Messages posted by: paulw

I don't think that a single ramp value will work as you would want to vary the ramp rate depending upon the scenario - for example, when a movie starts you may want to dim the lights over 15 seconds, but at the end of the movie you may want to brighten the lights over only 5 seconds.

I was thinking that it should be possible to create a pseudo-DP in the DS that represented the ramp rate. Whenever a light level DP was changed, the interface code would refer to the ramp-rate pseudo-DP to determine the actual command that should be issued onto the C-BUS.

If you can give me a point in the direction of the classes/interfaces I need to implement in order to create a new data source I will have a look and see how far I can get.

Paul

Hi,

The low-level CBUS interface is a serial port. The ethernet interface is a serial interface with an embedded Lantronix server. While the documentation on the serial interface is available it is easier to work through the Clipsal gateway. This is a Java application that connects to the serial or network interface and exposes a high-level command interface on TCP socket. You can send commands like "on <address>" and "off <address>". My plan was to write the data source code to interface between Mango & the "C-Gate" software.

If I understand your reply on the "ramp" question you are suggesting that I could define a control point that defined the ramp time (0=instant, otherwise # of seconds) & then when a control point was set it could either issue an instant or ramp command based on the ramp time control point? That could work.

I have also given some thought to the Elk M1 interface. I could define control points that indicated the current alarm status (0=disarmed, 1=armed stay, 2=armed away etc) & also specific control points that when set controlled the alarm (for example, set a control point to a number that represents a user code, the interface code would then attempt to disarm the alarm using that user code).

The Elk interface is also a TCP socket with a simple ascii protocol (that is documented!), so once again I would need to write interface code.

Paul

Hi,

I have a couple of "smart" devices in my home, an Elk M1 alarm and C-Bus lighting (This is an Australian product from Clipsal, it is also available in the UK and soon the US).
I have been looking for a way to "glue" these systems together - they both have TCP/IP interfaces so the physical interfacing is quite simple. I also want a web interface for control.

think Mango may be the platform I have been looking for. I haven't looked at the code yet, but I am pretty sure I can write a C-Bus interface pretty easily. The core control point in C-Bus is a "group address" which has a level from 0-255. When a group adress is assigned to an output unit like a dimmer then it is dimmer brightness. When assigned to an input unit such as a switch, the group address level can be set directly (or incremented/decremented). The TCP/IP interface allows a group address value to be read and set. It seems that a group address would map directly to a data point in Mango.

What I would like to do is have the ability to execute a program (such as a Javascript - I am planning on using Rhino) under certain conditions and have that script manipulate lights and/or the alarm. Do you think that this is "do-able"?

What "commands" does Mango support? Only "get" and "set" or other operations as well? I ask as the C-Bus system has a "ramp" command in addition to set & get. The ramp command allows you to specify a target value and a duration over which the address should "ramp" to the target. Can Mango support a command like this that has two parameters?

Paul