[Deprecated] Room Director - Smarter rooms, automatically!

Introducing 'Room Director'
Make your rooms smarter by directing them to do what you want, automatically.

This app has been merged into Event Engine - Automate your world with easy to use Cogs. Rev up complex automations with just a few clicks!

Features:

  • Trigger room occupancy by Contact Sensor, Motion Sensor, Presence, Switch, Between two times and/or Sunset/Sunrise
  • Use optional Occupancy Helper devices to keep room occupied (Contact, Humidity, Motion, Power, Presence and/or Switch)
  • Set how long the lights should stay on after occupancy stops (per mode)
  • Lights will dim as a warning before lights actually turn off
  • Unique 'Sleep' option to allows lights to turn off as if unoccupied.
  • Use restrictions to limit when each child app can run (days, sunrise/sunset, Lux)
  • Optional Notification options, get notified when the lights go out (room is no longer occupied)
  • Display each room status on a convenient Dashboard Tile
  • All speech requires 'Follow Me'
  • Flashing Lights requires 'The Flasher'
  • Parent/Child App structure
  • Create as many child apps as needed

Apps can be found on my GitHub or by using the Hubitat Package Manager.
(HPM is highly recommended)

When reporting problems...

  • Be sure you are on the latest version. I won't troubleshoot an older version.
  • Turn on debug and screenshot the issue happening in the log. One line or just the error doesn't cut it. I need a log.
  • Post the screenshot of the log with an explanation of the problem.

Thanks

18 Likes

Examples of Primary and Secondary trigger use

Bathroom
Walk into bathroom and trigger the 'Ceiling Motions Sensor' (primary), lights come on. Stay still too long and lights will turn off.

Close the door to trigger the 'contact sensor' (secondary). Even if the motion becomes inactive, (it can't see you when in the shower), the lights will not turn off until that door is opened and the motion is inactive.

Kitchen
Lights are off - 'Kitchen Ceiling Motion Sensor' (primary) triggers room to be occupied, lights come on. 'Motion sensor under table' (secondary) helps lights to stay on even if 'Kitchen Ceiling Motion Sensor' becomes inactive.

Dog walks under table and triggers the 'Motion sensor under table' (secondary) but the lights were off, lights stay off.

Living Room
Walk into the room and trigger the 'Ceiling Motion Sensor' (primary), lights come on. If sensor becomes inactive, lights will turn off

Place phone on 'charger' (secondary). Lights will stay on even if 'Ceiling Motion Sensor' becomes inactive.


Have something neat that you do with primary and secondary triggers? Please post it on the forums and I just might add it here! Thanks

1 Like

This looks incredible. Have been looking for something to make this kind of automation simpler. Can't wait to put it through it's paces

1 Like

Excellent Brian,
I’ll give it a go in my home office because I can setup a 2nd motion sensor just next to the PC’s mouse. Whilst working I’m often still enough to time out the main occupancy sensor and I hope subtle mouse movements will trigger the mouse motion sensor.

Brian, is your Director better than the Manager? How does yours differ from the other one?

Better is subjective to the person using it. If it fits your needs, stay with it. I installed Manager a loooong time ago for about an hour. It didn't fit my needs and I never looked at it again. Maybe it has changed... maybe it has not, I don't know.

As my coding skills improve, I've taken a few cracks at this concept and finally was able to make something that works for me.

As for how it differs, the description is in post #1. :wink:

Will this let the light to turn off after my wife gets out the shower and open then close the door, nobody inside? Most of my automations are for my wife, she never turn off the lights...

Thanks for the app

Nope, secondary trigger would override the primary and keep the lights on.

Think you would need some RM magic for that one!

Here's a situation I've been having trouble making work, and this might be the solution?!

I have lights that I want to come on MOST of the time with either a motion sensor or contact sensor. However, when we want to watch a movie, and I trigger a rule through Alexa (it "Let's watch a movie") the motion sensor would no longer turn the lights back on. (As it is, when we're watching a movie, if someone gets up to go to the loo, all the lights come on).

Hi,
Simply setup a virtual override switch. Then select this switch in the 'Control Options" section, 'If this device is On, no Room Director events will happen.'

In the rule that's triggered by Alexa, have it turn the 'override switch' on. All 'Room Director' actions will stop for that room. Once the movie ends, have it turn the 'override switch' off and the lights will magically work again.

1 Like

Great work Bryan this fixed all of the issues I had with lights turning off when I didn't want them to.

However does anybody use the time restrictions as for me they don't seem to work for both sunset to sunrise or if I use specific times?

Thanks, can you give me an example and logs?

Here's the log.

I used the offset to create sunset at 20:48 and at 20:47 motion would trigger the lights to turn on.

New version on GitHub...

Child:
V1.0.2 - 02/24/20 - Attempt to fix sunrise/sunset settings

Would it be possible to allow Room Director to adjust the color (or color temp) of a dimmable bulb? Right now, I can have a specific light turn on to a set level, but I can't have the color temp adjusted to where I'd like it (this bulb is used by multiple rules depending on the situation, so the color temp isn't always the same).

I've added it to the list. Thanks

1 Like

Awesome, thank you!

Have been using this for about a month now, absolutely fantastic app! Thank you very much @bptworld

A minor bug that I found FYI:
When a room becomes Unoccupied and the time specified under 'Room Vacant Options' has elapsed, the app dims my lights as a warning and the count down timer for 30 seconds (which is what I specified in 'Repeat Option') starts before turning my lights listed in 'Unoccupied options' off.

During this 30 seconds count down timer period when the lights are in warning mode (i.e. dimmed), if the room becomes Occupied again, in my case motion detected, the lights will brighten up as intended but will still turn off after the initial 30 seconds count down. (i.e. the count down timer is not cancelled when be room is re-occupied)

Not a deal breaker at all, not even close. But thought you should know :slight_smile:

1 Like

thanks, I'll look into it

Bryan,

Seeing this error with Google Home devices to let me know the lights are turning off.

  1. If I select " is this speaker a proxy device", no error.

  2. If I turn proxy off and add my Google Nest along with another home device, the nest does not speak.

  3. If I use just a Google Nest hub with proxy off. Logs says do nothing with no voice activation.

  1. One Google home device with proxy off.