Cover Time Based Component for your Home-Assistant based on davidramosweb's Cover Time Based Component, modified for native cover entities, covers triggered by RF commands, or any other unidirectional methods.
With this component you can add a time-based cover. You either have to set triggering scripts to open, close and stop the cover or you can use an existing cover entity provided by another integration which does not have timing or status feedback. Position is calculated based on the fraction of time spent by the cover travelling up or down. You can set position from within Home Assistant using service calls. When you use this component, you can forget about the cover's original remote controllers or switches, because there's no feedback from the cover about its real state, state is assumed based on the last command sent from Home Assistant. There's also a custom service available where you can update the real state of the cover based on external sensors if you want to.
You can adapt it to your requirements, actually any cover system could be used which uses 3 triggers: up, stop, down. The idea is to embed your triggers into scripts which can be hooked into this component via config. For example, you can use RF-bridge or dual-gang switch running Tasmota or ESPHome firmware integrated like in the examples shown below.
When you use it to extend functionality of an existing cover implementation, this component will generate a new cover entity with these new features.
The component adds two services set_known_position
and set_known_action
which allow updating HA in response to external stimuli like sensors.
The entities generated by this component have assumed states, which are remembered between Home Assistant restarts.
- Install using HACS, or manually: copy all files in custom_components/cover_rf_time_based to your /custom_components/cover_rf_time_based/ directory.
- Restart Home-Assistant.
- Create the required scripts in scripts.yaml.
- Add the configuration to your configuration.yaml.
- Restart Home-Assistant again.
To use this component in your installation, you have to either set RF-sending scripts to open, close and stop the cover (see below), or use an existing cover entity provided by another integration, which is missing the features provided here.
Add the following to your configuration.yaml file:
cover:
- platform: cover_rf_time_based
devices:
my_room_cover_time_based:
name: My Room Cover
device_class: curtain #optional
travelling_time_up: 36
travelling_time_down: 34
close_script_entity_id: script.rf_myroom_cover_down
stop_script_entity_id: script.rf_myroom_cover_stop
open_script_entity_id: script.rf_myroom_cover_up
send_stop_at_ends: False #optional
always_confident: False #optional
OR:
cover:
- platform: cover_rf_time_based
devices:
my_room_cover_time_based:
name: My Room Cover
device_class: curtain #optional
travelling_time_up: 36
travelling_time_down: 34
cover_entity_id: cover.myroom
send_stop_at_ends: True #optional
always_confident: True #optional
All mandatory settings self-explanatory.
Optional settings:
send_stop_at_ends
defaults toFalse
. If set toTrue
, the Stop script will be run after the cover reaches to 0 or 100 (closes or opens completely). This is for people who use interlocked relays in the scripts to drive the covers, which need to be released when the covers reach the end positions.always_confident
defaults toFalse
. If set toTrue
, the calculated state will always be assumed to be accurate. This mainly affects UI components - for example, if the cover is fully opened, the open button will be disabled. Make sure to set the current state after first setup and only use this entity to control the covers. Not recommended to beTrue
for RF-based covers.
The following example assumes that you're using an RF bridge running Tasmota or ESPHome open source firmware to integrate your radio-controlled covers. The command scripts pass the rfraw_data
parameter to a general transmitter script which takes care of queuing the transmission of the codes and keeping an appropriate delay between them:
'rf_transmitter':
alias: 'RF Transmitter'
mode: queued
max: 30
sequence:
# With Tasmota
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/rf-bridge-1/rfraw'
payload: '{{ rfraw_data }}'
# With ESPHome
- service: esphome.sonoff_rf_bridge_send_rf_raw
data:
raw: '{{ rfraw_data }}'
# add a little delay
- delay: 00:00:01
'rf_myroom_cover_down':
alias: 'RF send MyRoom Cover DOWN'
mode: single
max_exceeded: silent
sequence:
- service: script.turn_on
target:
entity_id: script.rf_transmitter
data:
variables:
rfraw_data: 'AAB0XXXXX....XXXXXXXXXX'
'rf_myroom_cover_stop':
alias: 'RF send MyRoom Cover STOP'
mode: single
max_exceeded: silent
sequence:
- service: script.turn_on
target:
entity_id: script.rf_transmitter
data:
variables:
rfraw_data: 'AAB0XXXXX....XXXXXXXXXX'
'rf_myroom_cover_up':
alias: 'RF send MyRoom Cover UP'
mode: single
max_exceeded: silent
sequence:
- service: script.turn_on
target:
entity_id: script.rf_transmitter
data:
variables:
rfraw_data: 'AAB0XXXXX....XXXXXXXXXX'
Note that for RAW data you also need the Portisch firmware to be flashed on the EFM8BB1 embedded RF-transmitter chip of the bridge unit.
For the scripts above with Tasmota you need a small automation in automations.yaml to set RfRaw
back to 0
to avoid spamming your MQTT server with loads of sniffed raw RF data. This trigger is checked every minute only so set > 40
set in the value_template
to be a bit bigger than your biggest travelling_time
:
- id: rf_transmitter_tasmota_cancel_sniff
alias: 'RF Transmitter Tasmota cancel sniffing'
trigger:
platform: template
value_template: "{{ ( as_timestamp(now()) - as_timestamp(state_attr('script.rf_transmitter', 'last_triggered')) | int(0) ) > 40 }}"
action:
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/rf-bridge-1/rfraw'
payload: '0'
The example below assumes you've set send_stop_at_ends: True
in the cover config, and you're using any two-gang switch running Tasmota open source firmware to integrate your switch-controlled covers:
'rf_myroom_cover_down':
alias: 'Switches send MyRoom Cover DOWN'
mode: single
max_exceeded: silent
sequence:
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/myroomcoverswitch/POWER1' # open/close
payload: 'OFF'
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/myroomcoverswitch/POWER2' # power
payload: 'ON'
'rf_myroom_cover_stop':
alias: 'Switches send MyRoom Cover STOP'
mode: single
max_exceeded: silent
sequence:
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/myroomcoverswitch/POWER2' # power
payload: 'OFF'
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/myroomcoverswitch/POWER1' # open/close
payload: 'OFF'
'rf_myroom_cover_up':
alias: 'Switches send MyRoom Cover UP'
mode: single
max_exceeded: silent
sequence:
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/myroomcoverswitch/POWER1' # open/close
payload: 'ON'
- service: mqtt.publish
data:
topic: 'cmnd/myroomcoverswitch/POWER2' # power
payload: 'ON'
Note how you don't have to configure these as switches in Home Assistant at all, it's enough just to publish MQTT commands strainght from the script (credits to VDRainer for this example). Of course you can customize based on what ever other way to trigger these 3 type of movements. You could, for example, turn on and off warning lights along with the movement.
This component provides 2 services:
cover_rf_time_based.set_known_position
lets you specify the position of the cover if you have other sources of information, i.e. sensors. It's useful as the cover may have changed position outside of HA's knowledge, and also to allow a confirmed position to make the arrow buttons display more appropriately.cover_rf_time_based.set_known_action
is for instances when an action is caught in the real world but not process in HA, .e.g. an RF bridge detects astop
action that we want to input into HA without calling the stop command.
In addition to entity_id
and position
takes 2 optional parameters:
confident
that affects how the cover is presented in HA. Setting confident totrue
will mean that certain button operations aren't permitted.position_type
allows the setting of either thetarget
orcurrent
posistion.
Following examples to help explain parameters and use cases:
- This example automation uses
position_type: current
andconfident: true
when a reed sensor has indicated a garage door is closed when contact is made:
- id: 'garage_closed'
alias: 'Doors: garage set closed when contact'
trigger:
- entity_id: binary_sensor.door_garage_cover
platform: state
to: 'off'
condition: []
action:
- data:
confident: true
entity_id: cover.garage_door
position: 0
position_type: current
service: cover_rf_time_based.set_known_position
We have set confident
to true
as the sensor has confirmed a final position. The down arrow is now no longer available in default HA frontend when the cover is closed.
position_type
of current
means the current position is moved immediately to 0 and stops there (provided cover is not moving, otherwise will contiune moving to original target).
- This example uses
position_type: target
(the default) andconfident: false
(also default) where an RF bridge has interecepted an RF command, so we know an external remote has triggered cover opening action:
- id: 'rf_cover_opening'
alias: 'RF_Cover: set opening when rf received'
trigger:
- entity_id: sensor.rf_command
platform: state
to: 'open'
condition:
- condition: state
entity_id: cover.rf_cover
state: closed
action:
- data:
entity_id: cover.rf_cover
position: 100
service: cover_rf_time_based.set_known_position
confident
is omitted so defaulted to false
as we're not sure where the movement may end, so all arrows are available.
position_type
is omitted so defaulted to target
, meaning cover will transition to position
without triggering any start or stop actions.
This service mimics cover movement in Home Assistant without actually sending out commands to the cover. It can be used for example when external RF remote controllers act on the cover directly, but the signals can be captured with an RF brigde and Home Assistant can play the movement in parrallel with the real cover. In addtion to entity_id
takes parameter action
that should be one of open, close or stop.
Example:
- id: 'rf_cover_stop'
alias: 'RF_Cover: set stop action from bridge trigger'
trigger:
- entity_id: sensor.rf_command
platform: state
to: 'stop'
condition:[]
action:
- data:
entity_id: cover.rf_cover
action: stop
service: cover_rf_time_based.set_known_action
In this instance we have caught a stop signal from the RF bridge and want to update HA cover without triggering another stop action.
For proper icon display (opened/moving/closed) customization can be added with option device_class
set either in the cover's config, based of what type of covers you have. See availale device classes for cover.
Can also be done in configuration.yaml
:
homeassistant:
customize_domain: #for all covers
cover:
device_class: curtain
customize: #for each cover separately
cover.my_room_cover_time_based:
device_class: curtain
More details in Home Assistant device class docs.
Since there's no feedback from the cover about its current state, state is assumed based on the last command sent, and position is calculated based on the fraction of time spent travelling up or down. You need to measure time by opening/closing the cover using the original remote controller, not through the commands sent from Home Assistant (as they may introduce some delay).
Tasmota RF bridge is able to send out the radio-frequency commands very quickly. If some of your covers 'miss' the commands occassionally (you can see that from the fact that the state shown in Home Assistant does not correspond to reality), it may be that those cover motors do not understand the codes when they are sent 'at once' from Home Assistant.
This can be handled in multiple ways:
- try increasing your RF range. Make sure the wire antennas of the covers are not tied close to the power cables or to big metallic surfaces. For 433MHz, the antenna length should be around 17cm (this may include the part going inside the tube motor). Sonoff RF Bridge has two copper helical antennas near the PCB, you can unsolder them and simply solder in place two straight hard wires of 17.3cm, which can go out through some small holes on the sides of the unit. You need to solder only one end of each wire, to the points where the helical legs were shorter (points U7 and U8). This will increase the range substantially, to the cost of aesthetics.
- avoid backlogs with
rfraw AAB0XXXXX....XXXXXXXXXX; rfraw 0
if you need multiple covers opening and closing at once. Switching the sniff on and off quickly for every cover movement may cause issues. It's enough to sendrfraw 0
only once with some delay after all procedures related to cover movements finished, the example scripts above take care of that. - if you are sending
0xB0
codes (decoded with BitBucketConverter.py) you can tweak those to be sent with repetitions (multiple times) by changing the repetition parameter (5th byte) of the code. For example 20 repetitions can be achieved by changing 5th byte from 04 to 14. Also BitBucketConverter can be run by specifiying the required repetitions at command line before decoding. Some covers might not like this, though. - alternatively, you can further reduce stress by making sure you don't use cover groups containing multiple covers provided by this integration, and also in automation don't include multipe covers separated by commas in one service call. You could create separate service calls for each cover, moreover, add more delay between them:
- alias: 'Covers down when getting dark'
mode: single
max_exceeded: silent
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
below: 400
for: "00:05:00"
entity_id: sensor.outside_light_sensor
action:
- service: cover.close_cover
entity_id: cover.room_1
- delay: '00:{{ (range(1,10)|random|int) }}:00'
- service: cover.close_cover
entity_id: cover.room_2
- delay: '00:00:02'
- service: cover.set_cover_position
data:
entity_id: cover.room_3
position: 20
- delay: '00:00:01'
- service: cover.set_cover_position
data:
entity_id: cover.room_4
position: 30
Use the following configuration for ESPHome on Sonoff RF Bridge:
substitutions:
device_name: sonoff-rf-bridge
friendly_name: "Sonoff RF Bridge"
device_ip: 192.168.81.22
esphome:
name: ${device_name}
platform: ESP8266
board: esp01_1m
wifi:
ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
password: !secret wifi_password
manual_ip:
static_ip: ${device_ip}
gateway: 192.168.81.254
subnet: 255.255.255.0
logger:
baud_rate: 0
uart:
tx_pin: GPIO01
rx_pin: GPIO03
baud_rate: 19200
rf_bridge:
api:
reboot_timeout: 15min
password: !secret api_password
encryption:
key: !secret encryption_key
services:
- service: send_rf_raw
variables:
raw: string
then:
- rf_bridge.send_raw:
raw: !lambda 'return raw;'
ota:
password: !secret ota_password
web_server:
port: 80
auth:
username: admin
password: !secret web_server_password
sensor:
- platform: wifi_signal
name: ${friendly_name} WiFi signal
update_interval: 60s
- platform: uptime
name: ${friendly_name} Uptime
status_led:
pin:
number: GPIO13
inverted: true
binary_sensor:
- platform: status
name: ${friendly_name} State
switch:
- platform: restart
name: ${friendly_name} Restart