Nearly solved: Problems getting ZIR010 to trigger an event

Community Playground General Discussions
1

Hi,

I’m having problems getting events to work with an ACT euro motion detector and appliance unit (ZIR010 and ZRP210). The ZIR has a sticker on it saying release 1.1

These are the steps I have been through:

I started with all devices powered off and a virgin Vera.

Switched the Vera on and allowed it to update to the latest firmware which went fine.

Got to the section ‘add devices’ and added the motion and appliance devices - had to first reset them with the dongle before they would be included as they were previously part of my old network.

Using the automation section I created an event:
Type: “a sensor (door/window/etc) is tripped”.
What: motion detector [Lounge]: “the sensor is tripped”
Chose the appliance device and told it to switch on and after 10 seconds switch off again.

I saved the changes and then pressed the ‘Go’ button and sure enough the appliance device switched on and ten seconds later switched off.

I then walked in front of the motion detector, the led blinked but nothing further happend.

I looked at the documentation for the ZIR010 (http://www.act-solutions.com/HomePro/pdfs/HomePro/Inst/ZIR010_instr.pdf) and found that it has three modes of working: Lighting, Alarm and Binary Sensor. I have the ACT hand remote so I can send config information to the motion unit and I tried all three variations but still no success.

Just to make sure all was working between sensor and aplliance unit, I set them up to switch on and off independent of the Vera. I used the associate function on the remote control. This worked fine with the motion detector set to Lighting mode.

I then reset everything and set it all up again to see if I had missed anything - but still no success.

Any ideas where I go from here ?

On a side note but with reference to an earlier post in the forum, the ACT docs say the motion detector waits for two minutes of inactivity before going idle if set to either Lighting or Binary sensor mode. There is a configurable delay AFTER the two minutes by adjusting parameter 18. Is two minutes the absolute minimum or, as seem to be suggested in the earlier post, can it be reduced. Testing a motion detector and having to wait two minutes between events is a pain in the proverbial :slight_smile:

2

I am assuming this model is euro’s version of the ZIR000. The lowest setting that you can set is 2 minutes of activity for the idle message to be sent from the sensor. Parameter #18 on the ZIR000 allows for increasing the amount of time. For example, setting the parameter to 1 tells the motion sensor to send the idle 3 minutes (the default of 2 + value of 1 in parameter #18). I’ve been told that the next firmware update for Vera should allow for modifying parameter #18, but if the behavior is the same as the ZIR000 you won’t be able to set lower than the default.

3

Hi - yep the ZIR010 is the Euro version. Having re-read the post I don’t know why I thought there was a suggestion the delay could be reduced - probably lack of sleep :wink:

Doing some more investigating: I deleted all devices from the network, reset the router to factory defaults and reset the dongle. I then reset the motion detector with the dongle, then I included it, then plugged the dongle back into the Vera and switched it on.

Using Telnet I looked at the log file and noticed a couple of entries that may be related:

05 11/12/08 9:13:32.240 Note: Device manager has attached a device of type 1945 that this has no custom event handler for. It will not fire events. <0x400>
05 11/12/08 9:13:32.243 Note: Device manager has attached a device of type 54 that this has no custom event handler for. It will not fire events. <0x400>

If a verbose log is required I can post it.

Any ideas?

4

I have just read the General Annoucement “version 1.0.292 released” on how to report a Z-wave device not working so I have followed the instructions.

When I press the sumbit button - I get no feedback telling me my message has been sent. I avoided pressing the submit button repeatedly though :slight_smile:

Could MicasaVerde confirm that it’s been received.

Thanks in advance.

5

Yes, we got it. And we also fixed the firmware to give you feedback. See my post here:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php?topic=134.0

The configuration of the PIR is being improved in the next firmware release due in a few days.

6

Thanks for letting me know (and the support via chat).

Just to summarise where I’m up to before the new firmware:

  • my motion sensors are ACT ZIR010 and set to factory default
  • my motion sensors have now been added to my network for about two days
  • I did the powercycle/hit save button routine about a day ago.
  • On the Vera web interface, if I look at the device and press the ‘+’ button its ‘Configured at’ field shows ‘N/A’ and consquently cannot be used .
  • my Vera firmware is 1.0.292

Once the new firmware is ready - I’ll load it up and report back.

7

I have just uploaded the newest firmware 1.0.320 and unfortunately my problems with the motion detector have not been resolved.

However, the motion detectors are now showing a ‘Configured at’ date and time so that is an improvment.

I turned on verbose logging and have submitted my logs.

I hope you can provide a fix as it would be great to see motion events working.

8

Just curious… can you post your event configuration for both the motion detected and the idle?

9

Hi,

To make things simple - removed all devices and then just added one motion detector and one plug in appliance switch.

I then created an event that triggers on the motion detector being tripped. If it is, the aplliance unit should switch on, be left for a minute and then switched off.

On this occasion I did not create an event for when the motion detector goes idle.

Is that what you were asking for or have I misunderstood the question?

10

[quote=“Jeremy, post:9, topic:164103”]I then created an event that triggers on the motion detector being tripped. If it is, the aplliance unit should switch on, be left for a minute and then switched off.

On this occasion I did not create an event for when the motion detector goes idle.[/quote]

Does the appliance module turn on?

If it turns on, it should automatically turn off 1 minute later regardless if motion is still being detected. Is it doing that?

If both of above work, is your issue that it turns off even though motion is still detected?

Assuming the above is your issue, the problem is with the tripped event configuration, you need to remove the off after 1 minute part of the tripped event. Once the sensor is tripped, it doesn’t send any additional updates until it sends an idle. Instead you need to configure an idle event to turn off the light. My device (ZIR000) has a default of 2 minutes which is the lowest setting my unit allows. With parameter #18, you can only increase the value.

11

If the appliance module turned on I wouldn’t have a problem :slight_smile:

As mentioned above, with the latest f/w, Vera can now configure the motion detector but it dos not react to the detector being triggered (ie when the red led flashes on the detector itself)

This is confirmed by the little green dot next to the arm/bypass buttons never changing colour - it is always green regardless of page refresh times etc.

Looks like it needs another firmware tweak.

12

Have just been chatting with support:

As suspected, a firmware tweak is needed to include the ‘Euro’ model of the ACT ZIR motion detector.

This should be included in the next f/w release in a about a week or so.

I’ll report back once I have it working :slight_smile:

13

Dear Jeremy,

I just solved it by adding a “Group ID: 1” to the ZIR010. Reconnect the sensor and klick on “ZWave Options”. Enter “1” into the “Group ID:” input field and press “Add Group”. Also press “Set” on “Set to:” and add the “ZWave Controller”. I also set two “Configuration settings” to set the sensor mode:
Variable Data Size Desired Value Current Value
17 1 byte dec 2 2
18 1 byte dec 1 1

Finally press “Configure node right now”. Perhaps you have to press “Save” on the left menu area.

I hope this helps you too.

br, Christoph

14

Hi Christoph,

Thanks for the tip but I think this is only a partial solution that works because you are bypassing Vera.

From my recollection, you can associate a ZIR010 with other devices by making them all members of group 1. This makes the ZIR switch on any appliance units like the ZR210 once the motion detector is triggered regardless of what Vera thinks should be done. You could test this by using Vera to set the motion detector to bypass rather than armed and seeing if any appliance switching stops.

I don’t have the docs in front of me so I’m happy to be corrected on any of the above.

From chatting with support and letting them watch the log files on my Vera while I triggered my ZIR010 motion detector showed that it wasn’t recognised as a ‘known device’. This is because the euro models return a different model ID than the US devices and hadn’t been added to the Vera code. A bug has beed raised in mantis and hopefully will be fixed by the next firmware release.

15

Dear Jeremy,

I think this way is not bypassing Vera - it’s just not a plug and play solution right now. Also I am using the euro model and running Vera firmware 1.0.320.

My ZIR010 is shown as configured and is workling very well now. I also can see the status with green and red buttons at the overview. I created some events and everything is working here. Last night I did many tests, and I did not run into any problems.

br, Christoph

16

Hmmm…that’s interesting.

Do you mean that the dot next to the arm and bypass button changes colour from green to red once the motion detector is tripped (there may be a delay due to the page refresh interval though)?

If the dot does change colour then it means the motion detector is truly recognised and thus can be used in events.

Can you confirm your tests stop working if you unplug the dongle?

Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to test my setup for the another week so I can’t verify your advice yet (I’m in Germany looking at my lounge back in the UK through a Panasonic camera and turning lights on and off with Vera. My wife is quite bored with how cool I think this is :wink: ). Once I’m back at home I will try your suggestions and will report back.

17

as Vera receives a SENSOR report from the dongle and triggers a scenario based on this event (if set up this way), how should it work when you unplug the dongle?

br, Hari

18

Dear Jeremy,

I have testet to unplug the dongle from Vera and I just can agree with Hari. The sensor can’t trip the event then.

br, Christoph

19

Hari: I know it sounded a bit silly, but I just wanted to make absolutely sure that the sensor and switch unit were being controlled by the Vera. With these units, if you make a motion sensor and an appliance unit members of group 1 the appliance unit will switch on if the sensor detects motion regardless of the Vera being on or not.

Christoph: Thanks for doing the test. I re-read your post and realised you associated the sensor to the controller and not an appliance unit as I initially thought. And from looking at the docs, you have set the motion detector into binary sensor mode with a one minute delay before it sends an idle update once all motion has stopped. Out of interest, what led you to this solution? :slight_smile:

20

Dear Jeremy,

I solved this Problem with Hari. He told that the sensor has to be in the same group as the dongle. The sensor settings are parts of the setup as told in the manual of the ZIR010.

br, Christoph