Link into Homeseer

[m0v1em4n]

Hi guys,

I run an home automation program call http://board.homeseer.com/index.php would be nice to link into that, whilst they do do voice activation, it would be nice to use VC if that's what I was using at the time, would save switching from program to program

Thanks

[jitterjames]

this Homeseer "plugin": http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?p=1089120#post1089120

combined with scrape commands should be everything that you need.

I installed the HS3 trial and this plugin in about 10 minutes, made some fake devices and it seems to work fine.

[m0v1em4n]

Thanks James,

Will have a look at that, Been using homeseer for awhile now, but venturing into Homeseer 3

update

looks fairly complicated for mild techie like me, how does it integrate into VC ? any chance you could give me a few pointers 

[nime5ter]

looks fairly complicated for mild techie like me, how does it integrate into VC ? any chance you could give me a few pointers 

You will need to follow the excellent instructions provided by that plugin's creator over on the Homeseer forum.

If you have HS3 installed, you should download the plugin from the HS forum that James linked to, and follow the instructions that the plugin's creator includes in his post. He tells you exactly where to install that file.

Then, follow his instructions for invoking commands. It is a REST-based API. That means you can open a browser window on your computer and invoke commands as URLs. He gives a bunch of examples. Just try plugging them into your browser's address bar. You may have to look through the HS documentation to find the correct function names if you don't know them, but his instructions are really exceptional.

Work on understanding his plugin without worrying about VC.

Once you understand how to compose HTTP commands for your Homeseer, then you can deal with VoxCommando. The VC part is very simple. As James said above, you use the Scrape action, which takes a URL as its only parameter. http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Home_Automation#Scrape

[nime5ter]

So, for example, reading straight from his instructions, in his post he describes how you can change the status of a device. Quoting "RedTechie":

Set Device Status By Name - Sets Status for Device by Name

Parameters:
param1 = (Device 'Full' Name) Full Name means including Location 1, Location 2 and the Device's name. For example: 'Upstrairs Bedroom Lamp'. 'Upstairs' being Location 1, 'Bedroom' being Location 2 and 'Lamp' being the device's name.
param2 = (Status you want to set) If you Want to set a Lamp to on pass 'On'. If you Want to set a Lamp to off pass 'Off'. If you want to set a 20% Dim value pass 'Dim 20%'

Code: [Select]

http://(HS3 URL)/HomeSeer_REST_API.aspx?function=setdevicebyname&param1=(Device 'Full' Name)&param2=(Status you want to set)

What does this require? It requires that you know the full names used for your devices in Homeseer (e.g., bedroom light, den spot, etc.). And it requires that you know the URL for your HS3.

Let's say you want to turn your "bedroom light" on. According to RedTechie's documentation (as per above), the URL for that would be:

Code: [Select]

http://(HS3 URL)/HomeSeer_REST_API.aspx?function=setdevicebyname&param1=bedroom light&param2=On
So once you've downloaded his HomeSeer_REST_API_v1.1.0.zip file and extracted it to the correct location, you can try to enter the above URL in the address bar of your browser.

This should turn on the bedroom light.

Try out a bunch of his examples. Maybe you'll have to experiment a little to understand the nuances.

[m0v1em4n]

Thanks for your help

[aussie mate]

Like you I also use Homeseer (HS2)

I have just started to testing  voxcommando and have found a simple way to use it with HS.
I use the x10 plugin for voxcommando to send a x10 signal.
I then have virtual devices configured in HS and use the x10 signals as triggers for events.

voxcommando sends x10 signal  A1 ON when it hears "kitchen lights on" spoken
in HS - kitchen lights virtual configured as A1
Program an event in HS using the trigger A1 to turn the kitchen lights on.

seems to work every time.

I think you can also get voxcommando to respond to signals from HS by using x10 too.

[m0v1em4n]

Thanks will look into that, Just want something that is easy without doing masses of scripting etc.   

[aussie mate]

yeah - me too.

it's very easy - no scripting req - once you figure out how to get VoxC to send the x10 signal

On the HS side you need the x10 plugin too then it's just events.

 

[jitterjames]

The method I originally proposed is simple, easy, and would be faster and more reliable.  It does not require any scripting either.  Once you have the plugin installed you can send messages with a single Scrape action.  You have more power too since you can send either an event or a more precise command such as "set light X to level Y".  But I don't know if the plugin only works with HS3.  Maybe this plugin works with HS2 (I don't know), maybe there is an equivalent for HS2 (I don't know), maybe it makes sense to upgrade to HS3 (I don't know).

Assuming you are OK with using HS3 the choice is simple.  The creator of the plugin offers extremely thorough explanations of how to install and use his plugin.  I'm not sure what the problem is here.  The steps to install the plugin are few and clearly defined.  Having never used homeseer before at all, ever, I was able to get homeseer working with this plugin generating events in about 15 minutes.  I was actually quite surprosed at how painless the whole process was, once I got homeseer installed.  Most of that time was spent installing HS3 and trying to figure out how to create a device etc.  Once I had homeseer working and the plugin installed, getting VC to send an event took about 1 minute to figure out.  Nothing to figure out really since the web page we linked to tells you EXACTLY what you need to send and offers many working examples.  Nime5ter also posted a clear example of how to set a device state.

EDIT: Self  correction, the installation is only 1 or 2 steps.  Download a file and save it to a folder.

[m0v1em4n]

No disrespect to you james, I did have a quick look at it and it seemed complex, perhaps not for a man of your talents.

Perhaps its not, when I get to that stage I will see which one I can master   

[nime5ter]

I have just started to testing  voxcommando and have found a simple way to use it with HS.
I use the x10 plugin for voxcommando to send a x10 signal.
I then have virtual devices configured in HS and use the x10 signals as triggers for events.

voxcommando sends x10 signal  A1 ON when it hears "kitchen lights on" spoken
in HS - kitchen lights virtual configured as A1
Program an event in HS using the trigger A1 to turn the kitchen lights on.

Hi Aussie mate, and welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you've found a creative solution. Thanks for sharing your setup.

For those of us not that familiar with Homeseer, are you saying that you're sending x10 signals to Homeseer to activate devices that aren't actually x10 devices?

[aussie mate]

Nime5ter - yes that is correct.

My lights and sensors are all Insteon based. I was hoping the Voxcommando would have a plugin for Insteon but as it didnt - so I just used the x10 one. While not a great solution for home automation it works.
HS "converts" the signal or command from x10 to Insteon.

IMHO - if someone could make a Voxcommando plugin for Insteon and/or Zwave you may find more HA people using voxcommando as there is a need for good VR system for HA but not many around. even HS VR is pretty average and limited.
I know Insteon is HTTP based so I would think it wouldn't be too hard.

[Kalle]

a zwave plugin is available for VC - the "vera-plugin" in VC can control zwave devices.

[jitterjames]

...but you need a vera controller, it does not provide direct control of ZWave.

If this page is correct: http://www.leftovercode.info/smartlinc.html

then you should be able to directly control your insteon if you have a smartlinc.  It is just a matter of figuring out the device IDs.

On this page where he write an example like this:

Code: [Select]

curl http://172.30.1.101/3?02620EA7220F11FF=I=3
You can do the same thing, but instead of using curl you create a scrape action and send the url http://172.30.1.101/3?02620EA7220F11FF=I=3 as the parameter

The one thing I'm not sure about is how you can get the IDs for your devices, but if the smartlink serves up web pages it might be as simple as looking at the html source.  Unfortunately I don't have access to any insteon devices so I can't tell you much more that this.