Indigo Domotics

Is Daylight the opposite of Dark or is it some random minutes after sunrise and before sunset depending on season?

I am trying to perfect a better set of light level variables based on an outside luminance sensor. Lights, blinds and curtains can then be fine-tuned for a better experience. For instance, winter months or miserable weather makes it darker and causes difficulties when just relying on sunrise and sunset values alone.

However, I need a backup plan should my luminance sensor fail, so I would like to understand the actual logic behind the Daylight and Dark variables, and if they are different, how would I trigger on the Dark variable that does not appear in the variables list?

To my knowledge, there is only one readOnly variable: isDaylight which can be true (daytime) or false (nighttime)?

Thanks Jon. So do you know how isDaylight is calculated?

Hackencrash wrote:

Thanks Jon. So do you know how isDaylight is calculated?

Not specifically but it is based on the sunset and sunrise at your location that Indigo calculates.

You specify your location in the Sunset & Sunrise tab in Indigo's preferences.

There are also two Indigo server commands for returning the sunset and sunrise times, see here: Server Properties and Commands (indigo.server.*)

Ah OK thanks Jon.

To summarise, the isDaylight variable is true on or after Sunrise and false on or after Sunset.

I thought it would be a bit too much to ask to take into account the variation in light intensity that results from the angle at which the sun’s rays hit the Earth depending on time of year! (although there are charts for this)

I can see a plug-in coming, no I can’t! I think I’ll stick to my luminance sensor and use isDaylight as a failsafe

Thanks again

I believe someone actually took a stab at this at one point. You might find something in the forums.

Found it: https://www.indigodomo.com/pluginstore/110/

OMG this looks exactly what I was after!

Thanks DaveL17

I wrote this code a while back. Requires install of the ephem library (pip install ephem).

Code: Select all

import ephem

varAzimuth    = indigo.variables[717359973] # "Azimuth"
varElevation  = indigo.variables[719196174] # "Elevation"

(latitude, longitude) = indigo.server.getLatitudeAndLongitude()

obs=ephem.Observer()
obs.lat=str(latitude)
obs.long=str(longitude)
sun = ephem.Sun(obs)

azimuth = float(sun.az) * 57.2957795      # convert radians to degrees
elevation = float(sun.alt) * 57.2957795

indigo.variable.updateValue(varAzimuth, str(azimuth))
indigo.variable.updateValue(varElevation, str(elevation))

#indigo.server.log(u"Latitude: {}, Longitude: {}".format(latitude, longitude))
#indigo.server.log(u"Sun Azimuth: {}, elevation: {}".format(azimuth, elevation))


I use it to close a specific shade in my house when the sun elevation gets below a certain threshold, and the azimuth is within a certain range. If I don't the sun shines over my shoulder and reflects off my main computer screen.

Alright so I need to create two Indigo variables with different ID's to yours and the Azimuth is the left and right stuff and Elevation being the up and down stuff. I'm going to give this a go!

Thanks!

I run that script in an Indigo scheduler action every 10 minutes (I think). Then I have a trigger that fires when the elevation field goes below a certain value to close the shade.