Indigo is my new favorite color

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 9:53 am
johnfdl offline
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Joined: May 18, 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Indigo is my new favorite color

I just switched over from Vera and happy I did. Some of my favorite elements of my HA is:

  • Alexa integration - This makes it so much easier to do things. Have Tivo skip past commercials or pause when the phone rings (when I am too lazy to grab the remote), Trigger scenes or control devices, security, etc.
  • Alarm System integration - Using DSC Alarm Panel so I can do things like automatically turn off alarm when the PIN is entered on my deadbolt or lock all doors and close garage when the alarm goes off (and unlock all doors when the fire alarm goes off so we can escape)
  • Driveway Sensor - Using Dakota Beam Driveway Sensor, combined with cameras, have my IP Cams pop up on the TV when the driveway beam is broken so we can see who is approaching. If we're not home (and the garage isn't opened 30 secs after driveway sensor (meaning we just got home), notify us that someone is/was in the driveway....so we know to look for package or check cam footage.
  • Auto-close garage door after 2 mins (unless the over-ride variable is true, like when I am working in the garage). No more waking up and realizing we forgot to close the garage door!
  • Getting an email when my deadbolt battery drops below 15% (got locked out one time when all batteries died and we didn't have key or phone).
  • Spoken reminders to take the garbage out on garbage day (haven't figured out how to automate the bins getting to the end of the driveway yet)
  • Custom control pages for fool-proof assistance, especially for cases when a friend is house-sitting and doesn't know how to do something like watch TV (as it used to involve several remotes)
  • And the most important thing - a strong, stable software platform with great active 3rd party developer and user support. None of this would have been possible if there weren't so many generous people helping advance the product's functionality. The interface is logical, elegant and intuitive and the device support is extensive. I completely migrated to Indigo in 1 day and every device worked flawlessly from the first install.

I must say, it's only been a couple days on Indigo after many years with Vera and I can say I have no interest in my Vera anymore. The only downsides I first felt were:
  1. Runs only on Mac - Since I only have a MacBookPro, it meant either running it on that (which I am currently doing until my miniMac arrives or buy new hardware. If it ran on Windows, i could use a variety of old fanless boxes. That said, after a few days (and buying an old MiniMac), this doesn't bother me anymore.....I love my MacBookPro and like many things Mac, Indigo is far superior to Linux/Windows-based competitors (HomeSeer, Vera, etc).
  2. Software cost - Again, I am well beyond this being an issue, but at $250, it's up there. I was about to switch to HomeSeer (as May is their 50% off annual sale), but glad someone told me about Indigo. At first, I was unhappy with the price, but having worked with it for a few days, it's worth it. There are cheaper and more expensive alternatives, but for the ones I've tried, they pale by comparison in reliability, design, and functionality. Had there not been a free-trial (which the cheap side of me always likes), I would have had the chance to try it out and realize wit's worth the $$ likely not have made the purchase.
  3. No ZigBee - While I don't have any ZigBee devices, I saw this as perhaps a limiting factor in future growth. To be honest, I know little to nothing about ZigBee, but I figure if and when it becomes more stable and mainstream, you'll be on it. It was nice to see X10 support as I have a bunch of old X10 devices in a box in the basement. So if I get desperate, I can revert back to that sometimes reliable technology.

I'm thinking I may still spend hours tinkering, but it will be more focused on introducing new functions and improvements rather than problem-solving unresponsive controllers or devices. Color me Indigo!

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 10:04 am
Different Computers offline
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Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Amen to all that.

Using Dakota Beam Driveway Sensor, combined with cameras, have my IP Cams pop up on the TV when the driveway beam is broken so we can see who is approaching


How do you make the "pop up on the TV" part of this happen?

SmartThings refugee, so happy to be on Indigo. Monterey on a base M1 Mini w/Harmony Hub, Hue, DomoPad, Dynamic URL, Device Extensions, HomeKitLink, Grafana, Plex, uniFAP, Fantastic Weather, Nanoleaf, LED Simple Effects, Bond Home, Camect.

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 12:51 pm
durosity offline
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Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Yeah the cost is high.. but worth it just for the stability alone. At present my indigo server (an old Mac Pro) has been running for 60 days and indigo has been on since startup with not a single hiccup.


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Computer says no.

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 12:56 pm
howartp offline
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Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Different Computers wrote:
Amen to all that.

How do you make the "pop up on the TV" part of this happen?

Ditto!


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Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 1:48 pm
johnfdl offline
Posts: 177
Joined: May 18, 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Parts Involved:
  1. Dakota Driveway Alert (I have this one)
  2. Z-Wave Window Sensor | I have this one
  3. Small Fanless PC with HDMI Output | I have this one]
  4. HDMI Cable connecting PC to AV Unit
  5. IP Security Camera | I have this one

  1. Set up driveway alert outdoors
  2. Connect Zwave Window Sensor to NC (or NO) output on Dakota receiver. This then acts like any zwave window sensor so that when the driveway beam is broken, the sensor is triggered.
  3. Connect PC to AV or TV via HDMI cable
  4. Install VLC Player on PC as this will play the RTSP stream (and can be controlled remotely via HTTP commands)
  5. Set UP VLC to accept web control following the instruction here
  6. Start VLC and make sure it starts with any PC reboot. I do it via this (Windows) command in autostart: cd\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC
    vlc --http-port 8181
  7. Tell Indigo to play RTSP (camera) stream when Dakota Beam is tripped. I do it as follows:
  8. Indigo Trigger: Driveway Sensor Device State Changed to On
  9. Actions: Execute Action Group (Server Actions) named Show Driveway Cam

Show Driveway Cam Action Group:
  • Pause Tivo (so if we are watching something, we don't miss any of our show)
  • Switch AV to the input carrying the PC/HDMI using the following applescript (note, my Stereo can be controlled via HTTP commands so you'd adjust this step based on your AV or TV setup)
    Code: Select all
    tell application "Terminal"
       tell settings set "Basic"
          set title displays device name to false
          set title displays shell path to false
          set title displays window size to false
          set title displays settings name to false
          set title displays custom title to true
          set custom title to "DrivewayCam"
          do script "wget \"http://192.168.2.121/MainZone/index.put.asp?cmd0=PutZone_InputFunction%2FGAME2\""
       end tell
    end tell
  • Call the RTSP stream on the PC connected to the stereo (has to be on the same network) using this applescript. Note the 192.168.2.120 is the IP address of the AV unit and the 192.168.2.111 is the IP address of the IP Camera. You will need to adjust the wget command based on your camera's stream syntax and IP address)
    Code: Select all
    tell application "Terminal"
       tell settings set "Basic"
          set title displays device name to false
          set title displays shell path to false
          set title displays window size to false
          set title displays settings name to false
          set title displays custom title to true
          set custom title to "DrivewayCam"
          do script "wget \"http://192.168.2.120:8181/requests/status.xml?command=in_play&input=rtsp://admin:password@192.168.2.111/live_mpeg4.sdp\""
       end tell
    end tell
  • Stop the video stream (I set this with a 20 sec delay which gives me enough time to see who is coming up the driveway) via this applescript:
    Code: Select all
    tell application "Terminal"
       tell settings set "Basic"
          set title displays device name to false
          set title displays shell path to false
          set title displays window size to false
          set title displays settings name to false
          set title displays custom title to true
          set custom title to "DrivewayCam"
          do script "wget \"http://192.168.2.120:8181/requests/status.xml?command=pl_stop\""
       end tell
    end tell
  • Revert AV back to main input via this applescript after the 20 sec delay (Again, varies based on your setup, system and capabilities):
    Code: Select all
    tell application "Terminal"
       tell settings set "Basic"
          set title displays device name to false
          set title displays shell path to false
          set title displays window size to false
          set title displays settings name to false
          set title displays custom title to true
          set custom title to "DrivewayCam"
          do script "wget \"http://192.168.2.121/MainZone/index.put.asp?cmd0=PutZone_InputFunction%2FSAT%2FCBL\""
       end tell
    end tell
  • Unpause the Tivo (22 sec delay)
  • This applescript cleans up any open terminal windows created by this process:
    Code: Select all
    tell application "Terminal" to close (every window whose name contains "DrivewayCam")
I know zero about applescript.....these are modifications from my Vera setup so if there are suggestions to improving the applescript code, I am all ears.

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 4:04 pm
howartp offline
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Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

What AV/stereo unit do you have?

I think I could do this with my LG TV, switching inputs via GC100 - hadn't thought about that approach - was thinking you were interrupting / overlaying the hdmi signal somehow.


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Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 4:47 pm
johnfdl offline
Posts: 177
Joined: May 18, 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

howartp wrote:
What AV/stereo unit do you have?
I think I could do this with my LG TV, switching inputs via GC100 - hadn't thought about that approach - was thinking you were interrupting / overlaying the hdmi signal somehow.

I have a Denon AVR2112CI. It can be controlled via HTTP so I used that approach since the Denon plug-in for Vera (where I first architected this) had spotty results. My TV, while networked connected has no API for controlling it over IP so I must use the stereo. I didn't even think to mess with HDMI overlay.

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 5:03 pm
Japple55 offline
Posts: 224
Joined: Sep 26, 2015
Location: NE Tennessee

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Thank you for the detailed explanation! I don't have that set up but you've given me some good ideas. And I couldn't agree more about Indigo vs. all the other "toys" out there. I, too, could have saved myself a lot of aggravation by avoiding SmartThings, Vera, etc. Matt, Jay and the entire Indigo community are top-notch...except for Durosity...you've got to watch him. :lol:

Jim

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 5:25 pm
jay (support) offline
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Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

I think you can save yourself all those shell windows by just hitting the URL's from a simple Python script. There are actually a variety of ways of doing this since there are several built-in url libraries in Python (and a great 3rd party one that we include with Indigo). Here's one:

Code: Select all
import urllib
urllib.urlopen("http://192.168.2.121/MainZone/index.put.asp?cmd0=PutZone_InputFunction%2FGAME2")


Thanks for the kind words - we try hard to make it easy for you.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 5:29 pm
jay (support) offline
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Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

And, there's a Denon plugin by one of our developers that might work for you.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 5:36 pm
johnfdl offline
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Joined: May 18, 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Thanks Jay. I switched them out to Python using your suggested syntax and it works like a charm. I appreciate the suggestion.

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 5:38 pm
durosity offline
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Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Japple55 wrote:
Matt, Jay and the entire Indigo community are top-notch...except for Durosity...you've got to watch him. :lol:


Slanderous lies! I’ll see you in court, buddy!

Computer says no.

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 5:58 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

johnfdl wrote:
Thanks Jay. I switched them out to Python using your suggested syntax and it works like a charm. I appreciate the suggestion.


NP. If you ever get the itch to use an AppleScript, assume that whatever you want to do would be significantly easier in Python. Not always true, but it's fairly likely... ;) Python is an amazingly full-featured language.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 6:04 pm
durosity offline
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Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

“fatured”. Featured?

Plus as well you’ve said before there’ll not likely be any more development on AppleScript so some things just aren’t possible to do with that at all anyway :)

Computer says no.

Posted on
Fri Dec 07, 2018 4:17 pm
johnfdl offline
Posts: 177
Joined: May 18, 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Re: Indigo is my new favorite color

Just updating my set-up here as my system has had some changes (the first post above shows my original set-up):

Use case: Show camera feed on big screen TV when someone approaches the house

Parts Involved:
  • Dakota Driveway Alert (I have this one)
  • Z-Wave Window Sensor | I have this one
  • Amazon Fire TV Cube
  • IP Security Camera | I have this one
  • Android Debug Bridge (for controlling FireTV via script commands)

Steps involved:

  1. Install ADB on your Indigo Mac
  2. Set up Dakota driveway alert outdoors
  3. Connect Zwave Window Sensor to NC (or NO) output on Dakota receiver. This then acts like any zwave window sensor so that when the driveway beam is broken, the sensor is triggered.
  4. Connect Amazon Fire TV Cube to TV via HDMI cable
  5. Install VLC app on FireTV cube as this will play the RTSP stream (and can be controlled remotely via Indigo script and ADB)
  6. Tell Indigo to play RTSP (camera) stream when Dakota Beam is tripped. I do it as follows:
    Indigo Trigger: Driveway Sensor Device State Changed to On
    Actions: Execute Action Group (Server Actions) named Show Driveway Cam
Show Driveway Cam Action Group:
Run the shell script below which does the following
Connect via ADB to the Fire TV
Pause Fire TV (so if we are watching something, we don't miss any of our show)
Launch VLC and open camera stream using the following script, then go back and unpause TV

Code: Select all
#!/bin/bash
/Users/MacUser/Downloads/platform-tools/adb connect 192.168.2.91
/bin/sleep 2
/Users/MacUser/Downloads/platform-tools/adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE
/Users/MacUser/Downloads/platform-tools/adb shell am start -n org.videolan.vlc/org.videolan.vlc.gui.video.VideoPlayerActivity -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d rtsp://192.168.2.111/live_mpeg4.sdp
/bin/sleep 12
/Users/MacUser/Downloads/platform-tools/adb shell input keyevent 4
/Users/MacUser/Downloads/platform-tools/adb disconnect


Notes:
This should work with most of the Dakota products, but I prefer the break beam product as it reduces the number of false alarms caused by heavy winds, leaves, or other false alarms associated with motion sensors. It has three beams and requires two or three of the beams (I can't remember) to be interrupted simultaneously, so if a leaf falls, it won't set it off. Set it up 3 ft off the ground to also eliminate any woodland creatures setting it off. I'm quite happy with the very few false alarms it produces. The worst thing was it stopped working (seems the internal battery died) after a year and a half so it had to be replaced (and it aint cheap). I have it strapped to trees on either side of my driveway, about 50 ft apart because my yard landscape prevents anyone from approaching the house without using the driveway, but I think the beams can be up to 300 feet apart. The hardest part of the entire set up was getting these beam units aligned well. I have them zip tied to trees.

It does not turn on the TV if it's not already on. I can't add logic for that since my TV is not 'smart', but I do have a sonos sound bar, and have played with having it announce "Alexa, Turn on TV" which works (as the TV is CEC so FireTV will turn it on), but if the TV is already on, it sometimes gets confused and actually turns the TV off. Fortunately, my TV is almost always on, and if it's not, when I hear the Dakota 'door bell' chime, I can always tell Alexa to turn TV on if it's not so I can then see the driveway cam.

This set-up, is my second favorite killer app for my Home Automation. The first is the RPiBeacons I have that monitor my XY BLE tags, and unlock the door and disarm the alarm when the tag comes within range (and arms/locks when all tags are out of range).
Last edited by johnfdl on Sun Jan 20, 2019 9:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

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