Question: Condition is only true the first

Apilio Use Cases
1

I’ve created a logicblock that turns on a light if Ring detects motion after dark.

What happens now, though, is when we go for a walk after dark (which is most of the time now in late November) we’re turning on the lights, even if we just turned them off because we’re leaving.

I’m trying to create a setup that solves that. Spoiler alert: it’s not working, and I need help figuring out what the problem is.

Here’s what I’ve done:

  1. Created Boolean variable called Light_Is_On
  2. Created condition that is called Light_Is_Off, with a required state of True and a Timeout that makes it only true the first minute. (this is where I think the problem is, but I don’t know)
  3. Created a logicblock that turns off lights if Light_Is_Off condition is met, and triggers an IFTTT event Light_Is_Off
  4. I created an Alexa link through IFTTT that if I say “Alexa, trigger Leaving The House” which launches that logicblock from 3.
  5. Created IFTTT link that sets Light_Is_On to false if it receives “Light_Is_Off” event

When I’ve created all of these things, it’s not working. After I tell Alexa we’re leaving the house, which triggers the logicblock that triggers the change in variable that should prevent the light from turning on, it seems to work – but the condition never changes back after the 1 minute delay, and so five minutes or ten minutes later I can walk by the sensor and it still doesn’t turn the lights on.

Does anyone have any ideas for solving this? It’s a very complex set of things, but I think it should be doable if I figure out what I’m doing wrong!

Thank you!

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2

What about asking adding say a 2min delay to a “lights off” Logicblock routine so you still get the benefit of the lights on as you leave for a walk but then the Logicblock turns them off 2 mins later?

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3

That’s an idea I hadn’t even thought of – was totally focused on lights off. I’ll test that out.

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4

Fingers crossed! Let me know if you need any help. DanT

5

Just did a test run of it, and I think it’ll work perfectly – and be WAAAAY more simple than what I was trying to do. It’ll override the lights automatically turning on when motion is detected – but by the time we get home the lights will turn on again when we return.

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6

great, we like a bit of simplification :clap:
thanks for asking a great question!

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7

Thanks Dan! I appreciate it.

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