Hue dimmer switch integration with alexa

[markvk42]

Hi All, Ive just bought and installed a hubitat with the hope that it will get all of my devices to talk to each other!!

Ive paired a coulpe of hue 4 button dimmers with hubitat without any issues, but in order to get them to control some wifi relays a i need to get alexa to see them.

Ive installed the skill and alexa has found 2 innr plug and a ST sensor that ive also added to hubitat but i cant get her to see the hue switches. Is it possible to do this or is it back the the drawing board and return the hub to the supplier?

Any help much appreciated.

[Sebastien]

Hi @markvk42 and welcome to the community!

I don’t have those 4 button dimmers myself, but all devices that I have shared with Alexa I can see and access in Alexa.

Can you confirm that the devices are selected in the Amazon Echo Skill App?

[bendarklighter]

I don't think Alexa supports 3rd party button devices for triggering routines. Personally I use a virtual switch/contact sensor combo to control my wifi alexa devices.

Alexa 'sees' the contact sensor that is used to trigger a routine. You can then configure the hue buttons to turn on/off the virtual switch.

You can try this driver

Alexa Integration - Virtual Switch/Button. etc

Has anyone came up with a solution? In SmartThings(ST) I could press my ST button next to my bed which would trigger a command in Alexa to start my music and turn on my 13 infrared candles using my Broadlink repeaters. To create this action I would use bjpierron's Simulated Alexa Switch and their Button ST device handlers. This handler would show virtual switches as device handlers in Alexa's Smart home. These virtual switches could be used as devices in "When this happens" to trigger an Alexa …

[markvk42]

Hi Sebastien Thanks for replying, yes all devices are selected in the app they are listed as ensuite and workshop, Like most people i started with HUe products at a great waste of money only to find that hue are not customer centric and want to keep you tied into their products. I wouldnt actually mind that if the were fully featured enough but the just arnt!

this is how i have the skill configured.

now im moving on and have the smart home bug, but i already own 30 hue bulbs 6 motion sensors and 10 switches, i need to integrate these with a better hub and Hubitat seemed the way forward having had problems with samsung, yet another corporate giant that doesn't care one bit about customers.

[markvk42]

Hi Thanks for that, as long as i can get the switches to work some how, ill put the time and effort into solving this, ill look at the thread, but ive got a lot to learn here!

got a lot of googling to do! do you know of any tutorials about virtual devices?

Thanks a lot for your help.

[bendarklighter]

No videos that I can think of. Virtual devices can be anything so it's a very wide topic.

I can write up a quick example that I use - in this example we want to control a wifi fan

Step 1: install the custom driver

see video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSNuz9G3F48&t=1s
This one is for apps but the process is the similar for drivers (driver tab instead of app)

Make sure its the one under post #10 here

Alexa Integration - Virtual Switch/Button. etc

Has anyone came up with a solution? In SmartThings(ST) I could press my ST button next to my bed which would trigger a command in Alexa to start my music and turn on my 13 infrared candles using my Broadlink repeaters. To create this action I would use bjpierron's Simulated Alexa Switch and their Button ST device handlers. This handler would show virtual switches as device handlers in Alexa's Smart home. These virtual switches could be used as devices in "When this happens" to trigger an Alexa …

Step 2: create the virtual device

• Goto Devices - Add Virtual Device
• Fill in Device name and Label (Lets call it "Living Room Fan vSwitch")
• Under Type - Pick Virtual Contact with Switch (under user defined section)

Step 3: expose to Alexa
Expose the Living Room Fan vSwitch using the echo skill app (you already know how to do this)

Step 4: Create Alexa Routines

Routine 1
When this Happens: Smart Home -> Living Room Fan vSwitch opens
Action: Turn on Living Room Fan (or whatever device you want turn on)

Routine 2
When this happens: Smart Home -> Living Room Fan vSwitch closes
Action: Turn ff Living Room Fan (or whatever device you want turn on)

Step 5: Test
Turning on Living Room Fan vSwitch should turn on the fan and vice-versa
Unfortunately there might be a sync issue if you turn on the fan in alexa or any other means, it will still be in the off state in HE.

Step 6: Configure Hue button
Create new button controller
Set the action for button presses
To get around the state sync issue, I would assign 2 separate buttons for off and on.
ON button - 1. Turn Living Room Fan OFF, 2. Turn Living Room Fan ON
OFF button - 1. Turn Living Room Fan ON, 2. Turn Living Room Fan OFF
This way if the switch in the wrong state it forces a quick state change first.
I found that if the switch is incorrectly in the OFF state when the fan is on, turning off the switch again without a state change will not send alexa an event and therefore nothing happens. This is my workaround for now. I'm sure someone can think of a better way.

You can easily adapt this to most alexa control wifi devices that you can't get into HE via any other means. Good luck

[markvk42]

Hi, Thanks soooo much for that, i have it all working now!