Is it possible to integrate these wifi outlet switches into UI5? I did a couple of searches on the forum and only found the Wemo product listed in one search.
Thanks,
JD
Not until Belkin publishes the protocol that they are using. If they do (or if someone reverse-engineers the protocol), then yes, it should be possible.
Since it is Wifi you should be able to do packet trace - from there I suspect it may be easy to figure out the communications, IF it is not encrypted.
oldedb, go buy one, hook it up and lets look at the packet trace
So it looks like the WeMo uses UPnP as its protocol. There have been a few posts now showing people hacking these little switches. There’s even a Perl Library.
I got a switch and sensor to experiment with. It’s all bog-standard UPnP (proper UPnP, not this half-hearted stuff that Vera does), so I’m going to have a go at coding up a simple plugin to reflect switch and sensor status.
If anyone has WeMo units and would like to help test what I make, please respond.
@futzle,
Feel free to liberally take any component of the Sonos’s [almost generic] UPnP Lua Library to do this. It handles some of the messiness of making calls (although it could do with improvement on how to parse the response)
Thanks, I will; the UPnP stuff is probably the most daunting part of the endeavour.
I’m new to vera and home automation in general less than a week now.
I have a vera lite at home and one on way for my office. I have two belkin wemo outlets and a motion detector at the office now. I would love to get them all integrated. If I can be of any help feel free to contact me
I’ll get you to do some beta testing for me. Plugin isn’t ready yet; I will let you know on this topic when it is.
Is this project active? Maybe I can help.
If you can program Lua and are familiar with writing UPnP control point code then you can help. Otherwise, have patience.
A teaser for those waiting to bridge their WeMo devices and Vera…
Working:
[ul][li]Detection of configured WeMo devices (switches and motion sensors) on the LAN[/li]
[li]Instant status updates of WeMo switches, when operated via the physical button or via the iPhone app.[/li]
[li]Instant status updates of WeMo motion sensor.[/li]
[li]Control WeMo switches from Vera.[/li][/ul]
Still to do:
[ul][li]Renewal of UPnP event subscriptions so that the plugin still works in an hour.[/li][/ul]
Developers might be interested in my generic workaround for UPnP NOTIFY.
Watch this space.
Great news !! and looking great so far. I just want to use the switches - should I go and get a couple now or hold off for a few more weeks?
Let me caution you that you need to manage your expectations. These things use UPnP over Wi-Fi. Right out of the gate, that means that you cannot expect the reliability of Z-Wave. It’s probable that your WeMo devices will suddenly and inexplicably stop talking to Vera.
By all means, buy some WeMo switches if you have a use for them. You can help stress-test my plugin and help me to discover workarounds that boost the reliability. But there is a theoretical best-case reliability that is less than that of Z-Wave. I guess I’m saying, don’t use them to power critical appliances.
futzle,
Great work and looking forward to seeing how this plugin turns out. I do not own any wemo devices, but to see vera expand her capabilities is a great thing. You put out great work and glad to have you around! I am really looking forward to your upnp efforts.
- Garrett
Here is where I am conducting the alpha testing of the plugin. It’s ready for testing by technically-minded users, with some caveats.
Here’s a couple of non-traditional uses for a WeMo device which might grab Vera users’ fancy…
WeMo already has integration for IFTTT (If This Then That). If you want Vera to trigger an event in IFTTT, use a WeMo switch that is plugged in but not operating any local device. Then create a scene in Vera that turns the switch on. Bingo, Vera controls IFTTT.
Or the other way round, have IFTTT turn on then turn off a WeMo switch when some external event occurs. Make a scene in Vera that is triggered by the switch turning on. Bingo, IFTTT controls Vera.
The WeMo motion sensor connects to the WeMo sensor wall-wart with a standard 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug. It seems to be just a contact closure on a normally-open circuit*. You could replace this with any other kind of sensor: door sensor, thermostat, Arduino-controlling-a-relay, …
- I have a multimeter and a spare plug so I’ll verify this and correct this post if needed.
Great effort and a leap in functionality being provided. Even though I do not have any of these; it definitely brings choice to the forefront of options available. Thanks for the great work.
I have not decided whether to buy some WeMos and use this yet, but thanks for doing it as it pushes the platform forward. To the extent that IFTTT and other integrations and APIs for WeMo appear, Vera can use this gateway and sort of piggyback on all that for free.
If someone already has reliable Vera-based solutions for wireless/alarm motion sensors and appliance control, as far as the physical devices themselves and built-in functionality, does WeMo bring anything else new to the party?