Virtual Garage Door and sensor with a Light switch issue

[davidgoderre]

Currently i have a virtual garage door driver which uses a smart things sensor which works great.

I also have a light switch which controls some extra lights we have in the garage.

My rule machine i have setup turns the light switch on when the garage door is open and off when it is closed.

However i have noticed some odd behavior where the light will turn off or wont turn on. I think i have narrowed it down to the sensor sensing the garage as "opening" or "closing".

For instance i went in the garage this morning, turned on the light, and then a couple moments later the light turned off. here are the logs which shows the sensor sensed something (maybe the closing of my physical door to the garage?) then once it settled it then turned off the light.

Any ideas on how to control the light switch with the garage door without these instances?

dev:92020-06-29 10:22:24.550 am infoGarage LightSwitch was turned off [digital]

app:112020-06-29 10:22:20.583 am debugSending DEVICE Event (Garage Door | DOOR: closed) to Homebridge at (192.168.113.106:8005)

app:682020-06-29 10:22:20.540 am debuggarageControlHandler(closed)

dev:992020-06-29 10:22:20.320 am debugsetVirtualGarageState([door:closed])

app:682020-06-29 10:22:20.275 am debugsynchronize, current: closed, direction: null

app:682020-06-29 10:22:20.268 am debugonSensorChanged(closed, inactive), current: closed, direction: opening

app:682020-06-29 10:22:20.199 am debugaccelerationHandler(inactive)

dev:62020-06-29 10:22:20.056 am infoGarage Door Sensor is inactive

dev:62020-06-29 10:22:06.566 am infoGarage Door Sensor temperature is 70.25°F

app:112020-06-29 10:22:06.467 am debugSending DEVICE Event (Garage Door | DOOR: opening) to Homebridge at (192.168.113.106:8005)

app:682020-06-29 10:22:06.415 am debuggarageControlHandler(opening)

dev:992020-06-29 10:22:06.266 am debugsetVirtualGarageState([door:opening])

app:682020-06-29 10:22:06.193 am debugsynchronize, current: closed, direction: opening

app:682020-06-29 10:22:06.187 am debugonSensorChanged(closed, active), current: closed, direction: null

app:682020-06-29 10:22:06.114 am debugaccelerationHandler(active)

dev:62020-06-29 10:22:05.940 am infoGarage Door Sensor is active

dev:1652020-06-29 10:21:58.315 am debugDrGs Wifi: httpGetCallback({"headers":null,"warningMessages":[],"status":408,"errorMessage":"Connect to 192.168.113.191:80 [/192.168.113.191] failed: Connection refused (Connection refused)","errorData":null}, data)

dev:1652020-06-29 10:21:58.089 am debugDrGs Wifi.refresh()

app:112020-06-29 10:21:56.762 am debugSending DEVICE Event (Garage LightSwitch | SWITCH: on) to Homebridge at (192.168.113.106:8005)

dev:92020-06-29 10:21:56.562 am infoGarage LightSwitch was turned on [physical]

[neonturbo]

It is always better to use screenshots instead of cut and paste. It is much easier to read that way.

Why rule machine for this? There are usually much easier ways to do this, like Simple Automations app.

Screenshot of the rule itself?

[davidgoderre]

Ok i pasted a screenshot of the logs below. sorry for making it more messy than was needed

Also i guess i could use simple automations. do you think that will be better and avoid this issue?

Automations for the light switch are below.

Turning it off

Turning it on

I also have another one to turn it off after 15 minutes because my roommate likes to leave it on

[neonturbo]

So a couple other quick questions/comments.

@davidgoderre

For instance i went in the garage this morning, turned on the light, and then a couple moments later the light turned off

With the way you have this set up, this is probably completely normal. Your rule calls for IF the door is closed, THEN turn off the light. How was the rule supposed to know you wanted to turn on the light manually, and keep it on? Do you have a motion sensor or door sensor on your entry door? You might need some additional hardware to do what you want it to do. There are also ways to do overrides, like a double tap on a switch, or using a virtual switch, or pressing a button.

@davidgoderre

ensor sensed something (maybe the closing of my physical door to the garage?) then once it settled it then turned off the light.

Unless I am reading that log wrong, it appears that the door opened and closed multiple times? And it looks like it might have sensed open a couple times in a row? Maybe there is something wrong with how it is sensing? Where is the sensor mounted? It usually works best at the top of the door. I would look carefully at the sensor, maybe turn on logging and watch it for a couple open/close cycles to see if it is accurately reporting.