Thursday 30 October 2014

Budget Z-wave Curtain tracks with Vera / Dooya / Fibaro – Part 5

Part one here, Part two here, Part three here, Part four here.

In Part five I will  cover the Vera setup and calibration of the Fibaro Blind Control module and remote control options.

Vera Setup

Once I had connected the Fibaro Blind Control insert module into the mains electric adding the device to the Z-wave network with Vera was very easy. I simply put my VeraLite in to battery mode and carried it next to where the Fibaro module had been installed. I then pressed the + button on the VeraLite and then triple clicked the B button on the Fibaro module, the two detected each other and the Fibaro module was added to Vera as a new device, as simple as that!

B Button on the module
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I renamed the device and assigned it to my living room

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If you click the Spanner icon on the device it the opens up like this

Control Tab

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Settings Tab

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Device Options Tab

In here I added two parameters.

Parameter 10 = 1
Parameter 14 = 0

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Parameter Number 10: Roller Shutter Operating Mode

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Parameter Number 14: Switch Type

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The user manual for the Fibaro Blind Control module can be seen here.

Calibrating

“It may be necessary to calibrate the module, when it's not working properly. The Calibration is a process during which a Roller Shutter learns the position of the limit switches and a motor characteristic. The procedure consists of an automatic, full movement between the limit switches (up, down, and up again). There are different procedures of calibrating a Fibaro Roller Shutter.”

According to the user manual there are various ways to calibrate the blind control module, through Z-wave network, through switch keys, through the B button on the module.

I used this method:

Calibration through the Z-Wave network
  1. Make sure the module is connected to the power supply.
  2. Include the module into the Z-Wave network according to the inclusion procedure.
  3. Set the parameter 29 value to 1.
  4. Roller Shutter performs the calibration process, completing full cycle - up, down and up again.
  5. The parameter 29 value will be automatically set to 0.
  6. Using an interface test whether the positioning works correctly.
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Until I had done the calibration routine the percentage slider in Vera was not working correctly. After calibration I was able to select say 50% and the curtain rail would move correctly to that position.

You may see a user configuration error in Vera whilst saving after entering the parameter 29, but don’t worry about that, as long as the curtain motor / rail moves and does the calibration routine. See here for more details.

Here you can see when the curtain motor is in operation its using 56 Watts.

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100% = Open

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0% = Closed

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50%

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Controlling the curtains from other devices

Logitech Harmony Remote Control

Using this method I previously described here, I have also programmed my Logitech Harmony universal remote control with two new buttons, Open Curtains and Close Curtains.
This functionality is integrated in to Kodi (XBMC) OpenElec, so when I am using my HTPC, I can now also use the remote control that is in my hand to control the curtains, now that is cool!

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Android Tablet / Phone – Authomation HD app for Vera

Authomation HD is pretty much the best app for controlling your Vera Home Automation gateway and the Z-wave devices around your home.
Below are a couple of screen shots from our Samsung Galaxy Tablet showing the new curtain device.

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If your an Apple fanboy or girl, I’d recommend the VeraMate app for iOS devices.


Aeotec Minimote Z-wave remote control

I have several Minimote’s around the house, and I programmed button 4 on the one in the living room to run a curtain open / close toggle scene in Vera. By using a toggle I could use only one button on the Minimote to either open or close the curtains.


Integration with Kodi Media Center (Formally XBMC)

Using the XBMCState  add-on which I previously wrote about here, I’ve created scenes in Vera so that if it is dark outside? And if the curtains are still open? When I start to play a movie (any video) in Kodi the curtains are automatically closed and my room lamps automatically dim down to 25%.

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VIDEO:



Please leave your comments and feedback and don’t forget if you place an order with Friend Group for the motors / curtains rails, to mention to them you were referred by ‘'The Media Center Blog” big thanks!

3 comments:

  1. I used Dooya emitter as the switch of S1 and S2 which can be controlled remotely using its controller via 433MHz in parallel. Setting Parameter 10 as 1 (Toggle switch). It works perfectly using both Vera and Dooya 433MHz remote controller. Please ntoe that just use Up/Down on Dooya transmitter connecting to S1 and S2 only.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I used Dooya emitter as the switch of S1 and S2 which can be controlled remotely using its controller via 433MHz in parallel. Setting Parameter 10 as 1 (Toggle switch). It works perfectly using both Vera and Dooya 433MHz remote controller. Please ntoe that just use Up/Down on Dooya transmitter connecting to S1 and S2 only.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I used Dooya emitter as the switch of S1 and S2 which can be controlled remotely using its controller via 433MHz in parallel. Setting Parameter 10 as 1 (Toggle switch). It works perfectly using both Vera and Dooya 433MHz remote controller. Please ntoe that just use Up/Down on Dooya transmitter connecting to S1 and S2 only.

    ReplyDelete