[ANSWERED]: More polling interval choices

Posted on
Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:59 am
cjp767 offline
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Joined: May 02, 2013
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

[ANSWERED]: More polling interval choices

I've started using the Aeotec Smart Appliance Switch to monitor my clothes washer and trigger a text message (with the Google Voice plugin) when the power goes to zero which tells me the cycle is complete. It would be nice if I could poll the device every 1 or 2 minutes instead of 5. I like to stay away from the "as often as possible" selection, because that tends to flood the network.

I monitor the dryer cycle with the Aeotec Home Energy Monitor. I just wrap one of the clamps around the dryer power cable and it tells whether or not power is being used. I'm not really interested in accurately monitoring the amount of power, just whether it is consuming power or not. Again, the cycle is complete when the power goes to zero. That device lets us set the reporting interval manually, and does not require polling. I am using 120 seconds. So the device reports without being polled.

Did I miss something along the way? Is there a way to poll the Smart Appliance Switch more often and I haven't found it yet? Thanks for any guidance.

Posted on
Thu Jun 04, 2015 8:22 am
cjp767 offline
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Joined: May 02, 2013
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Re: More polling interval choices

I don't know if my request for more polling intervals is really valid--- I read the information from the Indigo documentation about polling, etc. Here's a copy/paste of some of the information. I'm torn between wanting a more timely (polled) response and clogging the network with polling requests.

The top item on the list, Only When Activity Detected, is a great optimization - some devices send out a message whenever they change - they don't actually send the necessary information for Indigo to automatically update state, but it is enough to bump the device to the top of the poll list so that the status update will occur much more quickly. And it keeps us from having to poll the device at regular intervals because we can just poll it when we see this specific message. How do you know to select this option? We will eventually be collecting this information in our device database so we can set it automatically. For the time being, you can try this setting out: just select Only When Activity Detected and save the device. Then, go manually operate the device. If the status updates (within about 10 seconds) then you can leave it. If the status never updates then you'll need to pick one of the other intervals as described above.

Any comments or guidance? Thanks!

Posted on
Fri Jun 05, 2015 2:56 pm
matt (support) offline
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Re: More polling interval choices

Polling and status updates are a bit of a complicated problem.

Some modules broadcast out updates automatically when something changes. Some modules broadcast out a "something happened" command, in which case Indigo can then immediately poll the status ("Only When Activity Detected" option).

Some modules like your home energy monitor have separate configuration settings for how often that automatically send data (so instead of polling, they push the data at specific intervals).

The Aeotec Smart Appliance Switch module actually supports that type of configuration settings. You can manually change those parameters (documented in the aeotec manual I think) using the Interfaces->Z-Wave->Modify Configuration Parameter... menu item. Indigo has UI for those settings, but I disabled (hid) it from the current version because when I tried to set some of those settings the module didn't work as expected. I don't recall the details, but it was squirrelly enough I decided not to show the UI. That was a long time ago though, so I'd suggest trying to manually modify those configuration parameters to see if you can get it working (again per the aeotec manual).

Lastly, your request to have some additional polling intervals in Indigo is a valid one. We plan on adding a few more in the future.

Image

Posted on
Sat Jun 06, 2015 5:41 pm
cjp767 offline
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Joined: May 02, 2013
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Re: [ANSWERED]: More polling interval choices

Thank you for the response! For my purposes, modifying any configuration parameters would be a little excessive and could, as you say, make things squirrelly. For now, honestly, the 5 minute polling interval is just fine. If the device decides to update on its own more often, that's great. If not, Indigo will get updates every 5 minutes and that's ok. I prefer the Zwave network to be stable, uncluttered, and predictable.

Thanks again for your response and for writing incredible software.

Posted on
Sun Jun 14, 2015 12:40 pm
Richard offline
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Joined: Feb 05, 2015

Re: [ANSWERED]: More polling interval choices

Hi cjp767,

Aeotec Smart Appliance Switch to monitor my clothes washer and trigger a text message


I used the same device for my washer too. What I have done was made two trigger actions and one variable.

1) Made a variable named Wash Machine
2) Made one trigger action name Wash Machine Finish, when trigger device state changed and the load becomes equal to 0 then the action would be modify variable Wash Machine and set to "Finish"
3) Next trigger action I called it Wash Machine Status Update Request, when device state changed and has any change the condition rules are: if variable Wash Machine is not equal to value "Finish" then an action would be to execute script applescript by status request "the name you called your aeotec smart appliance switch" my example see screen shot and have it delay by 45 sec.



The end result is when the wash machine turns on the wash machine status update request is trigger and polls every 45 sec. until the wash machine has turn off and the trigger action see current load equal to 0 and changes the variable of Wash Machine to a value of Finish. Also in my case I have other triggers to change the icons on my control page to represent what cycle the wash is in, so you would have to make one more trigger when device state changed current load becomes greater then 0 and the action is modify variable Wash Machine set to "On".
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Posted on
Mon Jul 06, 2015 8:56 am
cjp767 offline
Posts: 136
Joined: May 02, 2013
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Re: [ANSWERED]: More polling interval choices

brilliant. simply brilliant. Thanks for posting!

Posted on
Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:22 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: [ANSWERED]: More polling interval choices

Or, in Python:

Code: Select all
indigo.device.statusRequest(DEVICEIDHERE)


Right-click on the device in the device list and select Copy ID to get the device id.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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