants seems kinda redundant, but each one by themselves doesn't do exactly what I want.

• I'm also part of Nest beta and they send me different products to beta test, but the beta program isn't compatible with Works with nest", google now or anything like that. You get an app similar to the default app to control everything from there, or login to a web address.

I've considered wall mounting androids for intercoms, lighting and music control, but then I have been messing with vox and really like it so I considered doing windows tablets instead, although that might not be as useful since it really only needs a microphone to control systems and that's available on android. Ideally I would like control both from phone as well as voice, and either a nice panel integration using tablets, or my current wall switches to run as a system for the wife. Obviously this is all very personal in which way to go, but if anyone has suggestions i'm open. It also helps for me to type it out to kind of map through my own ideas.[/list]

5

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Re: Can I set a prefix to disable for X amount of time since last issued command?

« on: December 13, 2016, 09:11:43 AM »

Awesome! I didn't realize the prefix was used only in standby mode, or that always listening commands ignored the prefix. Understanding exactly how each mode handles commands makes it easier to setup properly.

I originally thought the program had to be "on/green" in order to issue any commands that weren't always listening.
I thought by adding a prefix I would have to say the prefix for all commands regardless of mode. So I left prefix off and made a poor mans prefix by setting the Listen command to always listening and having it go into standby mode after 20 secs. But always having to wake the program really wasn't ideal either.

I have since changed all that, I set the prefix to Airia. (Aria didn't work, it would turn blue for a command but never execute it.) I turned off always listening for the Listen command so I use the prefix. "Aira Listen" If I want to issue a string of commands. Hopefully this wont be too short.  I still have the auto standby set to 30 secs. So far this seems to be working well. But ill have to test it more while watching a movie. Thanks again for the thorough response.

6

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Re: IFTTT or how to integrate with home assistant

« on: December 11, 2016, 10:08:35 PM »

@IKROWNI -- out of curiosity, have you ever used IFTTT's Amazon Alexa service?

https://ifttt.com/amazon_alexa

I'm just curious what it actually accomplishes. The feature is only available in the U.S., so I can't read the documentation for it.

I know this was directed to IKROWNI, but I have used the Alexa IFTTT. It definitely has some limitations.  From what I have seen it only works one way. You tell Alexa the "IF" part and choose a service to "Then that". For example I have 2 applets that work together, one raises my phone's volume to 100% the other has IFTTT call my phone. So I say "Alexa, Trigger find my phone" She sends the command to IFTTT it raises the volume and calls me.

You can also have Alexa send a file to dropbox and then have VC watch that folder to issue a command for you. But I find these type of commands a bit on the slow side.

The Alexa phrase command is probably the most useful, there are others like if an item is added to my Alexa to do list, or an item is added or removed from my shopping cart, but I think they aren't as useful.

Unfortunately Alexa has no way to accept commands from other services. So you couldn't send Alexa an sms to turn off the lights or play song/movie x. However I found a workaround using Roger from the phone to send commands to Alexa, but this is not using IFTTT. Hope that helps give you an idea of some of Alexa and IFTTT's capabilities.

7

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Can I set a prefix to disable for X amount of time since last issued command?

« on: December 11, 2016, 09:29:42 PM »

Hi, I would like to use a prefix but have it disable for 5-10 seconds after a command is issued. That way if i'm using navigation, or issuing several commands, I don't have to say "Jarvis down" Jarvis Left 2" "Jarvis down 3" I can just say "Jarvis down" "left 2" "down 3"

Or is it better to just not use a prefix and use the auto standby feature instead? Maybe make the Listen command the prefix instead?

Last question is it better to have a listen command or prefix with more syllables or less? Right now I haven't decided on a name and I had a hard time remembering the correct phrases, so I have multiple Listen Commands "listen, hey, can you hear me, wakey wakey, good afternoon, good evening, etc along with "computer, vox, commander, eve" But I noticed when watching movies sometimes it thinks it hears the command and wakes itself up. What's a good way to keep the mic open but not issue random commands?

8

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / Re: additional commands with kinect

« on: December 11, 2016, 09:11:13 PM »

Have you tried this already?

http://voxcommando.com/forum/index.php?topic=1477.msg15687#msg15687

`

I haven't checking into it now. Thanks! I guess I need to start subscribing to my threads so I know when people posted. I keep showing up late

9

Kodi (XBMC) Frodo / Gotham / Isengard / Jarvis / Re: Kodi/Google Music plugin Integration.

« on: December 11, 2016, 09:01:19 PM »

I don't recommend you try to edit anything directly in XML.  Always use the command builder.  XML encodes certain characters such as '&'.  That's just how it works.

To see the correct format just look at nime5ter's command in the builder after pasting it into your tree.

So for example the correct parameter to use for playing favourites using "player.open" is the following:

Code: [Select]

"item":{"file":"plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/?action=play_all&playlist_id=thumbsup&shuffle=true"}

Yeah I didn't initially realize you could drag and drop onto the tree, that's a very nice feature. Makes things much easier. Is it recommended to use another program for testing the syntax of commands to Kodi? Or just build and execute from the command tree?

10

Kodi (XBMC) Frodo / Gotham / Isengard / Jarvis / Re: Kodi/Google Music plugin Integration.

« on: December 10, 2016, 08:58:29 PM »

ok after i poster i looked up amp in XML and found that it stands for &. so by me copy/paste into the builder its like putting it twice. Going to fix that and test it.

EDIT: Apparently there must be more lost/changed between the XML and the builder. If I want to use the builder how would I convert either a kodi log into the proper syntax or convert an XML into the proper syntax for the builder?

edit edit: Well i discovered you can just drag XML into the tree that's definitely helpful.

11

Kodi (XBMC) Frodo / Gotham / Isengard / Jarvis / Re: Kodi/Google Music plugin Integration.

« on: December 10, 2016, 08:53:46 PM »

Here's a bonus command, "Play Google Thumbs Up". This plays the list of songs that you've previously thumbed up in Google Music. Basically a favourites playlist.

Thanks for helping with this! Sure enough that fixed it when I add it to my voicecommands.xml. For some reason when I try to build these in the logical command builder the syntax gets changed all around. I'll use the google thumbs up playlist as an example. I enter my action into the first box as XJson.Raw then the next box is Player.Open, the 3rd box for the parameters I copy and paste:

Code: [Select]

"item":{"file":"plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/?action=play_all&playlist_id=thumbsup&shuffle=true"}
Save and execute results in an error so I open the voicecommands.xml and it looks like this:

Code: [Select]

<phrase>Launch Google Music</phrase>
            </command>
            <command id="545" name="Play Google Thumbs Up" enabled="true" alwaysOn="False" confirm="False" requiredConfidence="0" loop="False" loopDelay="0" loopMax="0" description="&quot;item&quot;:{&quot;file&quot;:&quot;plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/?action=play_all&amp;amp;playlist_id=thumbsup&amp;amp;shuffle=true&quot;}&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;&quot;item&quot;:{&quot;file&quot;:&quot;plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/?action=play_all&amp;amp;playlist_id=thumbsup&amp;amp;shuffle=true&quot;}">
                <action>
                    <cmdType>XJson.Raw</cmdType>
                    <params>
                        <param>Player.Open</param>
                        <param>"item":{"file":"plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/?action=play_all&amp;amp;playlist_id=thumbsup&amp;amp;shuffle=true"}</param>
                    </params>
                    <cmdRepeat>1</cmdRepeat>
                </action>
                <phrase>Play Google Thumbs Up</phrase>
            </command>
I don't know what's going on there but it doesn't look like what I put in the parameter field, the word amp is put in there multiple times for one. But if I copy/Paste directly to the XML it works fine. What gives?

The trick to figuring out the syntax for all this stuff is to manually play (or queue or navigate to) Google Music media in Kodi, and then check Kodi's log to find the query that is used.

Do you mind elaborating on this? For instance how do I take what I see in the log and convert it to a command that vox properly sends to kodi? Here's a log as I open google music and navigate to my thumbs up playlist and play a song with shuffle

Code: [Select]

18:39:16 T:8596  NOTICE: [GoogleMusicEXP-1.10.6] Getting playlists of type: auto
18:39:24 T:4488  NOTICE: [GoogleMusicEXP-1.10.6]  ARGV: ['plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/', '-1', '?action=play_all&playlist_id=thumbsup&shuffle=true']
18:39:24 T:4488  NOTICE: [GoogleMusicEXP-1.10.6] Loading playlist: thumbsup
So I think I need to take

Code: [Select]

['plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/', '-1', '?action=play_all&playlist_id=thumbsup&shuffle=true']

So if I was building it in the logical command block, which may or may not be working correctly for me, I would have something like...
 
XJson.Raw   
Player.Open
      "item":{"file":"plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/',-1,'?action=play_all&playlist_id=thumbsup&shuffle=true"}

12

Bug Reports / Watcher Plugin won't install in V2.230

« on: December 08, 2016, 03:05:38 AM »

works fine in 2.229, but even a fresh install of 2.230 fails to install watcher for me. It shows the error after saving the plugin page, and when you reopen the page the plugin is checked but doesnt appear in plugin list.

13

VoxCommando Basics and Core Features / additional commands with kinect

« on: December 07, 2016, 10:01:38 PM »

I was wondering if its possible to add additional commands when using the kinect sensor? Maybe simple gestures or mouse control. I have it setup and working well with the built in microphone, but i feel like there's some potential for more here.

14

Kodi (XBMC) Frodo / Gotham / Isengard / Jarvis / Re: Kodi/Google Music plugin Integration.

« on: December 07, 2016, 08:12:24 PM »

Welcome to the forum.

You can try a solution similar to the one used for the youtube plugin in Kodi, which is included in the default config. However, since it's a Music addon, not a Videos addon, you'd change the "video" window to "music".

Code: [Select]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<!--VoxCommando 2.2.2.6-->
<command id="438" name="open google music screen in kodi" enabled="true" alwaysOn="False" confirm="False" requiredConfidence="0" loop="False" loopDelay="0" loopMax="0" description="">
  <action>
    <cmdType>XJson.Raw</cmdType>
    <params>
      <param>GUI.ActivateWindow</param>
      <param>"window": "music", "parameters": ["plugin://plugin.audio.googlemusic.exp/" ]</param>
    </params>
    <cmdRepeat>1</cmdRepeat>
  </action>
  <phrase>open google music screen in kodi</phrase>
</command>
I don't use Google Music so I can't help with the rest at the moment. I may test this out tonight though. What the heck.

Thanks! Worked perfect! Now that I know the correct parameters I can do this for any other addons. Appreciate it!

15

BEAM IR/RF Wifi transceiver / BEAM for ceiling fan with 303 MHz

« on: December 07, 2016, 07:35:46 PM »

I've been looking for something like this to control my RF ceiling fans. As I get more into Home Automation the RF fans/lights have been somewhat of an obstacle in integrating with my phone. I'm not 100% the frequency they use but I "think" in the 300 mhz range. I think most wireless fans have the same 16 frequency channels using dip switches to switch between them. Have ya'll tested the Beam in this sort of scenario? The fans have off/low/med/high and lights are on/off/hold for dim. If this device is something that can do that, count me in.