Flash, pause, flash, pause

[TheRetiredViking]

Ladies and Gentlemen: I need some guidance on how to do something with flashing a bulb a number of times, pause, same number of flashes, pause, and so forth.

The Hub: C-8 Pro with latest updates.

The Bulb: Third Reality RGBW Zigbee bulb.

What I Want to Do: I want to flash a bulb a number of times, pause, flash again as noted above. In addition, I want to do something along the lines of this "pretend code".

if sensor 2 senses, flash lamp twice, then pause, repeat,

if sensor 3 senses, flash lamp thrice, then pause, repeat,

et cetera.

There are a total of eight sensors involved.

Your thoughts?

[TArman]

Trigger any sensor

Use if then else logic to set a variable to number of bulb
(You can compare with %device%)

Repeat number of sets of flashes (i.e., 5 sets of “n” flashes)
Repeat the “variable” number of flashes
Flash
End repeat
Delay
End repeat

Something like that…

[John_Land]

What TArman said, plus you might want to think of color coding a fixed number of flashes rather than having to count from 1 to 8.

[danabw]

And...you need a bulb that supports a "Flash" command, not all do. In that case you can string on/off commands together. There is also a flashing app that allows you to flash bulbs that don't have a built-in flash capability I can't find at the moment.

[John_Land]

[RELEASE] The Flasher - Flash your lights based on several triggers

Introducing 'The Flasher' Flash your lights based on several triggers! Features: Triggers include: acceleration, button, contact, lock, moisture, motion, presence, switches and time! Each trigger can be set to activate when on/off, active/inactive, etc. based on type of trigger Flash options include: multiple devices, number of flashes, delay between on/off (speed), level and color Can also use the bulbs BUILT IN Flash function! Flip between two different colors when using the built in Flash…

Introducing VisualAlert – A Smart Flashing System Designed by a Deaf User for Real-Life Needs

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[danabw]

Thanks! The latter one you posted was one of the ones I was thinking of, it is actively maintained. The Flasher (which I have used) is no longer supported, but AFAIK should still work.

There is still another older flashing app I ran across in the last few weeks that looked interesting, but forgot to bookmark it...

[techbill]

The Visual Alert app I developed should do what you’re looking for. It supports custom flashing patterns on RGB bulbs, including custom colors. It will even work with RGB bulbs that don’t have built-in flashing functionality.

However, there is a catch. Some RGB bulbs have a delay between turning off and on, so they won’t flash accurately based on the timing set in Visual Alert. They may ignore commands for a second or two. In those cases, you can increase the interval between flashes in the app until the bulb responds more consistently.

Also, some RGB bulbs fade on and off instead of switching instantly. Because of this, not all RGB bulbs handle rapid on/off commands well, so performance can vary depending on the bulb.

[techbill]

One more thing: RGB bulbs that have built-in flashing firmware tend to flash too slowly for my taste. That’s one of the reasons I developed this app, so you can control and adjust the timing between flashes yourself.