{"id":17478,"date":"2013-09-02T08:19:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-02T07:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/?p=17478"},"modified":"2020-05-10T13:29:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-10T12:29:59","slug":"indigo-home-automation-on-the-mac-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/reviews\/indigo-home-automation-on-the-mac-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Indigo: Home Automation on the Mac – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

14 years after moving into the Automated Home<\/a> we’re still using those X10 DIN rail modules in the loft. \u00a0There’s still no status available and the signals simply don’t make it through sometimes.<\/p>\n

But apart from replacing some fuses and a couple of dead appliance modules, they’ve worked remarkably well all things considered. \u00a0You definitely can’t argue with the value they’ve provided over the years.<\/p>\n

But we’re well over a decade into the 21st Century and it’s time to move on. \u00a0This means our trusty rackmount HomeVision has been shut down and we’re looking for a new system to take over control of our house.<\/p>\n

There are contemporary\u00a0hardware<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0controllers<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0available<\/a>\u00a0 but these can limit you to one or two technologies. \u00a0We’re looking for something that’s as flexible as possible to give us lots of control options both now and in the future.<\/p>\n

Out of the Blue<\/strong> – We’ve been watching Perceptive Automation develop its smart home software suite “Indigo”\u00a0since v1.2 in 2003<\/a>. \u00a0A few weeks ago v6.0 was released and with it, built-in support for Z-Wave was added to the existing X10 and Insteon standards (here’s the full list of all the\u00a0interface devices<\/a>\u00a0supported by Indigo).<\/p>\n

It’s worth mentioning that although\u00a0Insteon is now in the UK and Europe<\/a>, Indigo currently only supports a couple of American interface devices. We’d love to see support for the Insteon Hub as it’s an Ethernet unit meaning (unlike the US only USB interfaces currently supported ) you can site it somewhere in your house that’s optimised for transmission – not just beside the Mac. \u00a0For now we’re using an old\u00a0CM12U<\/a>\u00a0connected straight into one of the Mac mini’s USB ports for X10 control.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition Indigo supports over\u00a040 third party plugins<\/a>\u00a0meaning it can link to a huge variety of additional hardware. \u00a0For example if you plugin an RFXCOM RFXtrx433<\/a>\u00a0USB stick you’ll be able to control LightwaveRF<\/a>, HomeEasy<\/a> and multitude of other wireless systems.<\/p>\n

If a plugin doesn’t exist to link to your hardware of choice, and you have the chops for it, then Perceptive Automation offer comprehensive documentation<\/a>\u00a0on their API and\u00a0Plugin SDK. \u00a0C-Bus or KNX anyone?<\/p>\n

Most users seem to run Indigo on\u00a0a Mac mini, they’re small, fast, efficient and in our experience super stable with OS X.\u00a0 If you don’t already have one you can pickup a core 2 duo machine on eBay for under \u00a3200. \u00a0However if, like us you already have a\u00a0mini that’s employed 24\/7<\/a>\u00a0in another role but has tons of spare capacity then your only outlay is the cost of the software.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

The software is available in 2 versions. \u00a0Indigo Lite (\u00a378) has a 20 device limit and cannot use third-party plugins. \u00a0You’ll almost certainly want the unrestricted Pro version (\u00a3156) but you can start with Lite and pay the difference to upgrade to Pro later on if you like. \u00a0Here’s a detailed comparison chart<\/a> of the differences between the two versions.<\/p>\n

Setting Up<\/strong>\u00a0– Indigo installs like any other Mac app. \u00a0Once up and running your first task is to add all your home automation devices to the system.<\/p>\n

Devices<\/strong> – Every item in your home automation system gets added to the Devices screen. \u00a0That’s things like your X10 and Z-Wave dimmers and also things like plugins and timers. \u00a0The screen provides an overview of the status of each device in your home and\u00a0allows you to control it directly or\u00a0change its settings.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

Triggers<\/strong> – If you’d like an action to fire on an event then it goes in the Triggers section. \u00a0An example is setting a variable each time the system detects a change in the external temperature reported from the Netatmo weather station plugin.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

Triggers can be instigated from a variety of inputs including an incoming email, a X10 \/ Z-Wave signal, system event or plugin.<\/p>\n

Schedules<\/strong> – Think of these as \u00fcber smart programmable timer clocks. \u00a0The example below turns off our upstairs hall lights 30 mins after dawn (sunrise + 30) each morning.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

You can build logic rules into triggers and schedules using Indigo’s point and click Condition Editor\u00a0or get stuck in with your own powerful AppleScript or Python Scripts (check out the excellent Python course at\u00a0codecademy.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s plenty of sample code on the Perceptive Automation website and\u00a0we have created a trigger that sends a push notification to our phone (using our Boxcar<\/a> email address) based on the example below.<\/p>\n

# Putting a variable’s data into the subject and body<\/span>
\n theVar = indigo.variables[928734897]<\/span>
\n theSubject = “The value of %s” % (theVar.name)<\/span>
\n theBody = “The value of %s is now %s” % (theVar.name, theVar.value)<\/span>
\n indigo.server.sendEmailTo(“emailaddress@company.com”, subject=theSubject, body=theBody)<\/span><\/p>\n

Timers and Pesters<\/strong> – One of the functions we used most with HomeVision was timers. \u00a0These are especially useful when automating lighting based on movement sensor data. \u00a0Indigo’s “Timers and Pesters” plugin adds this functionality, allowing you to define, start, stop, pause and resume timers in your logic. \u00a0‘Pesters’ are mini timers that you can set to repeat multiple times – perhaps to remind you to complete a task.<\/p>\n

Action Groups<\/strong> – There are often groups of actions that you’d like to call on again and again. \u00a0Rather than create this list of action in each schedule or trigger You can define them once in the Action Groups screen and then use them often. \u00a0This may be something as simple as a lighting scene or perhaps a script to email you a message.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/p>\n

Variables<\/strong> – You can use variables to store an integer or floating value – the temperature for example. \u00a0You can also store boolean variables (True or False) which replaces our HomeVision ‘flags’ concept. You might want to set a variable ‘HouseOccupied’ or ‘GarageDoorOpen’ for example. \u00a0Indigo has a built in “isDaylight” variable which gives a useful approximation of whether or not it’s dark outside based on your\u00a0Latitude and Longitude.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/p>\n

Control Pages<\/strong> – Indigo’s built in web server provides a browser\u00a0interface to your home. \u00a0Several pages are automatically created for controlling your system including one suitably sized for mobile devices meaning your Android, Windows Phone or other mobile can always control the system too. \u00a0Other pages allow\u00a0you\u00a0to fire any Actions as well as view and edit your Variables. \u00a0There’s even an RSS feed\u00a0of the current device, action group, and variable states.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to these standard web pages, Indigo also includes a system for creating custom control screens. \u00a0These are created in a click and drag style designer and can be used in a browser window or with the\u00a0free companion iOS app\u00a0Indigo Touch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Within a few minutes we had CCTV images from our IP cameras along with control buttons and variable values appearing on our iPhone. \u00a0There are some great examples of the control screens users have created on the Indigo forums.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

Event Log<\/strong> – Every action and error is logged to the Indigo Event Log. \u00a0There are different levels of logging and plugins can often be set to debug mode to produce even more detail when trying to diagnose an issue.<\/p>\n

\"Indigo<\/a><\/p>\n

The Pro version of Indigo lets you run in Client \/ Server mode. \u00a0This is an excellent feature and with simple port forwarding on your router (port 1176 for the remote client and port\u00a08176 for the web interface) allows you to pull up the full Indigo App on your machine from anywhere, and program and control as if you were on your home machine. \u00a0If you’d rather not mess with your router then Perceptive also offer a zero config path back to your home Indigo system called Prism Reflector<\/a>\u00a0that deals with dynamic IP’s too.<\/p>\n

Up and Running<\/strong> – So for now all our X10 devices have been added and\u00a0the Automated Home is up and running on Indigo. \u00a0The setup process was pain free and we’re really\u00a0impressed with Indigo. \u00a0Our schedules are starting to take shape and the system is pulling data from our Netatmo Weather Station<\/a> to display outside and inside temperatures on our control pages.<\/p>\n

What’s Next?<\/strong> – \u00a0Over the coming weeks and months we’ll be looking at some of the features mentioned above in more detail and we’ll be covering more home automation\u00a0hardware and software additions to our Indigo system. \u00a0The first non-X10 modules we’re eyeing up to add are the\u00a0Z-Wave\u00a0Aeotec\u2019s Z-Stick<\/a>\u00a0along with\u00a0some Z-Wave motion detectors and garage door sensors. \u00a0We’ll also be covering adding the\u00a0RFXCOM<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0Global Cache iTach IP2CC<\/a>. \u00a0Fun times at the Automated Home!<\/p>\n

No products found.<\/p><\/p>\n

Download Free 30-Day Indigo Trial<\/a>\u00a0 : \u00a0Read Part 2 Here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

14 years after moving into the Automated Home we’re still using those X10 DIN rail modules in the loft. \u00a0There’s still no status available and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2017-03-04T12:34:24Z","apple_news_api_id":"0e01ad23-db54-4c70-8e90-8745ec38f24a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2020-05-10T12:30:08Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ADgGtI9tUTHCOkIdF7DjySg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14,4,28],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-17478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple","category-diary","category-reviews","category-software","tag-featured"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/automatedhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/indigo-featured.png?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17478"}],"version-history":[{"count":205,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51076,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17478\/revisions\/51076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automatedhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}