[RELEASE] Somfy ZRTSI II

A driver for the Somfy ZRTSI II

Code

hubitat/somfy-zrtsi.driver.groovy at master · augoisms/hubitat · GitHub

Also available on Hubitat Package Manager.

Features

  • Supports My Position.
  • Has the option to use a value of 50% as a My Position command. This is handy for allowing voice assistants to issues the command.
  • Tracks state internally. The ZRTSI is already a one-way communication device, but it has been reported that it does not accurately report the "state" of each channel, so this driver ignores all reports.
  • Set travel duration. This is used to support issuing opening and closing states before the final open and closed.

Setup

Follow the instructions, but a general overview is:

  1. Pair the Somfy ZRTSI Base Node. Choose Device as the driver.
  2. Pair the virtual nodes and apply this driver to the virtual nodes.

Notes

  • This driver is NOT for Somfy Z-Wave blinds. If you do not have this device or if your shades are paired directly with Hubitat, you will need a different driver.
  • If you have tilt blinds, a position of 0% and 99% are both effectively closed. You have two options to deal with this:
    • You can set an upper limit on your motor (see your motor instructions) so that it always stops at a 90° angle. With this option, an open command or a position of 99% will stop at your configured upper limit.
    • You can set your My Position to a 90° angle and use this whenever you want to open your blinds.
  • The ZRTSI implements the Switch Multilevel v3 command class, and this driver does send the level value. However, most motors only support up/down/stop, so if you set the level to 25% you blinds/shades will likely just open all the way. I have not been able to verify if the ZRTSI is compatible with motors that support fine level control.
  • My Position and Stop (not implemented in this driver) are the same commands. If your shade is not moving it will go to the preset position otherwise it will stop the motor.
  • Should be compatible with the original ZRTSI (has external antenna). Somfy refers to both products product generically as ZRTSI. The ZRTSI II is pictured above.
v1.0.0 Initial release 2020-05-16
v1.0.1 Added option to reverse on/off direction 2021-05-18
6 Likes

Your new driver worked perfectly on my blinds. The My Position setting works well. If the blind was open it closed, then went to the 50% position. For my tilt blinds 0 was closed, anything else (besides 50) was fully open.

Wonderful, glad it worked!! :slight_smile:

I'm looking into installing Sunsetter Awnings in my back yard. They use Somfy motors and come w/one remote control.

I'd like to integrated them into HE using a Somfy ZIRTSI-II Z-Wave Bridge...Wondering a couple things:

  • Would your driver be compatible w/a Somfy ZIRTSI-II Z-Wave Bridge as well as ZRTSI?
  • Bali sells a ZIRTSI-II Z-Wave Bridge that they say is " * Compatible with Bali or Graber motorized blinds and shades only." I've seen stuff before that manuf claim only works on their stuff but is more broadly compatible. Bad idea to assume that the Bali controller could have been tweaked to only work w/the Sunsetter awnings? Bali® ZIRTSI-II Z-Wave Bridge for Home Automation Systems | Blindsgalore
  • Zebra has a ZIRTSI-II bridge as well - they don't say anything about only working w/specific blinds. Bad idea to this one would work with the awnings? Z-Wave to RTS Bridge ZRTSI II: 16 Channel | ZebraBlinds

Appreciate any info you may have. :slight_smile:

Yes, I have the ZRTSI II. The ZRTSI II has been around the longest and is generically referred to as just "ZRTSI" by Somfy. I suppose I should update my description to clarify. My understanding is that they just changed the physical aspect of the device but the z-wave command classes remained the same. There is no "ZIRTSI-II" that I am aware of. I believe that is a misspelling.

I would be shocked if Somfy produced a ZRTSI limited to certain brands. The Blinds Galore listing misspells the product name, so I'm not sure how much stock I would put into their statement that it only works with Bali or Graber blinds. That said, I saw some posts on the ST forum from about 5 years ago that said Blinds Galore wouldn't sell them the ZRTSI without a window shade order. Not sure if that's still their policy.

If your awning motor speaks RTS (Radio Technology Somfy), the ZRTSI and this driver will be compatible. Hope this helps!

2 Likes

Thanks very much for those details, very helpful. I'll confirm w/the vendor that they are using Somfy RTS motors, but it does appear from their site that they are. Can't find the page on their site at the moment for some reason...this post on ST forum seems to indicate that their awnings using the Somfy motors are RTS:

Hi, I am trying to make this work and I am struggling quite a bit. When you say "Pair the virtual nodes and apply this driver to the virtual nodes", how do I do that, how does each single blind is identified? I believe that I would have to have a virtual device for each blind, correct?
Your support will be greatly appreciated, I've been struggling for quite a while now.

At the top of this thread I linked to the ZRTSI instruction manual. In section 2 of the manual it describes how to includes the virtual nodes.

Each virtual node represents a Somfy RTS channel and is paired with the Hubitat as separate devices (each virtual node/channel is its own device). The ZRTSI supports 16 channels so it's possible to pair a total of 17 devices with the Hubitat (base node plus 16 virtual nodes). So if you have multiple blinds that you want to control individually you will want to pair them with the ZRTSI as separate channels (section 3).

Requirements:

  • Base node is paired with Hubitat (section 1).
  • ZRTSI is paired with your Somfy motor (section 3).

The basics of adding the virtual nodes to Hubitat are:

  1. Put ZRTSI into inclusion mode for the desired virtual node.
  2. Put Hubitat into inclusion mode.
  3. The ZRTSI virtual node should appear as a newly discovered device. Give it a name and Save.
  4. Select Somfy ZRTSI as the device type (if not already applied).
  5. Repeat for each virtual node as needed.


Base node & virtual node 01

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That is great, all working, Thank you very much ... I forgot the pairing was initiated on the ZRTSI :frowning:

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Thanks for the driver. I just installed it and it's working great. Is there anyway to get the my position to work with amazon echo? would love to be able to tell the blinds to go the 'my position'

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Here is one way, how I did it with the ZRTSI:

(1) define a virtual auto-off switch (used below as Somfy Bedroom My Position), turn off in a second. Expose this switch to Alexa in the Amazon Echo Skill.

(2) make an Alexa routine to turn this switch on when you say “Alexa, move the ___ drapes to my position.”
(It will auto off)

(3) add this rule for each ZRTSI child (custom action, actuator)

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i dont see a virtual auto-off switch. I'm assuming it's in the 'add virtual device'?

Yes. It appears as a preference when you save the device as Virtual Switch.

i found it. i'm new (transitioning from wink) so i'm still struggling with the rules. i'll let you know if i dont figure it out
thanks

I'm not able to figure out the 'select actions to run'
how did you get 'myPostion()' programed in the rule?

I showed that in my screenshot. Here it is again, with more detail:

You are using the ZRTSI driver by Justin Walker (@augoisms) in the first post of this thread, right?

MyPosition appears as a choice when you click the “Select custom command” selector.

We all struggled with the Rule Machine interface at first. I still struggle sometimes. Wait until you get into your seventies, you will understand.

Welcome to Hubitat! I came from Wink over a year ago.

got it. thanks for the assist. now to get it working with Alexa.

im' more comfortable working with code. i think these interfaces that try to 'make things easy' can throw people off sometimes. maybe once i understand the nomenclature it will be easier.

Don’t ever fool yourself into thinking that Rule Machine is a programming language, or that it’s code. It is a user interface, warts and all. You will become more comfortable with it over time.

As the saying goes, “When the dog sings opera, you don’t complain that his pitch isn’t perfect.”

It’s powerful, and I’m glad for all it does. Of course, if you are more comfortable writing code, you can always do what you want in Groovy, the native language used by Hubitat apps and drivers. Many go that route instead.

Or, as Bruce Ravenel often says, anyone is welcome to write a user-contributed substitute for Rule Machine.

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