I am looking for a (simple) hand-held controller that can turn a number of devices (e.g. smart plugs) on/off/dim.
Does any one make such a device? I don’t always have my phone with me (or a tablet, or PC) to turn things on/off. A simple handheld controller could work with only one type of device, e.g. kasa smart plugs.
On the simple side, I am envisioning something like a x10 palm pad controller, on the more extreme side, something like a Logitech Harmony 700.
A more robust device could activate/deactivate scenes, control home theater, operate blinds etc.
So anybody know if there is such a device?
You can use the X10 palm pad. You just need to set a rule for what to do when an X10 command is received. On and OFF are trivial, dim/brighten are more complicated because you have to keep track of how long the button is pressed.
Are you saying that I can activate a kasa smart plug via a x10 palm pad?
To implement:
1 The x10 cm15a device would need to be installed.
2 create rule: The rule would be that when a x10 signal from the palm pad is received, e.g. House code ‘A’, address ‘2’ , ON, then send a command to turn on kasa smart plug X.
3 for dimming
rule (loosely speaking): for previously activated x10 device (House code ‘A’, address ‘2’ , ON) AND DIM signal from palm pad is received, then send dim command to kasa smart plug x
Hmmm, I was previously thinking of making a remote control based on a RPi zero 2W, and code it to send kasa smart plug on/off commands.
The mapping of x10 to kasa via a rule might just be the solution.
1 The x10 cm15a device would need to be installed.
2 create rule: The rule would be that when a x10 signal from the palm pad is received, e.g. House code ‘A’, address ‘2’ , ON, then send a command to turn on kasa smart plug X.
Yes
3 for dimming
rule (loosely speaking): for previously activated x10 device (House code ‘A’, address ‘2’ , ON) AND DIM signal from palm pad is received, then send dim command to kasa smart plug x
IF your plug supports dimming, the ones I have do not. The rule is a bit more complex, the way we use a dimmer is that we keep the button pressed and watch the lamp dim and release the button at the right dim level. Doing that while converting to a command with a rule requires tracking continuous Dim commands until the button is released. I have not done it.
You could of course just send one dim command and set the plug to 50% or whatever you like, again assuming your plug has dimming capability.
If you don’t already have X10 set up, it seems a little expensive to me to set up a CM15A purely to get an X10 palm pad. I would instead point you toward Zigbee devices, which can easily be added with the Zigbee binding or Zigbee2mqtt at a fraction of the cost. I see the CM15A selling for $126, but a Zigbee dongle is more like $30.
Device availability varies by region, but here’s a quick search of the Z2M database for “remote”. You’ll find lots of options.
I would not recommend going the Logitech Harmony route. The Harmony 700 would require some sort of IR receiver attached to your openHAB server, and Logitech recently ended cloud support for many older remotes. The Harmony Hubs are still functional and would be your best bet, but they’re hard to find since they were discontinued four years ago.
You can also find Z-Wave remotes, but given the choice I prefer Zigbee.
A word of caution on this: any handheld device has a decent chance of not being where you need it, when you need it. Rather than one master-control remote, you might find it more useful to have a number of remotes that are strategically positioned where you need them the most (similar to lightswitches usually being next to doorways).
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have the master-control remote; just that you might have the same problem with it that you have with your phone.
I already have many x10 devices. Been using x10 for many years. I wrote an interface under DOS that talked to tw751 back in the 80’s and later used (and added to) Heyu. I may have miss communicated my use case for using a x10 palm pad. I have a few of them scattered around the house (lr, kitchen, family room, bedrooms) I do not want one ‘master panel’. I think that is silly.
The CM15a can be easily found for ~$50usd and cheaper on ebay. I am trying to bridge to a different home automation technology but still want to leverage some of my x10 stuff if possible. I have issues with both zwave and zigbee (both the technology and the equipment cost/availability) The zigbee dongel looks interesting, thanks.
Unfortunately the harmony 700 is now EOL as Logitech will no longer support the configuration program. I used the harmony as an example of how it operates, being able to control a number of devices by switching among various device communication protocols. I can easily see a harmony 700 lookalike, being configured with a persons home automation devices and switching among those different devices much like the Harmony does with TV , HT receivers, cable boxes, etc.
I could cobble together a RPi Zero 2 W or ESP32 based device to act as a simple x10 palm pad or go to the extreme and make it similarly function like the Harmony (complete with small screen) to control various home automation devices.
This is the sort of thing OH was created for. To make it so devices from different technologies and vendors can work together. The “HAB” in openHAB stands for “Home Automation Bus”. Once a device is on the bus, all of OH can see it and talk to it. Rules are the glue that can connect them all together.
Since you are integrating everything on openHAB, I recommend not using x10 as the protocol for this if you do go down the route of custom building something. Instead, MQTT messages or HTTP calls straight into OH’s REST API should require less special hardware configuration and such. MQTT is generally more energy efficient if that’s a concern. I don’t know if that’s what you meant but wanted to mention this just in case. Again, the strength in OH is that once it gets on the bus, the technology doesn’t matter so you can choose what is easiest to implement.
But since you already have x10 palm pads, the most expedient thing to do would be to use those if you can get a hold of a CM15a and the x10 binding supports them.
The dimming rule is actually a bit complicated. Everything in OH happens asynchronously so measuring how long a button has been pressed is challenging. The best compromise between trying to keep sending INCREASE/DECREASE commands while the button is held down and only supporting ON/OFF is to use discrete presses. One press (or double press or what ever makes the most sense) sends one INCREASE/DECREASE commands to the dimmer. If that results in too many presses to be reasonable, you can create a rule to send a specific amount of increase or decrease for each press (e.g. 25 per press).
If you do decide that INCREASE/DECREASE works for you, you don’t need a rule for this. You can install the Basic Profiles add-on and use the Generic Command Profile. (Note: a profile exists on the link between a Channel and an Item and transforms the data flowing between them, in this case converting a button press event to an INCREASE or DECREASE command).
Gotcha. Yes, it’s different if you already have the X10 palm pads.
The 700 is actually be one of a handful of remotes that still works. Logitech only discontinued support for their oldest devices, while leaving the newer Elites and Harmony Hubs functional…for now.
Thanks for the advice. I have just about every x10 device ever made, including cm15a, firecracker, etc.
I would never use the x10 protocol. The physical layer is problematic. Back in the day, I developed the hardware to improve the s/n of the electronic interface and a enhanced protocol to effect bidirectional communication and the error detection/correction software to go along with it. It was just a prototype for my needs and the x10 organization could care less. Anyway, sending a bit every half cycle of a sine wave sets the default communication speed…horribly slow.
Electrically speaking, the power lines on the grid are almost as ugly as the communication buses in a car. Nasty environment.
Architecturally speaking, the home automation bus is a good idea. With the right I/F any device can communicate to others, and to a controller. In some situations, latency can be an issues but very few, if any, things in home automation are time critical.
I understand that you already have the required hardware at home, so I just wanted to let you know the solution that we used for a similar situation:
An old small(!) Android phone (Samsung S4 Mini in my case) + wireless charging adapter + a dedicated HABpanel configuration.
The phone was configured to use no screen lock, so it would immediately show the HABpanel screen when the power button was pushed.
Pro:
- S4 Mini is smaller than most standard IR remote controls
- Phone may be old and (too) slow for daily use - it’s still fine for a few buttons on a screen
- only one “remote control” lying around for TV, DVD, lights, blinds, etc.
- HABpanel can be reconfigured directly at the phone or more comfortably on a pc
Cons:
- no haptic feedback (you need to look at the screen)
- Needs recharging every few days (wireless makes this much more comfortable)
- at some point the Android version might become too old and no longer receive updates - don’t care, as it is only used to show HABpanel
- (Samsung messed up this perfect tiny phone as all die(d) at some point with no internal power
)
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Thanks, looks interesting.
I am not a big fan of android but this will probably work till I decide on another approach.
I have a few amazon fire tablets (8") that I am considering hacking for this purpose. At $25 USD each, it is not too costly of a solution. Has some similar cons to the android phone.
I have set most of my house up for voice because thats the easiest most of the time. I do have a few wall mounted keypads around made from rpi’s in a kiosk mode and a couple tablets also in kiosk mode. They work pretty well (well at least when I haven’t changed things again lol). Ikea has some small keypads that arent too bad with the right rules and are zigbee. I have decided to mix zigbee and zwave and its been great if you do go that route.
Thanks for the insight.
I have considered a RPI but didn’t know about kiosk mode. I am curious if there is a way to completely power down a RPI and have it wake up on a key click (as opposed to a on/off switch)
Could you provide some description or a pointer to the Ikea keypads? I could not find anything about them, only smart locks.
Thanks
It’s the Ikea Styrbar Remote, it doesn’t do too much but works for my needs. Theres also a similar one from ZooZ that is like a battery dimmer switch.
The RPI I use a iso called fullpageos that cuts out most things but the things needed to open in kiosk mode. Not sure of it being off fully (mine is poe powered so just turns off the display) but you should be able to put it in a sleep mode and wake it from that easier than full shutdown.