I have two wheelchair bound children that use a wheelchair lift to go between floors. Currently there are momentary buttons they need to press and hold down to operate the lift. This is becoming increasingly difficult for them to operate. Can anyone recommend a Hubitat supported device that I can install that would allow them to operate the lift using a button on a dashboard. Thanks in advance.
I would like to strongly caution you against this. There is a reason that the button has to be held to keep the lift in motion and that is so that it will stop if something happens. If the system were designed to be safe enough to not require a user to constantly be pushing the button, then that is how the designers would have built it in the first place.
I can sympathize with the difficulties or limited mobility, but safety has to be #1. There a user on the ST forum who is brilliant name JDRoberts.. He has Hubitat as well but isn't active on this forum, but it's the same name @JDRoberts. He uses a wheelchair and has a LOT of insight into what works and what doesn't and why. Shoot him a message over on the ST forum...I'm sure he'd be able to help. He's really knowledgeable and a great guy.
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Do you know what voltage runs through the momentary switches?
The Fibaro Smart Implant may be an option, or a Philio relay (or similar relay device) could also work.
I used to use a Philio relay to momentary-switch my apartment buzzer so I could get in. Not that I recommend others to do the same, but dang, I loved that feature.
Edit: Ryan beat me to it --- but safety would be a big concern for me, too. Things like, what if the lift doesn't shut off, what if it starts on its own .... I second his concern for safety.
Yes I fully understand what you are saying. This is why I want the button on the dashboard to be continuously held as well. I can purchase a hand held wireless remote but I'm sure you can imagine the cost of that accessory.
I believeIt runs at 24v butI will confirm. To address the safety concerns, their are several safety lockouts build into the lift. Their are sensors that stop the lift at the top and bottom. If the ramp does not lift. If their is something under the lift when it goes down. And sensors that will stop it from going up if it is blocked. I am not really looking to automate it per say. Just looking for another button option without shelling out 2k for a wireless remote.
Dashboard buttons only allow for the pushed action, not for held. It is momentary and not continuous.
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The Philio supports 24v. That’s what my door buzzer used.
Do you know if sharptools support held events? I feel like it was that or ActionTiles that did.
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ActionTiles did that.
I'm sure @josh could chime in on this.
Maybe this could be a suggestion for @bravenel to consider for the dashboard.
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How could it? Also, direct connected Z-wave and Zigbee devices don't do this. They report a pushed and then the driver can distinguish that from a held and then the device can report released but I know of no button that sends a continuous signal to the hub while a button is being pressed. We're talking radio waves here. It can't really do that. With a pressed released type device, if you don't report the release event, that's a failure of the system. And when someone's safety is involved, that's not something that I would want to compromise. But evidently I'm the only one who thinks that the people who design wheelchair lifts for a living might know more than us. And they saw fit to require that the button be held to engage the motor. They could have easily made it momentary. But they didn't.
But obviously I'm the only one who cares more about safety than answering a question so I'll shut up now.
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Sorry—my writing was unclear 
I meant in the dashboard itself—a button that, while held, sends a momentary press. ActionTiles supported this, back when I was on SmartThings.
For the record, I don’t encourage trying to change the features on the lift, so I’ll probably be hopping off this thread here too.
I'm sorry, I still do not understand how a momentary press is ever going to work like, pardon the expression, a dead-man switch. Which is what a button that is required to be held for a system to work is called.
I don't always agree with Ryan, but this is one case I will. Hubitat is probably not the best way to handle this. This is probably one of those "if you have to ask... you shouldn't be doing this" things.
If it is 24V, there is a very simple way to add a corded remote that parallels the existing buttons. I will not say how here because I have not seen the unit in question, but anyone familiar with low voltage (automotive etc) should be able to read the schematic, and find a way to safely add a corded remote. Quite a few of the corded momentary buttons I would have used are less than $50 on Amazon.
Edit to say: most people won't do this due to liability. You should have a qualified elevator repair person do any modifications.
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Perhaps I’m conflating the terms, but In my mind they’re the same—momentary meaning, enabled while held.
Sgrayban and I (at least I think) are one the same page, where in a dashboard, while I hold a button, a switch is on, and when I release, it’s off. Like for a door buzzer
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What if you lose the signal between on and off? There is no safety mechanism to ensure that you will receive the off message.
Right. I wouldn’t use (or recommend) it for something that requires a safety-related purpose. I wouldn’t use the current implementation of momentary for anything like that, either, but I can think of a few times a holdable button would be nice in a dashboard, and that’s ultimately what I’m trying to get at.
To reiterate, a z-wave or Zigbee device would have to be device-side, enable-while-receiving for the device itself to be somewhat safe—but I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know since you wrote that earlier 
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I'd first like to say, yes you are correct. This likely was not the right approach. I am very familiar with the lifts and the safety features of them. I have installed and maintained 4 of them over the last 15 years. I have also discussed the options with the manufacturer. This was one of the suggestions they provided. They have worked with several companies that have implemented this option for clients. Mainly people who are suffering from paralysis. In looking into this option the charge a hefty premium to add this option. What doesn't when you add the word "medical" to the mix. Based on the feedback I'm receiving here, I'll move away from this option and onto plan B. I can purchase a simple add on wireless receiver and transmitter kit typical used for opening the lift in wheelchair vans. Thanks for the feedback everyone.
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Hopefully you will find a solution @MBartho. Not that we are not encouraging you just that we don't think HE is reliable enough to deal with this type of system.
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Thanks for the honestly and feedback. I really do appreciate it. I seemed to have misunderstood the reliability of this type of system. My primary motivation in heading down this path was to provide my daughter's great independence. I'll have to put some thoughts into whether I should continue going down this Diy path for home automation or suck it up and pay the $15k bill to have someone else come in and install/configure everything. Thanks again.
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It is not that Hubitat isn't reliable, it is. For lights, and similar it is great, and nearly perfect. For medical, that is a whole 'nother ball of wax. 99% reliable is fine for lights, but not for things that could maim or kill you.
This is the same advice I would give (and have) when someone says "how can I make my garbage disposal smart?". Stop and think about what could go wrong...
I can totally sympathize, $15K is outrageous for a button that should be maybe $100, plus a couple hundred (max) to install it. On the other hand, if it were to hurt your kids, is is worth saving a few dollars?
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Honestly, I need to be upfront and say I appreciate the honesty and concern. It says allot about the Hubitat community. Maybe some of this is my lack of understanding in Hubitat. A great deal more research is needed on my part to help alleviate this. Currently my girls have to click a three position momentary toggle switch to bring the lift up or down. My hope was to provide them an option on their phone where they can hold down on a tile button to do the same. All of the safety features would still be active. When looking at this, I can only see one of three possible failure points. One, the “start” communication transition will fail and the lift will not go up or down. In our current system, we have had this happen when a relay failed. The second thing is the “stop“ communication transition would fail. In this case the lift would reach the top or bottom and activate the limit switch stopping the movement. Or we could hit the emergency stop button. Again, this is something we have had happen twice when a relay failed and became stuck in the on position. One time we hit the emergency stop. The second time we just let it finish taking us down. And finally the lift would begin going up or down by itself. I would simply add a pressure switch mat in line with the other safety switches that would not allow the lift to operate unless it’s carrying weight. These lifts are electrical mechanical devices that fail. It’s unavoidable. The trick is to run through the possible failure points and implement some sort of fail safe that would minimize the impact a failure would have when it does happen. But in the end I think it might be best to explore another option as their is likely an easier solution that would meet our objective.
