After quite a few hours getting to grips with Gladys + Node-RED + RFXcom
I’m writing a tutorial to keep a procedure and maybe help some people ^^
What do we need?
- SOMFY RTS shutters (the tutorial also works with any RTS device)
- an RFXcom compatible with RTS (RFX433XL or RFX433E)
- a working Gladys and Node-RED installation
- the official Rfxcom software: RFXmngr available here: http://www.rfxcom.com/WebRoot/StoreNL2/Shops/78165469/MediaGallery/Downloads/RFXmngr.zip
I personally use the RFX433E:
To start we’ll launch the RFXmngr program in order to associate a code with the shutters to be controlled.
I didn’t find any way to retrieve existing codes, so you must add an association for each RTS device; this means arbitrarily assigning a chosen code to each device. This does not break the existing link with a remote control, for example.
Two ways to do this:
- connect the dongle to a Windows PC running the RFXmngr application — very simple
- connect remotely, less simple but more convenient for me because my server is in my attic ^^
Here’s the procedure to connect to the dongle remotely — commands to run on your Gladys machine (Raspberry Pi, Docker) in console mode:
cd
curl -LO https://github.com/andrew-d/static-binaries/raw/master/binaries/linux/x86_64/socat
chmod +x socat
./socat file:/dev/serial/by-id/usb-RFXCOM_RFXtrx433_A1K5N6B-if00-port0,raw,echo=0 tcp4-l:3007
warning, your RFXcom will probably have a different address; you can retrieve it with the following command:
ls /dev/serial/by-id/usb-RFXCOM_RFXtrx433_*
and modify the path to your RFXcom accordingly…
then launch the RFXmngr program
click the Connect button
choose:
- the USB port if the dongle is local
- the IP (Gladys IP) and port (3007) if you access it remotely
by clicking OK, RFXmngr will be connected to the RFXcom
Once connected, click the « RFY » tab, then you’ll need to generate a unique ID in « ID » and a unique unit code in « Unit Code » for your RTS device. Here we use ID « 1 01 00 » and unit code « 1 ». (don’t rely on the screenshot, it’s only there to show the interface 
)
All that’s left is to pair your door/shutter with the dongle by putting your door/shutter into learning mode (consult your motor’s documentation) and click in the « command » list on the « PROGRAM » command of the application, then on « transmit » — there you go, your motor is associated with a code, it can now be controlled!
In Gladys:
To begin we’re going to set up an MQTT device in Gladys:
With a « Curtain/Shutter State » feature configured like this:
With min value -1 and max value 1
-1 closes the shutter
0 stops the shutter
1 raises the shutter
The rest will happen in Node-RED:
first, install the « node-red-contrib-rfxcom » palette to get the necessary nodes
Here is an export of my garage doors flow:
just import this flow and set your server parameters and Gladys topic in the MQTT in node
and in the rfx-blinds-out node, set the USB device corresponding to your dongle and the RFY address given via the RFXmngr app:
[
{
"id": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"type": "tab",
"label": "Portes de garage",
"disabled": false,
"info": "",
"env": []
},
{
"id": "a9ae1a361b44c464",
"type": "mqtt in",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "Porte moto",
"topic": "gladys/device/mqtt:portegaragemoto2/feature/mqtt:porte-moto/state",
"qos": "2",
"datatype": "auto-detect",
"broker": "041d2917313dea6e",
"nl": false,
"rap": true,
"rh": 0,
"inputs": 0,
"x": 60,
"y": 120,
"wires": [
[
"cf1072ce938eb86b",
"ed1a6590de4a9312"
]
]
},
{
"id": "cf1072ce938eb86b",
"type": "switch",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "",
"property": "payload",
"propertyType": "msg",
"rules": [
{
"t": "eq",
"v": "-1",
"vt": "str"
},
{
"t": "eq",
"v": "0",
"vt": "str"
},
{
"t": "eq",
"v": "1",
"vt": "str"
}
],
"checkall": "false",
"repair": false,
"outputs": 3,
"x": 230,
"y": 260,
"wires": [
[
"f1c6dbe6146fde4e"
],
[
"f9cae6d5f71b1f74"
],
[
"1783b4006754428c"
]
]
},
{
"id": "ed1a6590de4a9312",
"type": "debug",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "gladys",
"active": false,
"tosidebar": true,
"console": false,
"tostatus": false,
"complete": "payload",
"targetType": "msg",
"statusVal": "",
"statusType": "auto",
"x": 770,
"y": 120,
"wires": []
},
{
"id": "f1c6dbe6146fde4e",
"type": "change",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "fermer",
"rules": [
{
"t": "set",
"p": "payload",
"pt": "msg",
"to": "Down",
"tot": "str"
}
],
"action": "",
"property": "",
"from": "",
"to": "",
"reg": false,
"x": 430,
"y": 180,
"wires": [
[
"8de8b0dc91284d7b"
]
]
},
{
"id": "8de8b0dc91284d7b",
"type": "rfx-blinds-out",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "fermeture",
"port": "16459ba880d0837b",
"topicSource": "node",
"topic": "RFY/0x10100/1",
"x": 780,
"y": 180,
"wires": []
},
{
"id": "f9cae6d5f71b1f74",
"type": "change",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "stopper",
"rules": [
{
"t": "set",
"p": "payload",
"pt": "msg",
"to": "Stop",
"tot": "str"
}
],
"action": "",
"property": "",
"from": "",
"to": "",
"reg": false,
"x": 440,
"y": 260,
"wires": [
[
"3079920a261a7a4d"
]
]
},
{
"id": "3079920a261a7a4d",
"type": "rfx-blinds-out",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "stop",
"port": "16459ba880d0837b",
"topicSource": "node",
"topic": "RFY/0x10100/1",
"x": 770,
"y": 260,
"wires": []
},
{
"id": "1783b4006754428c",
"type": "change",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "ouvrir",
"rules": [
{
"t": "set",
"p": "payload",
"pt": "msg",
"to": "Up",
"tot": "str"
}
],
"action": "",
"property": "",
"from": "",
"to": "",
"reg": false,
"x": 430,
"y": 340,
"wires": [
[
"b67c7c98c5bcf352"
]
]
},
{
"id": "b67c7c98c5bcf352",
"type": "rfx-blinds-out",
"z": "c58f505d143ae7e9",
"name": "ouverture",
"port": "16459ba880d0837b",
"topicSource": "node",
"topic": "RFY/0x10100/1",
"x": 780,
"y": 340,
"wires": []
},
{
"id": "041d2917313dea6e",
"type": "mqtt-broker",
"name": "",
"broker": "mqtt://192.168.0.1",
"port": "1883",
"clientid": "",
"autoConnect": true,
"usetls": false,
"protocolVersion": "4",
"keepalive": "60",
"cleansession": true,
"birthTopic": "",
"birthQos": "0",
"birthPayload": "",
"birthMsg": {},
"closeTopic": "",
"closeQos": "0",
"closePayload": "",
"closeMsg": {},
"willTopic": "",
"willQos": "0",
"willPayload": "",
"willMsg": {},
"userProps": "",
"sessionExpiry": ""
},
{
"id": "16459ba880d0837b",
"type": "rfxtrx-port",
"port": "/dev/ttyUSB0",
"enableDebug": true,
"rfyVenetianMode": "EU"
}
]
In principle you have everything you need; don’t hesitate to give me feedback — any modifications will be welcome to make this tutorial as clear and easy as possible
Z.
