Automating vertical blinds

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openmedia

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#290182 26-Oct-2021 11:16

Looking at replacing some existing vertical blinds and I'd like to automate some of them if possible.

Now there are these simple Tuya based controllers for moving the chain which affects the angle of the binds

https://www.dicksmith.co.nz/dn/buy/kogan-smarterhome-smart-blinds-driver/

Has anyone seen a dual controller that can also open/close the blinds as well as adjust the angle? The open/close is just a simple cord whilst the angle has a chain,

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

timbosan

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#2801232 26-Oct-2021 11:25

Hi,

I have been going down this exact route - I have both roller blinds and horizontal blinds that have 2 pull cords (separate, not joined like other blinds) and another cord to pull them up. During my searching I found Soma do a model that adjusts the tilt here SOMA Tilt - Smart Motor for Venetian Blinds Slats Control - SOMA Smart Home

I have read mixed reviews on the Soma stuff. I use HomeKit so look at that or HomeBridge compatibility and there are many comments online around Soma being noisy and slow, although their newer models are supposed to be better.

Personally I ended up buying the Tuya based motors from Dick Smith as they are well supported and review well, although I haven't installed them yet as they took a long time to get here and only arrived last week.

If your handy you could make something yourself with a stepper motor and a Pi? Overview | Adafruit's Raspberry Pi Lesson 10. Stepper Motors | Adafruit Learning System

morrisk

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#2801448 26-Oct-2021 16:44

I have 4 roller blinds - 2 quite big covering full height double sliding door, 1 small window and 1 a single full height door. They are all using the SOMA 2 units. I have 3 of them also connected to the supplied solar panel.

Had them for 6 months and no problems except that they have not coped with daylight saving. I have been able to accomodate that by adding the offset that you can do in the app. However I also have been in ongoing conversation with their support desk and they have now said that they have found the bug in their code and will let me know when it is fixed. So support has been responsive but yet to get the update but it has only been 2 days since they wrote.

Also have them as a part of my Home automation system using the Hobbs raspberry pi and a certified plugin . This works well if there is only the one blind but not when you have 4 - you just get wrong readings with the Home app saying a blind is open when it is closed etc. Not a big issue for me.

The noise is not a concern for me - there is a quiet "morning mode" which reduces noise by dropping the speed of movement but I haven't found this necessary.

openmedia

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#2804688 31-Oct-2021 13:12

The soma gear looks interesting, and has Home Assistant integrations.

Any options to provide tilt as well as open/close?

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

morrisk

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#2804738 31-Oct-2021 17:21

Yes there is a SOMA Tilt 2 as can be seen on their website here:

https://www.somasmarthome.com

but I have no experience of them.

openmedia

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#2923915 8-Jun-2022 12:52

Well the new blinds have finally been installed, but I've yet to find a unit that will provide the features I need.

We've got for a chain style option for tilting the shades, but open/close is a simple cord.

There are a bunch of options for the chain based tilt - but nothing that will manage the open/close via the cord.

The closest I've seen is this hack on YouTube where the cord is replaced with a chain so that two drivers can be used together to automate the blinds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQuEhhYFPHE

Anyone else found a way to automate this?

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

davidcole

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#2923932 8-Jun-2022 13:17

I got a zemismart. I think it was zigbee. Ended up selling it to someone here....it didn't meet WAF.

I probably could have hooked it into home assistant, but never got that. Far. I did find it very slow though. But had internal rechargible battery.,

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mdf

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#2997569 17-Nov-2022 17:38

@openmedia - did you find a solution to this? I'm looking at a similar issue. Some of the chain-style ones seem to advertise "cord" compatibility but seem light on the details - like this one. However the cord seems much bigger than what I would usually see on a blind:

If anyone has style, would you mind posting a close up shot of what the cord roller looks like inside so I can see how it should work?

Adding some beads to an existing cord will definitely fail the WAF.

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openmedia

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#2997622 17-Nov-2022 20:14

mdf:

@openmedia - did you find a solution to this? I'm looking at a similar issue. Some of the chain-style ones seem to advertise "cord" compatibility but seem light on the details - like this one. However the cord seems much bigger than what I would usually see on a blind:

Still looking for a solution I'm afraid

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

morrisk

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#2997705 18-Nov-2022 06:28

Just to note that the SOMA roller blind systems are still working well and I had forgotten that they did initially integrate reliably with my Apple Home. This integration now works perfectly. There must have been some update that fixed the initial problem. I also recall that there was a problem with daylight saving that affected the opening times linked to sunrise. I emailed SOMA and they were very responsive and resolved the issue quite quickly so was impressed with their support service.

My use is just for roller blinds so not sure if they have a solution for you but in terms of a product that is reliable and supported I would still recommend them.