- Posted on
Fri Nov 03, 2017 2:36 am
-
nsheldon
offline
-
- Posts: 2469
- Joined: Aug 09, 2010
- Location: CA
-
Hi Bhavesh.
No. No updates really. Much of the foundational code needed to get dimmer and Hue Tap data was written in order to check sensor values from the Hue Motion motion detector. So if I were to find a way to implement dimmer or Hue Tap sensing, I wouldn't need to write as much code. However, I'm not comfortable even attempting to add support without an actual piece of hardware like a dimmer or Hue Tap to test with. If someone donated a dimmer switch or Hue Tap, I'd be able to actually test usability with those devices. Still no guarantee of support (as testing may show it's not really feasible), but at least I'd be able to have data to show that it wasn't.
As for Z-Wave, there are a few advantages and disadvantages. First, Z-Wave uses a different frequency band than the Hue compatible switches (900 MHz band for Z-Wave and 2.4 GHz band for Hue compatible gear). In most cases, Z-Wave will have less interference issues, but is very dependent on the range of your Z-Wave interface on your computer. So if you have a recent Z-Wave interface connected to your computer, Z-Wave would probably be as reliable or more so. Second, even if I were to eventually add Hue Tap and/or dimmer switch support to the Hue Lights plugin, it'd never be as fast in Indigo as a Z-Wave switch or dimmer would be because of how Hue developers have to program applications to constantly ask the Hue hub if there were any sensor updates (rather than the hub sending updates to applications as soon as they take place). Third, one disadvantage of Z-Wave hardware is the reliance on Indigo to automate things (i.e. if your computer running Indigo lost power, the switches wouldn't be able to control anything else until the computer was back up, unlike with a Hue Tap or dimmer which talks directly to the Hue hub and can work without Indigo involved if need be).