Targets
Automate a HABPanelViewer Tablet to:
- show HABPanel/BasicUI on default
- switch display between dim/bright on action
- completely turn off display e.g. at night
Make all this robust so that even a tablet restart ends in desired state again.
It isn’t so difficult, but there are many small things to consider, so I decided to write this tutorial, so even I don’t forget it.
Tested using Android 5.4, but should work with more recent versions, too.
Tablet Configuration
In Android Settings -> Display set:
- Display brightness level to minimal
- Sleep to minimal time (15 seconds in my case)
If you also want to use tablet without being plugged in, maybe disable Android Settings -> Battery -> Standby intelligent power saving so chances of W-LAN connection being dropped are lower
OpenHAB Configuration
items/Tablet.items
String Tablet_Command "Command tablet"
Contact Tablet_Usage "Usage (last 5 s) [%s]"
Contact Tablet_Screen "Screen on [%s]"
Switch Tablet_ScreenTarget "Screen desired state [%s]"
Dimmer Tablet_BrightnessLow "Brightness low"
Dimmer Tablet_BrightnessHigh "Brightness high"
rules/Tablet.rules
rule "Turn on/off tablet depending on lights"
when
Item GP_LightsSwitch changed // modify to use your own
then
Tablet_ScreenTarget.sendCommand(GP_LightsSwitch.state.toString)
end
rule "Change brightness of tablet depending on usage"
when
Item Tablet_Usage changed
or Item Tablet_BrightnessLow changed
or Item Tablet_BrightnessHigh changed
then
if(Tablet_Usage.state == CLOSED) {
Tablet_Command.sendCommand("SET_BRIGHTNESS " + Tablet_BrightnessHigh.state.toString)
} else {
Tablet_Command.sendCommand("SET_BRIGHTNESS " + Tablet_BrightnessLow.state.toString)
}
end
rule "Turn on/off tablet depending on desired state"
when
Item Tablet_ScreenTarget received command
then
Thread::sleep(50) // allow values to settle
if(Tablet_ScreenTarget.state == ON) {
Tablet_Command.sendCommand("SCREEN_ON")
createTimer(now.plusSeconds(2))[|Tablet_Command.sendCommand("KEEP_SCREEN_ON")]
} else {
Tablet_Command.sendCommand("ALLOW_SCREEN_OFF")
createTimer(now.plusSeconds(2))[|Tablet_Command.sendCommand("SCREEN_DIM")]
}
end
rule "Turn on/off tablet if it behaves the wrong way (e.g. after tablet restart)"
when
Item Tablet_Screen changed
then
if(Tablet_Screen.state == CLOSED && Tablet_ScreenTarget.state == OFF || Tablet_Screen.state == OPEN && Tablet_ScreenTarget.state == ON)
{
Tablet_ScreenTarget.sendCommand(Tablet_ScreenTarget.state.toString)
}
end
sitemaps/tablet.sitemap (for debugging purposes)
sitemap tablet label="Tablet debugging" {
Frame label="Tablet Status" {
Text item=Tablet_Usage
Text item=Tablet_Screen
}
Frame label="Command" {
Switch item=Tablet_Command mappings=["KEEP_SCREEN_ON"="Keep on", "SCREEN_ON"="On"]
Switch item=Tablet_Command mappings=["ALLOW_SCREEN_OFF"="Allow Off", "SCREEN_DIM"="Dim"]
Text icon=none
Switch item=Tablet_Command mappings=["RESTART"="RESTART"]
}
Frame label="Screen" {
Switch item=Tablet_ScreenTarget
Text icon=none
Slider item=Tablet_BrightnessLow
Slider item=Tablet_BrightnessHigh
}
}
HABPanel configuration
Preferences -> Connection
- [x] Track Browser Connection
Preferences -> User Interface
- [x] Show on lock screen
- [x] Hide Soft Keys
Preferences -> Command Item: Tablet_Command
Preferences -> Value Reporting -> Screen
- [x] Toggle openHAB contact item depending on device screen state
- Screen State Contact:
Tablet_Screen
Preferences -> Value Reporting -> Usage
- [x] Toggle openHAB contact item when the app is actively used
- Usage Contact:
Tablet_Usage - Usage Timeout:
5(seconds - the time you want your tablet to return to dim again)
… and done! Now openHAB is master to command your tablet.
Even when you unlock your tablet and change some Android settings - as long as HABPanelViewer is running in background, it will return to foreground when tablet tries to go to sleep (it will go to sleep but immediately woken up and show HABPanelViewer again) - so nothing can go wrong anymore!
Sitemap for debugging purposes:
Brightness values should be set once and ideally be persisted.
