Touchscreen usage

[VJ]

Hello,

I'm considering an Almond + to complement an intelligent home (KNX and Loxone based). In the current setup, all control is done via KNX, the Loxone offers additional intelligence and interfacing.
I accidently asked in another thread if the ZWave functionality can be accessed via UDP (ie to set actuators or read sensors). If it can, then I can easily communicate with the Loxone, using Almond+ to integrate ZWave devices without the need for an additional controller unit. (I will need a new router at one point - current one is OLD).

Can the touchscreen be used to display a web interface?
(this would be enough justification to mount the Almond+ in a more visible spot)

Thanks!

Jörg

[Patrick Wilson]

Hello,

I'm considering an Almond + to complement an intelligent home (KNX and Loxone based). In the current setup, all control is done via KNX, the Loxone offers additional intelligence and interfacing.
I accidently asked in another thread if the ZWave functionality can be accessed via UDP (ie to set actuators or read sensors). If it can, then I can easily communicate with the Loxone, using Almond+ to integrate ZWave devices without the need for an additional controller unit. (I will need a new router at one point - current one is OLD).

Can the touchscreen be used to display a web interface?
(this would be enough justification to mount the Almond+ in a more visible spot)

Thanks!

Jörg

I haven't had a chance to play with an Almond+ Beta board yet,  but I'm afraid that you can NOT access any Web interface via the Touch screen interface. The Almond+ will have it's own Zigbee/Z-Wave controller interface which should be accessible via the TouchUI,  the WebUI,  or Smartphone App. 

I intend to put my Almond+ right in my livingroom when I get it,  (the TouchUI of my Almond has already proven to be very useful),  but I'm hoping to control all my HA equipment via the Smartphone App,  as my Smartphone is always in my pocket,  so it will likely be the most convenient method of HA control in my network.  At this point however the Almond+ isn't released yet,  so I can not really confirm anything about it.  Hopefully Lars will be able to provide a more useful answer to this question for you. 

[Talard]

hello Jörg, Patrick.


Another solution would be to send URLs commands by pressing buttons on the Almond+ screen and webUI ? Right ?
With this method you don't have to access to the web page but you can use udp/tcp protocol.
<MAJ> I didn't see your UDP post yet, i think we have the same way of thinking on this point  <\MAJ>

Talard

[VJ]

In my configuration, all switches are controlled with KNX. The Loxone adds some intelligence, and offers an IP interface to the KNX. The Loxone itself has a nice webinterface, apps, but also full support for UDP input/output (and many other things). For a bit more flexibility, I would like some controlled sockets, and if I go with zwave, they can probably also be controlled from the Loxone (using the Almond+ as ip-zwave bridge).

But the Loxone is just a device sitting in the fusebox, always needing an external control device. The ability to put custom buttons on the touchscreen of the Almond+, and have a UDP packet sent on pressing, should supply enough functionality to send commands to the Loxone, which can use UDP as a virtual input, and thus have an external control device.

So if it is possible to make a custom interface on the Almond+ to send UDP packets, it is all I need to turn it into a Loxone control panel, and control everything from there.

[LGNilsson]

UDP support for something like this won't be built in, but it's something you could make with the help of the SDK, however, this would require some pretty serious programming know how.

The web UI and the apps should allow you to control most devices just fine and it'll be possible to set scenes and triggers which might solve your issue.

[VJ]

Well, if I want to control the lights (that are KNX controlled), I would have to communicate with the Loxone server. And then only way is possible is via the network. So it will have to be UDP (to communicate with a virtual input on the Loxone)... unless there is way of integrating the webinterface somehow.

[Talard]

The web UI and the apps should allow you to control most devices just fine and it'll be possible to set scenes and triggers which might solve your issue.

Lars,

I'm sure the Almond+ WebUI will be great to control lot of devices thanks to Z-wave, Zigbee, rooter specifications, USB, the screen..! You already do a greate job and put in place a new idee of the future of networking.
The vision of this box is to use home automation and network, working togather. It's only interconections.
Why using udp/tcp didn't look interesting to develop it for your product? With this fonctionnality you allow to use the Almond+ as a Zigbee/Z-wave and IP footbridge.

[Zwave product] <==> Almond <==> [URL or UDP command]

I don't want to look insistent but more i think about it, and more i feel it really important.

[LGNilsson]

Well, if I want to control the lights (that are KNX controlled), I would have to communicate with the Loxone server. And then only way is possible is via the network. So it will have to be UDP (to communicate with a virtual input on the Loxone)... unless there is way of integrating the webinterface somehow.

UDP won't be an issue, the problem is bridging UDP and Z-Wave. The SDK would allow you to integrate whatever you want with the web interface, as we're leaving it all open, but the SDK requires programming know how.

[LGNilsson]

Lars,

I'm sure the Almond+ WebUI will be great to control lot of devices thanks to Z-wave, Zigbee, rooter specifications, USB, the screen..! You already do a greate job and put in place a new idee of the future of networking.
The vision of this box is to use home automation and network, working togather. It's only interconections.
Why using udp/tcp didn't look interesting to develop it for your product? With this fonctionnality you allow to use the Almond+ as a Zigbee/Z-wave and IP footbridge.

[Zwave product] <==> Almond <==> [URL or UDP command]

I don't want to look insistent but more i think about it, and more i feel it really important.

We're going to allow for some type of IFTTT like support rather than UDP support, so you will be able to bridge things just fine. As for what the future will bring, I guess it'll depend a lot on the kind of feedback we get from the community and things might still change based on demand. It's at least not something that will be there on launch, as we're focusing on a stable, solid platform and then we'll build on that.

[VJ]

UDP won't be an issue, the problem is bridging UDP and Z-Wave. The SDK would allow you to integrate whatever you want with the web interface, as we're leaving it all open, but the SDK requires programming know how.

Great! 
I mean, that means if there are enough people interested in it, for sure someone will start making it. (similar things happened to Squeezebox)
(URL command would also work for communicating with the Loxone!)

For me, it means it will hold off buying a router (it is not urgent), and see how things evolve. Heck, even without certainty on the possibility of bridging the Loxone with the Almond+, it looks like a great router, so it still is in the running for becoming my next router!

[LGNilsson]

Well, I'd suggest heading over to the OpenWRT website and see what they say, as anything you can do in OpenWRT, you can do with the Almond+, more or less 

[VJ]

I'd need to get a some IP interface to zwave then, and no other router offers that.

[LGNilsson]

I don't think you're following what I'm saying here, the Almond+ runs NutsOS and OpenWRT simultaneous, in other words, if there's a way OpenWRT can interface UDP with Z-Wave, it can be done on the Almond+ in most likelihood.

[VJ]

Ah... I did not get that part...
Thanks!

[Talard]

Well, I'd suggest heading over to the OpenWRT website and see what they say, as anything you can do in OpenWRT, you can do with the Almond+, more or less 

I look for some informations in OpenWRT Forum. There is 2 post on the Almond (rooter one) and few more on z-wave. But i find a post from a company http://www.dragino.com/index.php.
On the main page, the 2d slide show they use there board in converting IP protocol in Wireless (z-wave...). Moreover, the souce code is post so perhaps we can do somthing with...