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StefCoene edited this page Nov 8, 2016 · 25 revisions

Features and other stuff

Features:

  • written in perl
  • daemon to monitor the bus that wil:
    • store all raw messages in mysql
    • store all processed information in perl
  • web based service to query the velbus modules and send commands to the velbus modules
  • auto generate an openHAB items file

What works / features:

  • trigger a scan on the bus via commands.pl
  • discover the modules on the bus caused by a scan
  • get a status of the modules and channels, get the name of the channels
  • get status of relays, temperature sensors, dimmers, shutters
  • put date & time on the bus (handy to sync the clock in case of a power failure or daylight saving time)
  • process all messages on the bus and push the changes to openHAB
    • TODO: make list of what's pushed to openHAB
  • control relays, dimmers shutters
  • control heater mode or desired temperature
  • webservice for integration with openHAB or other software
  • generate velbus items file for openHAB
  • auto process the velbus protocol files and extract the needed information

TODO:

  • document config files
  • list velbus modules + what's working
  • XML output (currently only json)
  • list needed perl modules
  • mysql database export
  • installation script (needed for library include path)
  • openHAB sitemap examples
  • process energy counter
  • merge information from http://www.docum.org/drupal/content/velbus-software
  • install instructions
  • logging

DONE

Bugs

I found some bugs in the code of velbus. The third part of the name of the second blind channel is not correct, it returns the third part of the name of the first channel.

Documentation

logger.pl

This is the basic daemon that should be running all the time. I run it from screen so it runs in the background, but I can reconnect to the screen session to see what's happening. It monitors the bus and uses the REST API of openHAB to push detected changes to openHAB.

commands.pl

This is can be used to send commands to the bus. I use it for testing, but it can also used to trigger a scan or send the current date and time to the modules on the bus. Use option -o to see a list of available options.

pdf2txt.pl

This script reads the velbus protocol pdf files and extract all the information regarding the available commands. The result is used by logger.pl to process the velbus messages.

Requirements: what do I need?

  • linux server
  • working velbus setup
  • velserv running: source can be found here
  • mysql database
  • apache with perl module
  • openHAB with at least http binding

Install path

The scripts are developed with /data/velserver as install directory. If you want to place the scripts somewhere else, you need to update these files and change all occurrences of /data/velserver:

  • bin/commands.pl
  • bin/logger.pl
  • www/index.pl
  • www/service.pl

Apache config file

The config file etc/apache-velserver.conf must be included in apache so http:///velserver is server from the www directory. If you change the sub directory /server, you also have to update the config file etc/openHAB.cfg

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