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Connecting AXIS Gear to Control4

Connecting AXIS Gear to Control4

Manu Menon avatar
Written by Manu Menon. Updated over a week ago

SETUP AND OPERATION WITH CONTROL4

Prerequisites

  • Firmware - 3.2.4.1076 and above

  • Control4 Driver (AXIS Gear)

  • Device is configured and put into SmartHome mode

  • Composer Pro Software is installed

Enable ZigBee Network on System

  1. Go to System Design and click on the Director or C4 Controller and view the Properties tab

  2. Go to the ZigBee Configuration tab and click on Edit ZigBee Configuration

  3. Choose the C4 controller as the ZigBee Server and pick a ZigBee Channel and Click OK

    • to get additional information about the network click on Tools > Network Tools in the menu bar. Access the ZigBee Network tab and double click on the C4 controller to see additional information

Add Driver to System

  1. In the menu bar, go to Driver > Add or Update Existing Driver to make the driver available to Composer

  2. Go to System Design

  3. Under the Items section, go to My Drivers and right click on a desired folder (or create a new one) and click on Add Driver

  4. Select Blinds as the Device Type and select AXIS Gear and it should now appear in My Drivers

  5. Double click on the Driver to add it to the System (NOTE: Do this step for every Gear that needs to be added)

Join Gear to System

  1. Go to Connections and go to the Network tab

  2. Click on ZigBee Network to show the ZigBee device and available drivers

  3. Enable joining of devices by using any of the following methods and select the appropriate ZigBee server:

    • Double Click on the Driver

    • Right Click on the Driver and select Identify

    • Select Driver and click Identify and press Next > until you reach the Driver

  4. Press Pair on the Gear and wait until the EUI of the ZigBee device is populated as the Address

Removing Gear from System

  1. Go to Connections and go to the Network tab

  2. Click on ZigBee Network to show the ZigBee device and available drivers

  3. Enable joining of devices by using any of the following methods and select the appropriate ZigBee server:

    • Select Driver and Select Disconnect (best)

    • Right Click on the Driver and select Disconnect

    • Double Click on Driver press Disconnect

      • device may rejoin using the last method

  4. Verify that no Address shows up for the respective device

GROUP CONTROL

Group control has been implemented to change the positions of all Gears in the following scenarios

  • Sending of OTA command to change level to any Gear in group

  • Manual operation of any Gear in group will change positions of other gears

A Control4 variable CURRENT_LEVEL has been created since the driver proxy is not configured correctly since Target Level and Level are Booleans. The implementation needs each Gear to have an action programmed for any Gears that it wants to be controlled with. For example, if there are 5 Gears in the group, each Gear needs to have 4 actions programmed to control the other gears.

To program group control, do the following for each Gear:

  1. Open Composer Pro and go to Programming

  2. In the Programming window, expand the options by clicking on the + beside one of the Gears (ie GEAR 1) that are to be added to be the same group

  3. Expand the Device Variables and select CURRENT_LEVEL which will highlight When CURRENT_LEVEL changes

  4. In the Actions window, expand another one of the Gears (ie GEAR 2) in a similar method to Step 2-3 and to select the variable CURRENT_LEVEL

  5. Select the option Set to Value of with the drop down option of ROOM -> GEAR 1 -> CURRENT_LEVEL

  6. Repeat Steps 1-5 for any other Gears that need to control or be controlled by another Gear

  7. Send commands over the Control4 network to a Gear by using any of the Navigators or the touch interface of the Gear to control any programmed Gears

VOICE INTEGRATIONS

Currently, Control4 can only integrate voice commands with Alexa. To do this the following is required

  • A Control4 account with 4Sight License

  • Amazon Alexa app connected to Control4 Smart Skill

Because they use Amazon's Smart Home Skill API, they are unable to support blinds/shades commands since it is not released. The integration will be updated once Amazon adds this skill, which will result in any C4 driver using the blind proxy to be able to control the Alexa skill.

Amazon Alexa Integration

The following procedure needs to be completed in order to successfully control the gear using voice commands:

  1. Open the Amazon Alexa app on a phone

  2. Click on the Smart Home Control icon and scroll down to Your Smart Home Skills and click on Enable Smart Home Skills

  3. Search for Control4 and log in to an account with a valid 4Sight license

  4. Open Composer Pro Software and connect to Director

  5. Under System Design, Voice Scene should show up under a room

  6. Click on Voice Scene and go to the Properties Tab

  7. Enter a name for your Gear(s) in New Scene Name (eg. Bedroom Shades)

    • Ensure that the names are easy to decipher via voice commands

  8. Go to Programming and click on Voice Scene

  9. In the Voice Scene Events section, select Turn On [Scene Name] or Turn Off [Scene Name] and select appropriate actions

    • eg. Select "Turn On Bedroom Shades" and program Gear(s) to open

    • eg. Select "Turn Off Bedroom Shades" and program Gears(s) to close

  10. Allow Alexa to discover the devices and scenes added by either:

    • Saying "Alexa, discover devices" OR

    • In the Amazon Alexa app, click on Add Device > Other > Discover Devices

  11. Once the discovery is complete, the voice scenes should show up in the Scenes section of the Smart Home Control

  12. To operate, the blinds you can now say "Alexa, Turn on [Scene Name]" or "Alexa, Turn off [Scene Name]" to fully open or close shades

Optional Voice Command Modifications

A. Customization of On and Off Voice Commands

  1. In the Amazon Alexa app, click on the menu and go into Routines

  2. Add in a new routine with the following

    • When this happens > Voice and enter the phrase as Open [Scene Name] (or Close [Scene Name])

    • Add Action > Smart Home > Control Scene and select [Scene name] with the Turn On (or Turn Off)option

    • Click on Add and then Create

  3. To operate, the blinds you can now say "Alexa, Open [Scene Name]" or "Alexa, Close [Scene Name]" to fully open or close shades

B. Enabling Movement to Various Positions via Voice Commands

  1. Open Composer Pro Software and connect to Director

  2. Under System Design, Voice Scene should show up under a room

  3. Click on Voice Scene and go to the Properties Tab

  4. Enter a name for your Gear(s) in New Scene Name (eg Bedroom Shades to 50%)

  5. Go to Programming and click on Voice Scene

  6. In the Voice Scene Events section, select Turn On [Scene Name] and select appropriate actions

    • eg. Select "Turn On Bedroom Shades to 50%" and program Gear(s) to a target of 50%

    • It is not needed to program the "Turn Off Bedroom Shades to 50%"

  7. In the Amazon Alexa app, click on the menu and go into Routines

  8. Add in a new routine with the following

    • When this happens > Voice and enter the phrase as Set [Scene Name]

      • any numbers or special characters need to be spelt out (eg. Set Bedroom shades to fifty percent)

    • Add Action > Smart Home > Control Scene and select [Scene name] with the Turn On option

    • Click on Add and then Create

  9. To set the blinds at desired position you can now say "Alexa, Set [Scene Name]"

  10. Repeat Steps 1-9 for any additional desired positions

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