Virtual switch

Ideas & Suggestion
1

Is it possible to define a virtual switch (flag, boolean, call it whatever) in ewelink? This would be super useful.

A device supported by assistant platforms, such as Amazon and Google, could then be integrated into the ewelink ecosystem easily. For instance, I have a video intrusion system and a door lock that is supported by Alexa, but not by ewelink. Setting a switch from Alexa on set events from these devices, would allow me to run ewelink scenes.

Right now, I’m using s physical 4 unit relay for this, but it is a clunky solution.

8 Likes
2

If you want Alexa to run Eweink scense, just define the sense as a tap to run and you can select to operate it from alexa.

1 Like
3

Agree totally.

4

Yes, I know that. But that only covers that scenario. Lots of devices cannot trigger routines on Amazon, and it is not possible to trigger auto scenes in ewelink from devices that it does not support. All that could be done if only ewelink supported virtual switches.

1 Like
5

Do you have one of the devices that support NodeRED? I think it is the iHost and the NS Panel Pro.

6

I had felt exactly the same need to be able to define some more complex scenes. Also in my case I ended up having to use some “sonoff micro” to overcome the problem.
Being able to define a virtual switch would indeed be a fantastic feature.

1 Like
7

You use to able to set Booleans in Apilio.IO when it was free, which would connect to IFTTT and then eWeLink (both also were free). Now to do complex stuff in the cloud you need eWeLink premium, Ifttt and Apilio subscriptions.
If people use devices they make money: I think they should allow more complexity for subscribers to eWeLink Advanced to encourage subscriptions to the plan.

9

I agree 100%. I also use unnecessary physical devices to then test in the scene whether it should be done. If it was just virtual and could be named and used in scenes, that would be great. And it’s not just ON/OFF states, but I would use it, for example, for The maximum temperature is set to 22.5°C. But we probably want that too much and the manufacturers would lose sales of the device.

10

Idea:
Would it be possible to “timeshare” a unit.
If time X to y then set
If not and it’s set, then it’s another triggering action.

But it’s just an idea.

“If there is a girl at the corner and it’s afternoon, it’s Alice, else it’s Angelica” … :grinning:

11

You could use the schedule option on a physical relay, and then test it’s state.

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12

You could use a sensor with an in built switch, and use its state to trigger some action.

These solutions are clumsy but they should work.

13

Yes, that’s a possibility.
Let’s say - I have 5 PIRs in 5 houses, want to examine which PIR was hit.
PIR 1 works during 00-05 min
PIR 2 during 05-10 min
Etc
Then I can see which PIR was active, by looking at time.

Drawback: clumsy. And every PIR will not always react if motion doesn’t occur for time longer than 20 minutes.

I need a webhook and a computer, a program looping very fast (0,1 seconds) to be sure every PIR has seen what I want to be seen.

A better solution would be cells in the server memory, an I can read cells (bit 0/1). That’s a need for not only me. IFTTT has that feature, it can sense a PIR and the reaction is relatively fast.
Valter
Stockholm