Category: uControl

  • Voice control with Amazon Echo using the “MHUB 4K PRO Control / MHUB 4K PRO Smarthome” Skill

    Setting up the MHUB 4K PRO Control / MHUB 4K PRO Smarthome Skill on the Alexa app

    HDANYWHERE (HDA) Amazon Alexa App Skill

    We are assuming that you have already downloaded the Amazon Alexa app and have a functioning Amazon account.

    Skill types:
    There are two types of skill which you can enable on the Alexa app.

    • Custom Skill
      With a Custom Skill we have full control over the voice interaction (a voice interaction is the communication you have with an ECHO device when speaking a command and also includes the response given by the ECHO) between you and your Echo device, this allows for a greater range of voice commands including playhead, change channel, switch sources, increase/decrease volume.Click here to view a the full range of voice commands.
    • Smarthome Skill
      The Smarthome skill differs from the custom skill in a couple of ways. Firstly, invoking a smarthome skill is fixed and defined by Amazon, this also applies to the voice interaction. We currently support on/off commands, allowing you to perform actions quickly by uttering “Alexa, turn on TV” or a custom label like “Alexa, turn on movies”.
    • You can of course, use both. They are FREE!

    What you need to get your MHUB to respond to voice commands:

    1. You have completed the first-boot procedure within MHUB-OS
    2. You have MHUB-OS version 7.0 or higher installed on your MHUB
    3. You have an active HDA Cloud account
    4. You have downloaded uControl packs for all displays and source devices you want to control
    5. You have an active Amazon account
    6. You have an Amazon Alexa enabled device, such as Amazon Dot/Echo/Show

    Linking the custom skill “MHUB 4K PRO Control”

    1. Go to the Skills section on the Alexa app and search for “MHUB 4K PRO Control”
    2. Click on the skill and select “Enable”
    3. Click “Link Account” – when you do this, you will be redirected to HDA Cloud’s secure login page. Enter your username and password in to the fields.

    To enable the MHUB 4K PRO Control Skill you will need to add the skill first by pressing the "Enable" button in your Amazon Alexa app. Once enabled you will be forwarded to HDA Cloud to link your account with Amazon Alexa. Enter your HDA Cloud username and password and your MHUB will be connected to Alexa!

    Linking the smarthome skill “MHUB 4K PRO Smarthome”

    1. Go to the Skills section on the Alexa app and search for “MHUB 4K PRO Control”
    2. Click on the skill and select “Enable”
    3. Click “Link Account” – when you do this, you will be redirected to HDA Cloud’s secure login page. Enter your username and password into the fields.
    4. After the account has been linked, visit the “Smart Home” screen then navigate to the ‘Manage devices in Smart Home’ then Devices. Next click ‘Discover’.
    5. This action will communicate with MHUB and pull any devices making them ready to use.

    Configure voice commands to do exactly what you want

    Let’s take the command “Alexa, tell my TV to watch football” as an example.

    It might appear like a very simple command but there are a number of things that need to happen in order to watch football! First the TV might need to turn on, but in which room? The volume might need to be set to a desired limit. The correct source input might need to be selected on MHUB and finally that source will need to navigate to the channel hosting the football.

    You can configure all those actions in what we call a “Sequence”.

    Taking the example above:
    Alexa (this wakes up your Amazon Dot/Echo/Show)
    tell my TV to… (this invokes HDA’s custom skill)
    watch (this is a special function which tells MHUB to start a Sequence)
    football (this is your custom name for the Sequence, it can be anything you want)

    Inside MHUB-OS we can configure exactly what “football” does.

    • You can select if you want MHUB to turn your TV on and adjust the volume
    • You can tell MHUB to switch to the source device with has the football on it
    • You can instruct MHUB to change the channel on that source device

    Here’s a table of all the commands you can tell your MHUB to do…

    Now you’re ready to go. Take a look at a full list of commands that you can say to your Echo.

  • Controlling Rako scenes and lights from uOS

    This guide will show you how to trigger Scenes or even individual Lights and Blinds using the Rako API

    • For Rako Hub API click Here
    • For Rako Bridge API click Here

     

    Rako Hub API

     

    Before you begin, you will need:

     

    • The Rako Hub IP address
    • A fully-commissioned Rako system with a Rako Hub on the same network as the HDA system
    • A fully-commissioned HDA or uControl system with the latest version of uOS (MHUB-OS does not support IP integrations) on the same network as the Rako system.
    • A tablet or laptop using any of the most popular browsers (or an iPhone with the uControl app, at the very least) on the same network as the HDA system.

     

    Step 1:Get data about the Rako system

    You need to know:

    • Room ID
    • Channel ID
    • Scene ID

    Use your browser: type http://[Rako Hub IP]/rako.xml (e.g.http://192.168.1.13/rako.xml)

    The Example below shows Room ID 17, Channel ID 1 and Scene ID 1


    <Room id="17"> -Room ID
    <Type>Lights</Type>
    <Title>Office</Title>
    <Channel id="1"> -Channel ID
    <type>Default</type>
    <Name>Office Spotlights</Name>
    <Levels>FFBF7F3F000000000000000000000000</Levels>
    </Channel>
    <Scene id="1"> -Scene ID
    <Name>White</Name>
    </Scene>
    </Channel>

    If no scenes are listed, default scenes are set as –

    Scene 1 – All on 100%
    Scene 2 – All on 75%
    Scene 3 – All on 50%
    Scene 4 – All on 25%
    Scene 0 – All Off

    Based off this we can build the command

    SUB,BASIC,V4,uControl
    SEND,17,1,SCENE,1

     

    Step 2:Build an IP Connection in uOS


    command-generator-link
    Examples of the most popular Rako commands – Rako Command Examples

     

    Rako Bridge API

     

    Before you begin, you will need:

     

    • A fully-commissioned Rako system with a Rako Hub on the same network as the HDA system
    • A fully-commissioned HDA or uControl system with the latest version of uOS (MHUB-OS does not support IP integrations) on the same network as the Rako system.
    • A tablet or laptop using any of the most popular browsers (or an iPhone with the uControl app, at the very least) on the same network as the HDA system.

     

    Step 1:Get data about the Rako system

    You need to know:

    • Room ID
    • Channel ID
    • Scene ID

    – Use Rasoft Pro if you set up the Rako yourself or have been given the Project File.
    – Use your browser: type http://[Rako Hub IP]/rako.xml (e.g.http://192.168.1.13/rako.xml)

    Example of Rako XML data

     

    Step 2:Build an IP Connection and Function in uOS

     

    Step 3:Build Functions to control individual Channels or trigger Scenes

     

    Examples of the most popular Rako commands – Rako Command Examples

  • Controlling Loxone from uOS

    This guide will show you how to trigger events in a Loxone system using a ‘Virtual Text Input’. This allows us to send a command that can trigger switching, lighting actions, shading and more.

    Before you begin, you will need:

     

    • The Loxone Miniserver IP address
    • A fully-commissioned Loxone system with the Miniserver on the same network as the HDA system
    • A fully-commissioned HDA or uControl system with the latest version of uOS (MHUB-OS does not support IP integrations) on the same network as the Loxone system.
    • A laptop running the Loxone config software
    • Access to uOS using any of the most popular browsers (or an iPhone with the uControl app, at the very least) on the same network as the HDA system

     

     

    Step 2:Build an IP Connection in uOS


    Examples of the most popular Loxone commands – Loxone Command Examples

  • ADB Control Packs

    With uOS 11.08 support for ADB control of android devices is now included.

    Supported Devices

    • Amazon FireTV
    • Nvidia Shield
    • Android/Google Powered TV’s

    To enable ADB control, ensure the device you want to control is powered on and awake. You will need to know the device’s IP address.

    Step 1 – Enabling Developer Options

    To be able to use ADB control you will need to enable Developer Mode.

    For Amazon devices, follow the instructions here – Enabling Developer Tools

    For other devices –

    1. Open the menu and go to Device Preferences > About.
    2. Scroll down until Build is highlighted, then tap ok several times. You will get an onscreen message that developer mode has been enabled.
    3. Click back, scroll to the bottom of the menu you will see { } Developer Options.
    4. Open the menu and enable developer options
    5. Scroll down to Enable network debugging

    Step 2 – Installing the ADB pack.

    In the example below we will install the pack for FireTV.

    2a – Select the pack

    1. Select uControl (ADB)
    2. Select the port or zone when the pack will be installed
    3. Select the device

    2b – Test and confirm installation

    1. Use the default name or enter a custom one. This will be displayed on the uControl app and remote
    2. Describe what you are connecting to, this field is not compulsary to install the pack
    3. Enter the IP address in the fireTV in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx For example, 192.168.0.25.
    4. IMPORTANT – the first time to connect to the device you will get an onscreen message like the one shown below. Please select always allow then click ok.
    5. Once tested, click install and the pack is ready to use

  • Creating a stacked MHUB system using uControl

    Do you have the correct guide?, please be aware this guide is for legacy systems.

    When an MHUB video device is paired with an MHUB AUDIO device we call that a Stack. Stacks can contain up to 4 MHUB products with 1 Master device and 3 slave devices. Master devices can be either VIDEO or AUDIO, slaves are AUDIO only.

    Below are a few examples of stacked systems.

    • Master : MHUBPRO4440, Slaves : 3x MHUBAUDIO64
    • Master : MHUBAUDIO64, Slaves : 3x MHUBAUDIO64
    • Master : MHUB4K44PRO, Slaves : 2x MHUBAUDIO64

    To create a stacked system you will need to download uControl (available on iOS and Android app stores), and your MHUB hardware will need to be powered on and connected to your network.

    CS1
    CS2

    Open the uControl app and select ‘Connect to MHUB System‘. The following screens will be displayed. uControl will search your network for all MHUB devices. To create a stack select ‘Video + Audio‘

    uControl will now ask you to select first a master device, then upto 3 slave devices. (The order in which you select the slave devices will be their order in the stack. this is indicated by a numeric value on the left side of the device button. If you are unsure which MHUB AUDIO device is which you can simply click on the Identify button at the side of each device which will start the HDA and AUDIO logo flashing.)

    Once this is done you will be taken to MHUB-OS where the first boot Process will be run.

    MHUB FIRST BOOT PROCESS(link)