Outside PIR Help?

[chris_j_hunter]

Viv -

thanks, that does help ...

is there a simple way to move modules & their various sub-objects & attributes from one room to another - when we've tried in the past, we've always ended-up with a muddle to sort-out, and thought it easier to delete & start again (which sometimes can take more than a while to do) ...

??

Chris

[chris_j_hunter]

OTOH, having just set about trying to implement something, it seems we're more confused than ever ...

ie: some questions (referring to both Karam's & Viv's postings) :

- how do we Connect a reed switch / digital input to a door, in Cortex ?

- always open - is that what a door is until it has a digital input Connected (in some way) to it ?

- Front Door connectivity - seems to imply a special-to-purpose object, but we can find none such ...

- can we have a door connecting a room in the World to a room in the House ?

eg: a door between a Porch (a Room in the World) & a Hall (a Room in the House)

- and, if so, how can such a door be an external door, which has just one Connection ?

[Karam]

- Its the other way around. That is, you would connect a physical door sensor (eg. reed switch) to a digital input and then choose a door object (from the list of connectable objects) to represent that input. That kind of a door object is slightly different from the Door object which you can insert from the Add Cortex logic object list (the latter being to represent unsensorised doors which nonetheless tell Cortex about connectivity between rooms). The icons are slightly different too in that a logic door is grey whereas a sensorised door is black.

- You can connect a signal source into a logic door but it has to be done from the signal source connections side. So in my earlier example the virtual kitchen door took its state from the real sensorisd door. Otherwise the default state of a logic door is open - it is just there to tell Cortex about paths between rooms.

- External door is a check box available in any door object connections menu. If you tick it then it tells Cortex that this door is special in the sense that information from it should be used in evaluating whether someone has left or entered the house.

- Yes a door connecting a room in the world to a room in the house is what is described in my example. It can have connections to the porch and hall and still have its 'This is an external door' checkbox ticked. You then also need a logic door in the porch with one side only connected to the porch and the this is an external door also checked.

[chris_j_hunter]

ah, thanks ... so there are doors, and there are doors !

we’ve now got all but two of our internal doors installed (physically), and two of the reed switches, too ... but, of course, as Murphy’s Law dictates, the two twos are the same two, so the time has still not come for us to get Presence determination working in Cortex ...

still, we’ve now got the two reed-switches Connected to the right type of door, and PlanView is duly showing what you described !

Little by little, we’re getting there ... focus is currently on non-electrical things, but the electrical to-do list is growing, and in a week or two may well warrant a diversion !

[marcuslee]

You Add the porch (Room) to the WORLD. That is, not owned by the House. The House evaluates the rooms it owns to determine its occupied state. So rooms it does not own do not influence the house occupied state.

The Porch or Yard or Garden can benefit from the room occupied behaviour if required without upsetting the House occupied state by not being owned by the house.

The normal tracking logic can track a person leaving the hall through the front door into the Porch. The Hall becomes unoccupied. The Hall Porch door closing is an external door and informs the House to re-evaluate its occupied state. The Porch has someone in it. The always open door means the Porch occupancy will eventually timeout. The Always open door only has the Porch connected to it with 'This is an external door checked in connections.

This setup is so you can manage outside lights in the Porch area.

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I see no reason why the AUI can not be part of the World? It does not need to be in a room.

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Garage doors would normally be exernal doors. Only reporting door change of state to the Garage.

Hope this helps

Viv

If the Porch is owned by World, will the lights in the Porch still be available for control by Cortex Mobile (as I think Cortex Mobile might only provide control over House objects?

[Viv]

Porch[/B] still be available for control by Cortex Mobile (as I think Cortex Mobile might only provide control over House objects?

Your Porch will be available via Structure view under the 'World' provided it is enabled for web access.
Similarly the light will be aviable in the Porch.
You could make the light directly available via a home screen catagory.

Viv

[marcuslee]

Your Porch will be available via Structure view under the 'World' provided it is enabled for web access.
Similarly the light will be aviable in the Porch.
You could make the light directly available via a home screen catagory.

Viv

Thanks Viv.

Also, in heeding the warnings about adding a Room to World, is there any value in adding a Floor to World first?

[marcuslee]

You Add the porch (Room) to the WORLD. That is, not owned by the House. The House evaluates the rooms it owns to determin its occupied state. So rooms it does not own do not influence the house occupied state.

The Porch or Yard or Garden can benefit from the room occupied behaviour if required without upsetting the House occupied state by not being owned by the house.

The normal tracking logic can track a person leaving the hall through the front door into the Porch. The Hall becomes unoccupied. The Hall Porch door closing is an external door and informs the House to re-evaluate its occupied state. The Porch has someone in it. The always open door means the Porch occupancy will eventually timeout. The Always open door only has the Porch connected to it with 'This is an external door checked in connections.

This setup is so you can manage outside lights in the Porch area.

Has anyone else configured this? I have, but I've come across a few times now where I've found the Porch's light on with a Must Be Occupied.

I can't really think how it would trigger to the Must Be Occupied, the porch only has a PIR Motion sensor and Front Door to house connected to it.


Also on that note, is it possible to see what within Cortex, was the trigger for Must Be Occupied?

Cheers,

Marcus

[Viv]

Also on that note, is it possible to see what within Cortex, was the trigger for Must Be Occupied?
Marcus

Must be occupied is determined by a motion in the room and then either no way out or doors closed.
If you do not have a virtual door (always open) from the porch to the outside world then this is probably the cause.

Viv.

[marcuslee]

Must be occupied is determined by a motion in the room and then either no way out or doors closed.
If you do not have a virtual door (always open) from the porch to the outside world then this is probably the cause.

Viv.

Hmm and this is what's puzzling as I have 2 VDoors, one:
- This is an external door checked
- Opens into Front Porch
- Door state to Rooms and Alarm: Front Porch - Door State input
- greyed open
and another one, which is similar but no external door checked, but going to Front Driveway room, which itself is setup as above (so in other words 1 hop away from External door)

Oddly also is that I've seen it work both normally, but also occasionally coming up with this Must be occupied