ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
I was curious if any other BeoWorlders are using Philips Hue for their home lighting. I've replaced all of my lights with Philips Hue and absolutely love the system. The light scenes that you can design are really beautiful. Now that I have a MLGW, it would be nice to at least turn off the lights when pressing the CINEMA command or even be able to select from a few light scenes. While Hue is not directly supported by MLGW, I found some instructions on integrating Philips Hue via HTTP with OpenRemote. Perhaps it might be possible to integrate this with MLGW?
http://www.openremote.org/display/docs/OpenRemote+2.0+How+To+-+Philips+Hue
I dont know if you are into it?
For our home I created a KNX-Hue gateway using a rasberry pi, linux and a free software called smarthome.py. Having done that, I am able to control Hue via the mlgw.
Hi Msinn,
could you please share how you achieved the KNX-Hue MLGW, I am sure a lot of people would be interested.
thanks and regards
Toby
This sounds very promising!
A short overview of my setup:
smarthome.py is an open source software wriiten in Python. It runs onalmost any kind of hardware (Windows PC, Mac OS X, Linux).
Support: http://knx-user-forum.de/smarthome-py/ Homepage: http://mknx.github.io/smarthome/
I use a small computer with an Arm processor. A ready to go image for the Raspberry Pi is availiable from the authors. This image includes a visualisation (smartVISU). You can use the visualisation or leave it alone an use only smarthome.py.
Smarthome.py on the Raspberry Pi connects to KNX via an KNX-IP interface which can handle multiple tunnels. The mlgw connects through the same KNX-IP interface.
Smarthome.py on the Raspberry Pi connects to the Philps Hue gateway which is part of the Hue starter kits.
Smarthome.py comes with a plugin for KNX and a plugin for Hue. To implement the gateway, I had to write a configuration file. There are two ways I use for interfacing:
1. Define scenes, which set the Hue lights to the state (colour, saturation, brightness) I want and define a KNX group adress on which smarthome.py listens.
2. Define KNX group adresses for each (or a couple of) Hue lights, and make smarthome.py act like a KNX dimmer for these Hue lights.
After you have your Raspberry Pi up and running with smarthome.py the configuration for both ways is done through text files on the Raspberry Pi.
For those of you that haven't got lost (in the technical details) and are willing to explore this further, don't hesitate to ask.
Greetings
Martin
4 beolab 5, beolab 9, beolab 10, beolab 5000, beolab 8000 mk2, beolab 6002, beolab 3500, beovision 7 55 mk2, 2 beovision 11 46 mk4, beotime, beosound ouverture, beosound essence, beoplay A8, beomaster 900 RG de luxe and the collection continues...
Hi olvisab,
as I wrote the software can be installed on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux. I went for a small Unit with an ARM processor because it has a small energy footprint. I personally dont use the Raspberry Pi, since I needed more computing power I went for a multi core ARM cpu. I referenced the Raspberry Pi because the authors made an image, which makes the setup quite easy.
When you are installing it from scatch, you need to install python3, eibd (this software implements the interface to KNX), smarthome.py and the smartVISU (if needed).
Hi StUrrock,
I tried it the custom strings way but I was not successful. Since I wanted a further integration into my bus system I abandoned the customs string route and went for a full KNX integration.
For the custom strings the string must be something like this:
PUT /api/<hueuser>/lights/3/state HTTP/1.1\0D\0A{\"on\": true, \"bri\": 128, \"ct\": 345}\0D\0A
"<hueuser>" is an user that has been authorized in the Philips Hue Gateway
"3" is the id of the light I want to turn on
{"on": true, "bri": 128, "ct": 345} is the Json representation of the command: turn on, to 50% brightness and a warm white
But I couln't get this one working.
Greeings
mawheele:Based on the rumours, you may want to wait until after Apples WWDC where it is said they may enter home automation.
That would be fantastic. I just hope that B&O supports integration into the MLGW. Apple is really great at making things intuitive and plug and play. In my law office, I'm the only attorney who uses a Mac. All of the other attorneys in my office have huge hassles and expenses in needed to call in IT support, which I never need. All of the home automation that I've seen so far requires quite a bit of computer and electronic skill. I spent over an hour at the local electronics store trying to find what I would need to build my own B&O cinema control with a relay, etc. I finally just gave up. Even looking at the Lintronic website gets me terribly confused. Often, there is an expectation that you build your own cables and connectors, which for me is the most daunting part. I bought a relay but have absolutely no idea how to connect it to the RS232 port on the BeoSystem 3. I just want something ready-made that I can plug in! I think there would be a huge market for a manufacturer such as Apple who could provide all of the necessary plug and play devices and connections. Of course, there could be resistance from B&O retailers if the need for professional home installation is reduced.
I've been studying the Philips Hue API. To start, I would like to get the very simple command of turning off all lights. This is what I understand:
HTTP://<insert ip address of the hue bridge>/api/<insert username>/groups/0/action
Body: {"on":false}
Method: PUT
Using the debug feature for the hue bridge, I can get the commands to work perfectly from my computer. What I DON'T understand is how to get this these commands to the MLGW. What do I input in the MLGW programming page for the custom string stuff and where? I would be happy if I could just get this one simple command to work as a start. Keep in mind that I know nothing about computer programming.
I've still been unsuccessful with a custom string. From what I've read, I believe that the port would be either 80 or 30,000.
I'm certainly interested in Martin's KNX solution, but I fear that I would be in way over my head trying to program a Raspberry Pi.
If anyone could just get one custom string to work, it would be so simple to make variations.