Few questions here if you all don't mind please? )Thinking about purchasing)
I am interested in using this to help solve a challenge we are having at our Makerspace. We already leverage some smart plugs that are also supported by Hubitat. Shelly Plugs as well as some Sonoff plugs. We have about 100 members and need to be able to control by user who can access each plug, since they are the power controls for some dangerous tools like table saws.
It would also be nice if we could export usage logs to find out who uses which device the most.
Here are some of my questions:
How many users can be granted access to the Hubitat?
Is there a way to control what user has access to? Possible Roles/Groups?
To give some people access to a switch, you would create a dashboard, which can be protected with a PIN code. You can create multiple dashboards depending on how many switches, or groupings of switches, you have in mind.
An unlimited number of users could access dashboards for this purpose. But there wouldn’t be a simple way to see who did what, I don’t think it would be possible at all. You’ll be able to see when a switch turned on/off if you monitor the hub logs, but not who did it.
Wouldn’t this method of restricting access be pretty easy to circumvent though? Smart plugs typically have a physical button that can control on/off, so is there anything that would stop someone from just using that button to turn a saw on, if they’re motivated to use it and don’t particularly care about following your rules?
Some smart plugs don't have a button on them, and some have a button but it's disableable in settings. If it was really important one could create sets of virtual switches, so each user only had dashboard access to their own switches. Then if need be you could see which switch turned on which device.
Good point, so it would have to be either an in-wall smart socket or there would need to be a lockable socket cover with everything connected inside - though I don't think they come deep enough for both plug and smart plug
If different users had access to their own virtual switch that then triggered an RM to enable specific switches. Then individual logging could be done.
Or actually just assigning switches to personalized groups (the group could have just one switch in it) and then logging for the group could be enabled.
Just thinking as I type.
But as others have pointed out, circumventing the smart plug would need to be avoided.
Also I would be concerned about power ratings. If the smart plug was switched while the power tool switch was already engaged, it would take out the smart switch.
Hubitat is not the right solution for your needs because it can’t easily track usage on a per user basis, even though user-specific virtual switches can be made.
There are still issues where multiple virtual switches controlling the same physical device can cause a virtual switch to fall out of sync with the physical device.
Only thing I can think of would be a third party dashboard. Not sure if any of them offer usage metrics based on the dashboard? Otherwise a custom dashboard could probably be built that uses MakerAPI to control the devices, and at the same time logs metrics of when the buttons are pushed.
Point 2 is easy, someone else stated already you can create separate dashboards for different groups and looks like you could also setup per user dashboards so each person would have a link which you could remove if you want to end their access. Hubitat® Dashboard - Hubitat Documentation
Point 3 is what Hubitat would not do natively. If the dashboard app logged events, it would be perfect, but it currently does not. Not sure if the Sharptools integration does any sort of logging? Looks like on Sharptools you can share out dashboards to people as well. New Feature: Dashboard Sharing! - Announcements - SharpTools Community. Might be worth checking them out if they offer any metrics or logging on their end of who is accessing the dashboards. Hubitat has a built in Sharptools integration.
@Maker_Dude It seems to be that non-commercial use is free while he's thinking of a paid service for advanced or business use. That means he might be open to working with you on a feature that can support usage logging.
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