VoxCommando - Control Vera by Voice

Apps & Remote Access
1

I was surprised I didn’t see any posts on VoxCommando. I originally stumbled upon it for its XBMC automation.

VoxCommando is $30 from http://www.voxcommando.com

I installed it one of my PCs and then installed their Vera plugin.

I have an iPhone so I picked up the Headset app for $1.99 and it works pretty well
There are apps available for Android as well

Also, people seem to be high on the Amulet Devices remotes as they have a microphone built-in: http://www.amuletdevices.com/ I placed an order for their OEM version

So, I pointed the VoxCommando Vera plugin to my Vera’s IP and port and then created a new group called Vera and started building commands.

The plugin exposes a number of actions for the Vera:

Vera.SetState
Vera.Get.Humidity
Vera.GetScene
etc

To turn my kitchen lights on/off, I simply create an action:
Vera.SetState, provide the device number and what state you want
You can provide a number of phrases that trigger the action: Kitchen Lights On, Turn Kitchen Lights On, etc. The speech recognition has been very good so far, no mistakes yet

Also very cool is the ability to return spoken text from a voice query (e.g. is the front door locked?) you can then use text to speech to have the response spoken back to you: the front door is locked. Or what is the temperature outside?

Anyway, a cool demo of VoxCommando:

2

It works pretty well for my Vera control
I’ve run into some issues controlling XBMC but that is because I have 30k audio tracks - evidently, that’s a lot for VC to handle ???

3

Hi macrho, :slight_smile:

Just came across your thread here. Nice to hear that you’re enjoying VC.

I thought I’d provide a bit more information about the song library issue. To clarify: VoxCommando can usually handle a properly tagged library of 30,000 songs (or more). However, the more songs one has the longer it will take to initially process them.

Our wiki has a good entry on why this is, and the various options provided to users to address the problem if loading time is a concern.

[url=http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Large_music_libraries]http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Large_music_libraries[/url]

I hope the extra info is of use. We’re also happy to answer anyone’s questions over on the VC forum.

cheers,
nime5ter (aka, “the developer’s wife and volunteer tech support person”)

4

VC is quite impressive. I love the automation youtube video they have on their site.

The only thing I wish was out there is a universal remote (rather than a media center remote) with a Microphone embedded. Amulet has a pretty cool product, but I think their sales will be explosive if they come up with a universal remote version.

5

I’m looking at VoxCommand, and one of the YouTube video I watch suggested there were no predefined commands/files etc.

Has someone created a base set that could be used?

6

There is Vera plugin. Add it and the commands are there for basic on off and scenes. They have a raw command that can do everything else you need. Their wiki has some info on it too

7

Agile could you share? I am curious what others have done. I am still just starting out with it. How are you running your voice? I am trying to come up with a solution mainly in the kitchen as a central location for alerts and voice control.

8

[quote=“AgileHumor”]@Parker, I’d be happy to share my XML files. However, your vera id’s won’t match mine. Once you get the logic of the youtube vera dim example, the others are easy.
More info here: What do you use VoX for Vera HA Control???

Thanks @AgileHumor, I’m looking forward to giving VoxCommando ago, have you found a good room microphone you could use for capturing the requests?

Out of interest is there a key work to initiate it e.g VoxCommando - turn the living room lights to 50% or does it listen all the time and so you have to watch what you say?

9

Some more interesting you tube clips on Vera and VoxCommando - >

10

VC has three modes: On, Standby, and Off. In Standby, VC is not actively listening for all commands, but it will activate into On mode if you say, “Pay attention” or “Listen”. See: Getting Started - VoxCommando

There are multiple options available in VC for handling when and how the program listens for commands, depending on user hardware and preferences. One option is “prefix mode,” in which the program remains in standby rather than actively executing all recognized commands, and when you say your prefix phrase (i.e., key word)+your voice command, it executes that command (if understood) but remains in standby. Users choose their own prefix or prefixes, although a default is provided: Options - VoxCommando

Many users prefer to use a solution such as the Amulet remote or the VoxWav Android app, both of which can use hardware triggers (built-in accelerometer) to turn the actual mic on when device is vertical and off when horizontal). In the case of VoxWav Pro, users can choose to have the microphone always listening or only listening when a button is pressed or only listening when the device is tilted to a particular angle (default is basically vertical, but this is user-adjustable).

regards,
nime5ter

11

[quote=“AgileHumor”]I’m planning on ordering this very expensive item (recommended by VoxCommando) that would work for “Always on” mode…but can’t quite get it in the budget this month.

For the record, no one at VoxCommando has recommended any microphone from Acoustic Magic. I have expressed some interest in it but I have not tried it because it was too expensive. Another user on the VoxCommando forum may have recommended it. I seem to recall someone saying that it was good, but not all that “magic” in that it still didn’t work that well if there was too much other sound in the room.

12

I wonder why there is no IOS app for VC…

13

The reason is explained in our documentation: Microphones - VoxCommando.

I know that oftentimes software wiki documentation is poor and so there’s a disinclination to bother with it, but we have tried to post as much information as possible based on the questions we’ve received over the years on the forum since VC’s earliest stages of development.

I do encourage those interested in learning more to explore our extensive documentation as well as the youtube videos – perhaps with the help of a web search for “VoxCommando” and your search terms.

Of course, feel free to post questions to our forum if you’re still unable to find an answer.

14

Hi

I’ve been playing with VoxCommando tonight and like it (a lot ), I even think I’m getting my head around it all. I might even have lights sorted (using Dim & State)

One thing I wanted to ask is, how are people controlling temperature controls e.g set points?

It looks like I have use the Raw option and enter a very specific call? E.g data_request?id=variableset&DeviceNum=49&serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSensor1&Variable=CurrentTemperature&Value=21

15

I would also assume we would need a command set like:

  • set cooling temperature to {1} degrees
  • set heating temperature to {1} degrees
  • turn thermostat on/off

Anything else?

16

Thanks @Agile

Are you suggesting something like this.

Command, using Raw

data_request?id=lu_action&output_format=json&serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSetpoint1_Heat&DeviceNum={1}&action=SetCurrentSetpoint&NewCurrentSetpoint={2}

And then adding the following.

Phrase = turn
Xml = Vera1/devices.xml,
Phrase = to
Payload range = 15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22
Phrase = degrees

17

Parkerc,
this is what I am doing, same as you but you can do a range with your payload vs listing it all out (personal preference):

<cmdType>Vera.Raw</cmdType> <cmdString>data_request?id=lu_action&amp;DeviceNum=18&amp;serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSetpoint1_Heat&amp;action=SetCurrentSetpoint&amp;NewCurrentSetpoint={1}</cmdString> <cmdRepeat>1</cmdRepeat> </action> <action> <cmdType>TTS.Speak</cmdType> <cmdString>Temperature has been adjusted to {1} degrees</cmdString> <cmdRepeat>1</cmdRepeat> </action> <phrase>Set Heat, Set Temperature, adjust heat, adjust temperature</phrase> <payloadRange>0,100</payloadRange>

Using Vera Raw like you stated (but I just put the therm device # in there versus using a payload since I only have 1)

And create one payload as a range and do 0,100 vs listing them out (I am US, so its for F)

As you can see, I also have it doing voice back to me confirming my changes

18

Thanks Wayne

What’s interesting (if I have understood what you’ve done in your command correctly) is that you are saying via TTS the temperature you’ve requested, however that’s not actually confirmation that it’s changed. (It might not go through ?

Have your thought of a way in which you can make it wait and check if the new set point has been accepted - and then tell you ?

19

Vera.Get.Temperature will return the current temperature. I don’t think it will return the setpoint. I have only tested it with my 3-in-one and 4-in-one sensors. With an HVAC it may also work, but I imagine it would return the room temperature, and not the setpoint temp.

You could probably use a raw command to query Vera on the setpoint temperature. You might need to wait a short time after setting it, before checking its value.

You should also be able to use events to be alerted to a new setpoint temp. I don’t have an HVAC Zwave device here to test with, but in VC 1.188 you can customize events to some extent in the plugin settings. This is a new feature that has not yet been documented.

I am open to adding new Vera actions in VC for getting and settings variables so that you don’t need to use raw actions. If someone could itemize the actions they would like to have and provide the appropriate raw codes I will be happy to create these “convenience” actions to the next release of the Vera plugin for VC.

I can see that we need an action to set the HVAC set-point temp and one to read it. Anything else?

20

I may not have looked hard enough, but I have a lot of PLEG conditions that I have notifications sent from. Is there a way to have these notifications polled by Vera so that I can create actions on them?