In the last article, I talked about home automation using z-wave technology. Today I will talk about one of the z-waves controller “veralite” and how to setup automation with it. Veralite is a smart z-wave controller that can give you easy control over your lights, camera, thermostats, door locks and more, plus you can receive text and email notifications for any situation.
To get started, you simply plug VeraLite into your Internet connection or Wi-Fi system. From there you follow the instructions included in the package, you can get a screen that lets you command and tailor VeraLite’s control functions from your PC or Mac. Below is a screen shot of what the dashboard looks like:
You can view your devices, automate tasks, manage your account, etc. You can add any devices using z-wave technology. Adding a device is straight forward, click “”Add Devices” and follow the instructions on screen, once a device is added it will show on the ‘Devices’ page.
Let’s setup a simple automation task, I have one z-wave motion sensor and one siren device. I want to make the siren go off when a motion is detected. Veralite uses scenes and triggers to automate tasks. In this example, “siren goes off ” is the event. ” a motion is detected ” is the trigger.
Firstly, we need create a new scene under automation tab. Let’s call it “Turn on Siren”, we then need to set the action of the scene to turn on siren.
Secondly, we need create a trigger that will run the scene. We need go to the “TRIGGERS” tab in the same page and create a new trigger by clicking “Add trigger” button. 
Finally, we need choose the device that will trigger this scene, we pick up the front door motion sensor automaticaly as the device. The event of the device to trigger the scene is when the sensor is tripped (a motion is detected), finaly we give the trigger a name. We can also specify if we want to receive a text and/or email notification when this even occurs.
Click the “Confirm Changes” button to save your newly created scene and trigger.
Congratulations!! You have created a simple automated task. Now when a motion is detected at the front door the siren will go off. Wait a minute, you may ask “I don’t want the siren to go off whenever a motion is detected. I only want this to happen during the night”. No problem, you can do this by creating schedules which will specify when the scene will occur. If the time is not within your schedule, even if a motion is detected, the siren will not go off.
Here at Palm Beach Software Design, we take pride in being able to identify the right solutions for your needs by keeping up with the latest technologies, at home or in your office. We take the time to determine the best implementation based on your business needs, we strive to create custom software for our customers that will increase profits and productivity.
