Software

Home Automation

Logitech Harmony with Node-RED

Install Fakeroku on Node-RED
INSTAR MQTT Setup
Conclusion
Troubleshooting (Firewall Homematic CCU3)

Install Fakeroku on Node-RED

Open the Node-RED Menu in the top right corner and click on Manage Palette. There switch to the Install tab and search for fakeroku and install the node-red-contrib-fakeroku:

Now add a Fakeroku node to your flow and configure it as follows:

The IP address has to be set to the LAN IP of your Node-RED installation - in my case 192.168.2.111, you can keep the default port and multicast IP and click the + icon to generate a UUID for your device.

You can now switch back to the general tutorial to add the virtual device to your Logitech Harmony Hub.

INSTAR MQTT Setup

The Fakeroku virtual device will now give you access to the following buttons on your Harmony Remote:

For example Button 1 will send the payload string Rev to Node-RED when you press it. In the following I want to connect it to a Node-RED flow that allows me to cycle through the first 4 preset positions of my Pan&Tilt camera. Here is the complete list of actions that the complete flow will add:

Rev - Go to last Preset Position
Play - Start a x Second Video Recording
Fwd - Go to next Preset Position
Home - Deactivate the Alarm
Up - Move Camera Up by one Step
Right - Move Camera Right by one Step
Down - Move Camera Down by one Step
Left - Move Camera Left by one Step
Select - Stop Camera Movement
Back - Activate the Alarm
Info - Trigger enabled Alarm Actions

The flow needed for those actions looks like this and can be downloaded and imported to Node-RED from the JSON export pasted in below:

Node-RED Flow Download

[{"id":"a7f685cf.720f58","type":"fakeroku-device","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","confignode":"5699281e.1bbbc8","x":80,"y":180,"wires":[["f5aa6aa6.abeb78","3befcb89.667824","625b1ba9.24a254","62de79f2.f75328","1a8d0caa.b38743"]]},{"id":"f5aa6aa6.abeb78","type":"switch","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"PTZ","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"Up","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"Down","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"Left","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"Right","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"Select","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":5,"x":286,"y":332,"wires":[["709a2dd0.a05e24"],["2b4c510.d949db"],["c4363ae8.54ee58"],["edf366d8.120318"],["ce60b71c.910af8"]]},{"id":"686b53b1.dee5fc","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"features/ptz/movestep","topic":"instar/local/features/ptz/movestep/raw","qos":"1","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":627,"y":332,"wires":[]},{"id":"709a2dd0.a05e24","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"up","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"up","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":415,"y":252,"wires":[["686b53b1.dee5fc"]]},{"id":"2b4c510.d949db","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"down","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"down","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":415,"y":292,"wires":[["686b53b1.dee5fc"]]},{"id":"c4363ae8.54ee58","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"left","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"left","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":415,"y":332,"wires":[["686b53b1.dee5fc"]]},{"id":"edf366d8.120318","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"right","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"right","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":415,"y":372,"wires":[["686b53b1.dee5fc"]]},{"id":"edd8e86c.1a00e8","type":"inject","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"Activate","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"num","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":true,"onceDelay":0.1,"x":605,"y":231,"wires":[["48e05d12.6b8d84"]]},{"id":"48e05d12.6b8d84","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"Initialize","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"counter","pt":"flow","to":"-1","tot":"num"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":745,"y":231,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"ac59a9a4.a61318","type":"function","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"Counter","func":"var status = msg.payload;\n\nvar counter = flow.get(\"counter\") || 0;\n\nif (status == \"Fwd\")\n    {\n        \n        if (counter < 3)\n        {\n            counter = counter + 1;\n            flow.set(\"counter\",counter);\n            return msg;\n        }\n        else\n        {\n            counter = 0;\n            flow.set(\"counter\",counter);\n            return msg;\n            \n        }\n    }\n    \nelse {\n        \n    if (counter > 0)\n    {\n        counter = counter - 1;\n        flow.set(\"counter\",counter);\n        return msg;\n    }\n    else\n    {\n        counter = 3;\n        flow.set(\"counter\",counter);\n        return msg;\n    }\n}\n\n ","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"x":412,"y":182,"wires":[["e4ae5134.3976c"]]},{"id":"3befcb89.667824","type":"switch","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"FWD/REV","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"Fwd","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"Rev","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":2,"x":272,"y":180,"wires":[["ac59a9a4.a61318"],["ac59a9a4.a61318"]]},{"id":"7f883c84.232894","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"features/ptz/preset","topic":"instar/local/features/ptz/preset/raw","qos":"1","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":718,"y":182,"wires":[]},{"id":"e4ae5134.3976c","type":"function","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"Position","func":"msg.payload = flow.get(\"counter\") || 0;\n\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"x":550,"y":182,"wires":[["7f883c84.232894"]]},{"id":"625b1ba9.24a254","type":"switch","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"Home/Back","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"Home","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"Back","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":2,"x":277,"y":478,"wires":[["c3149921.424398"],["ecee0588.bb37f8"]]},{"id":"c3149921.424398","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"1","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"0","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":416,"y":460,"wires":[["d25c7f9e.b86d9","e28db00c.de5f7","32defe83.1910e2","5514217a.15a4","e5a74104.f5b2d"]]},{"id":"ecee0588.bb37f8","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"0","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"1","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":416,"y":500,"wires":[["e5a74104.f5b2d","5514217a.15a4","32defe83.1910e2","e28db00c.de5f7","d25c7f9e.b86d9"]]},{"id":"e28db00c.de5f7","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"alarm/area1/enable","topic":"instar/local/alarm/area1/enable/raw","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":632,"y":447,"wires":[]},{"id":"32defe83.1910e2","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"alarm/area2/enable","topic":"instar/local/alarm/area2/enable/raw","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":632,"y":493,"wires":[]},{"id":"5514217a.15a4","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"alarm/area3/enable","topic":"instar/local/alarm/area3/enable/raw","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":632,"y":539,"wires":[]},{"id":"e5a74104.f5b2d","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"alarm/area4/enable","topic":"instar/local/alarm/area4/enable/raw","qos":"","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":632,"y":585,"wires":[]},{"id":"d25c7f9e.b86d9","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"features/ptz/preset","topic":"instar/local/features/ptz/preset/raw","qos":"1","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":633,"y":400,"wires":[]},{"id":"62de79f2.f75328","type":"switch","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"Play","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"Play","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":1,"x":253,"y":644,"wires":[["bbdd25c2.7ca7e8","cc56f3e2.29cfb"]]},{"id":"782bc830.959dc8","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"features/manualrec/start","topic":"instar/local/features/manualrec/start/raw","qos":"1","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":612,"y":644,"wires":[]},{"id":"bbdd25c2.7ca7e8","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"{\"val\":\"60\"}","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"60","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":412,"y":644,"wires":[["782bc830.959dc8"]]},{"id":"cc56f3e2.29cfb","type":"delay","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"30s","pauseType":"delay","timeout":"30","timeoutUnits":"seconds","rate":"1","nbRateUnits":"1","rateUnits":"second","randomFirst":"1","randomLast":"5","randomUnits":"seconds","drop":false,"x":248,"y":690,"wires":[["9a762fde.748ff"]]},{"id":"21d78cf6.3df984","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"features/manualrec/stop","topic":"instar/local/features/manualrec/stop/raw","qos":"1","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":612,"y":690,"wires":[]},{"id":"9a762fde.748ff","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"{\"val\":\"off\"}","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"off","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":408,"y":690,"wires":[["21d78cf6.3df984"]]},{"id":"ce60b71c.910af8","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"right","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"stop","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":415,"y":411,"wires":[["686b53b1.dee5fc"]]},{"id":"1a8d0caa.b38743","type":"switch","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"Info","property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"Info","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":1,"x":231,"y":764,"wires":[["d6fd272a.1b92f8"]]},{"id":"94d84f16.62437","type":"mqtt out","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"alarm/pushalarm","topic":"instar/local/alarm/pushalarm/raw","qos":"1","retain":"","broker":"fbc900bc.b83bb","x":627,"y":764,"wires":[]},{"id":"d6fd272a.1b92f8","type":"change","z":"1dfd915c.6102cf","name":"1","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"1","tot":"str"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":379,"y":764,"wires":[["94d84f16.62437"]]},{"id":"5699281e.1bbbc8","type":"fakeroku-config","z":"","ip":"192.168.2.111","multicast":"239.255.255.250","uuid":"68580784e7ec5daf8d50f26874628384","port":"8086"},{"id":"fbc900bc.b83bb","type":"mqtt-broker","z":"","name":"192.168.2.117 (PrivCert)","broker":"192.168.2.117","port":"8883","tls":"d525c1aa.03cac","clientid":"nodered","usetls":true,"compatmode":false,"keepalive":"60","cleansession":true,"birthTopic":"","birthQos":"0","birthPayload":"","closeTopic":"","closeQos":"0","closePayload":"","willTopic":"","willQos":"0","willPayload":""},{"id":"d525c1aa.03cac","type":"tls-config","z":"","name":"192.168.2.117 (PrivCert)","cert":"","key":"","ca":"","certname":"client.pem","keyname":"","caname":"","servername":"","verifyservercert":false}]

* see also INSTAR MQTT & Node-RED

Cycling through Preset Positions

This sequence listens to the Fwd and Rev button on your remote and uses the following scripts to cycle through your first 4 preset positions of your Pan&Tilt camera. The first part just counts from 0 to 3 (Note that we need an initialization step here to set this count to 0 every time we restart Node-RED):ss wir hier einen Initialisierungsschritt benötigen, um diesen Zähler jedes Mal auf 0 zu setzen, wenn wir Node-RED neu starten):

var status = msg.payload;

var counter = flow.get("counter") || 0;

if (status == "Fwd")
    {
        if (counter < 3)
        {
            counter = counter + 1;
            flow.set("counter",counter);
            return msg;
        }
        else
        {
            counter = 0;
            flow.set("counter",counter);
            return msg;
        }
    }
else {
      if (counter > 0)
    {
        counter = counter - 1;
        flow.set("counter",counter);
        return msg;
    }
    else
    {
        counter = 3;
        flow.set("counter",counter);
        return msg;
    }
}

And the second script just sets the result of this calculation to msg.payload:

msg.payload = flow.get("counter") || 0;

return msg;

This is then fed into an MQTT node to be send to your camera's MQTT broker to update the "Go to Preset" MQTT Topic.

Pan & Tilt your Camera

This sequence listens to the Up, Right, Down and Left button and updates the according "One-Step" MQTT Topics on your camera:

Schalten Sie Ihren Alarm scharf, bevor Sie Ihr Haus verlassen

Diese Sequenz aktiviert/deaktiviert den Alarm auf Ihrer Kamera. Wenn sie scharf gestellt ist, behält Ihre Kamera Ihr Wohnzimmer im Auge. Wenn der Alarm deaktiviert wird, dreht sich die Kamera zur Seite und deaktiviert alle Bewegungserkennungsbereiche. Hinweis: Wenn Sie den kamerainternen PIR-Bewegungssensor in Kombination mit diesen Erfassungsbereichen verwenden, müssen Sie den Sensor ebenfalls deaktivieren, damit dies funktioniert:

Arm your Alarm before your leave your Home

This sequence defines an armed and disarmed state for your camera. When armed your camera will keep an eye on your living room. When disarmed your camera will turn away and deactivates all motion detection areas. Note that if you are using the camera's internal PIR motion sensor in combination with those detection areas, you will have to deactivate the sensor as well for this to work:

Start a Manual Video Recording

This sequence enables you to start a manual video recording when pressing the Play button on your remote. Note that the delay node is currently set to 30s - you can adjust the length of your according by changing this value:

Trigger an Alarm

And now to the simplest sequence of this flow. Pressing the Info button will trigger an alarm on your camera. This event will trigger all active alarm actions on your camera - like vide recordings, email notifications, FTP uploads, etc.

Conclusion

This is just a small overview over all the available MQTT Topics on your camera. All of them can be send and combined with a press of a button on your Logitech Harmony Remote. More information for using the INSTAR MQTT interface with Node-RED can be found in our full tutorial.

Troubleshooting (Firewall Homematic CCU3)

Always make sure that your Fakeroku instance is listening on your actual network interface, e.g. 192.168.2.111 instead of all interfaces 0.0.0.0. If you are using a firewall on your Node-RED host system, also make sure to open the HTTP port for this interface specifically. In the example below we show firewall configuration for the Homematic CCU3 firewall: