I’m unclear about how scenes actually work in Openhab. The docs don’t mention them, and most of the forum discussion about them is 2-3 years old, and lacking introductory information.
I’m trying to set up two remotes, to be set on either side of the bed, which will control multiple dimmable lights in our bedroom. I’ve currently got the first remote working, but now I’m trying to set up the second one as well, and I’m running into issues.
I’ve been using this method to control the dimmers from the remote, which has been working okay, but it’s very laggy sometimes, or sometimes commands get dropped completely. Basically, when the remote registers a button press (via a scene_number channel), my rule checks the current state of the dimmers (which I’m storing in scene_number_1, on the remote), performs some logic, sends an update command to the dimmers, then stores the new scene number on the remote. Now that I’m adding a second remote to the code, I’m thinking I’m going about this all wrong.
Basically, I feel like I should be using actual “scenes”, which I believe should allow the remote to control the dimmers directly, without having to route messages through the controller. Instead, what I’m currently doing is setting up rules, which specify specify certain brightness levels to set the dimmers to, based on input from the remote. But all of that logic is handled on the controller.
How does one go about actually setting up scenes, so that the remote controls the dimmers directly? Does this involve setting up association groups as well?
How do you program custom functionality for that, for example, if I want either remote to be able to define 5 custom brightness levels? As I understand it, the only way to do that is with rules and scripts, which are stored on the controller.
I’m currently on OH 2.3.0, but I’ll be upgrading to 2.4.0 soon, if that changes things.
Thanks for your help.