Homebridge Broadlink RM

Broadlink RM Mini and Pro plugin for Homebridge

This allows you to control your RM Mini and Pro with HomeKit and Siri.

IMPORTANT

• Requires Node.js >= 7.6.0
• If you're seeing something like "ERROR LOADING PLUGIN"..."async setCharacteristicValue (props, value, callback) {" then please check your node version before creating a new issue: node -v.

Installation

1. Install homebridge using: sudo npm install -g homebridge
2. Install this plugin using: npm install -g homebridge-broadlink-rm
3. Update your configuration file. (See config-sample.json)

Overriding the homebridge directory (AKA where the consig.json file lives)

Generally the plugin can find where your config.json lives as it commonly sits in the .homebridge directory of your user account. If you're doing something out of the ordinary however you may need to override this. You can do so by adding a "homebridgeDirectory" key/value pair to the platform config.

Broadlink RM Device Discovery

As of version 1.0.0 your Broadlink RM Device is automatically discovered so you no longer need to specify a "host" value.

Learning Hex IR and RF codes

"Learn" and "Scan Frequency" accessories are automatically added to the Home app (so long as you've not added either manually in the config). Simply toggle the switch on, perform the IR or RF command in front of your Broadlink RM device and copy the HEX output from the homebridge console log to wherever you want the code in the config.

The switch will toggle off automatically once the code has been received. You can optionally stop attempting to learn a code by toggling the switch off yourself.

More details below

Common Accessory Configuration Keys

The following configuration keys are common between each accessory:

key	description	example	default
name (required)	A descriptor for the accessory that will show in HomeKit apps.	"TV"	-
type (required)	The type of accessory.	"switch"	-
persistState (optional)	Determines whether the state of accessory persists after homebridge has been restarted.	false	true
resendHexAfterReload (optional)	When persistState is true (it is by default) this will resend the hex code for the last known state if homebridge is restarted.	true	false
disableLogs (optional)	Disables the log output for this accessory.	true	false

Accessory Types

• learn-code
• switch
• switch-multi
• switch-repeat
• fan
• light
• garage-door-opener
• window-covering
• air-conditioner

learn-code

You shouldn't need to add this accessory type yourself as we add one automatically however if you have multiple Broadlink RM devices then it may be useful to specify multiple devices with the "learn-code" type along with a host so that you can learn from each of them.

key	description	example	default
disableAutomaticOff (optional)	Prevent the learn-code accessory from turning off automatically after a given amount of time or when a hex code has been received.	false	true
scanFrequency (optional)	This changes the type of learning to be the same as the default "Scan Frequency"	true	false

switch

Turn the switch on and the "on" hex code is sent, turn it off and the "off" hex code is sent.

key	description	example	default
disableAutomaticOff (optional)	Prevent the window-covering from turning off automatically after a given amount of time.	false	true
onDuration (optional)	The amount of time before the switch automatically turns itself off (used in conjunction with disableAutomaticOff).	5	2

"data" key-value object

key	description
on	A hex code string to be sent when the switch is changed to the on position.
off	A hex code string to be sent when the switch is changed to the off position.

switch-multi

Turn the switch on and the switch will send each hex code in the provided array until. It then turns itself off automatically. You can also set the interval between each send.

key	description	example	default
data (required)	Hex data stored as an array of strings. You can also set separate "on" and "off" arrays of codes similar to the "switch" accessory.	[ "26005800000..." ]	-
interval (optional)	The amount of time between each send of a hex code in seconds.	0.3	1
disableAutomaticOff (optional)	Prevent the switch from turning off automatically when complete.	true	false

switch-repeat

Turn the switch on and the switch will repeatedly send the hex code until it reaches the defined send count. It then turns itself off automatically. You can also set the interval between each send.

key	description	example	default
data (required)	Hex data stored as string. You can also set separate "on" and "off" codes similar to the "switch" accessory.	26005800000...	-
sendCount (optional)	The number of times the hex code should be sent.	5	1
onSendCount (optional)	If you set separate "on" and "off" codes you can use this to override the "sendCount" when the switch is turned on.	5	1
offSendCount (optional)	If you set separate "on" and "off" codes you can use this to override the "sendCount" when the switch is turned off.	5	1
interval (optional)	The amount of time between each send of a hex code in seconds.	0.3	1
disableAutomaticOff (optional)	Prevent the switch from turning off automatically when complete.	true	false

fan

Turn the fan on and the "on" hex code is sent, turn it off and the "off" hex code is sent.

Additionally, Siri supports the toggling of the swing mode and setting of the fan speed as a %.

If you don't specify every fan speed then the accessory will choose the hex code of the fan speed closest to the one requested. e.g. If you only specify fan speeds of 10%, 50% and 100% then ask "Set Fan to 40%" then the hex code for 50% will be used.

key	description	example	default
data (required)	Hex data stored as a key-value JSON object.	See below.	-

"data" key-value object

key	description
on	A hex code string to be sent when the switch is changed to the on position.
off	A hex code string to be sent when the switch is changed to the off position.
swingToggle	A hex code string used to toggle the swing mode on/off.
fanSpeedX	A hex code string where X is any fan speed you wish to support e.g. "fanSpeed100".

light

Turn the light on and the "defaultBrightness" is set unless "useLastKnownBrightness" is set to true in which case the last brightness that was set will be used. Turn the light off and the "off" hex code is sent.

If you don't specify every brightness then the accessory will choose the hex code of the brightness closest to the one requested. e.g. If you only specify brightness values of 10%, 50% and 100% then ask "Set light to 40%" then the hex code for 50% will be used.

key	description	example	default
data (required)	Hex data stored as a key-value JSON object.	See below.	-
defaultBrightness (optional)	The default brightness to be set when you turn the light on.	70	100
useLastKnownBrightness (optional)	The last known brightness will be used instead of the defaultBrightness when turning a light back on.	false	true
disableAutomaticOff (optional)	Prevent the light from turning off automatically after a given amount of time.	false	true
onDuration (optional)	The amount of time before the switch automatically turns itself off (used in conjunction with disableAutomaticOff).	5	2
onDelay (optional)	The time in seconds between when the (optional) on code and the requested brightness code are sent. (default: 0.1s)

"data" key-value object

key	description
off	A hex code string to be sent when the switch is changed to the off position.
brightnessX	A hex code string where X is any brightness you wish to support e.g. "brightness100".
on (optional)	You only need t add this if you need to send an "on" code before the "brightnessX" code is sent

garage-door-opener

Set the switch to open and the "open" hex code is sent, set it to close and the "close" hex code is sent.

key	description	example	default
data (required)	Hex data stored as a key-value JSON object.	See below.	-
openCloseDuration (optional)	The amount of time in seconds that the accessory will show as "Opening" or "Closing"	10	8
autoCloseDelay (optional)	The amount of time in seconds that the accessory will wait before automatically initiating the "Closing" state.	10	30
host (optional)	The IP or MAC address of the Broadlink RM device.	192.168.1.32	(auto-discovered)

"data" key-value object

key	description
open	A hex code string to be sent when the switch is changed to the open position.
close	A hex code string to be sent when the switch is changed to the close position.

window-covering

The window-covering accessory designed to be used by IR/RF controlled blinds/shades/shutters.

The accessory will calculate how many times the open and close hex code needs to be sent based on the existing % and requested %. In order to do this a "percentageChangePerSend" needs to be set. e.g. If it takes 10 sends of the code to open the covering then the value of "percentageChangePerSend" should be 10. If it takes 20 then it should be 5.

If you simply want to open or close the blinds with a single hex code then you could set "percentageChangePerSend" to 100 which will just sent the command once.

key	description	example	default
data (required)	Hex data stored as a key-value JSON object.	See below.	-
totalDurationOpen (required)	The amount of time in seconds it takes to open the window-covering completely.	45	-
totalDurationClose (required)	The amount of time in seconds it takes to close the window-covering completely. It will work these values out based on the total.	45	-

"data" key-value object

key	description
open	A hex code string to be sent when the window-covering is requested to open.
close	A hex code string to be sent when the window-covering is requested to close.
stop	A hex code string to be sent when the window-covering is stopped automatically.

air-conditioner

This allows you to send a hex code for any temperature that you've defined a hex code for. If you simply want to heat up or cool down a room (and not learn every single temperature code) you can just set hex codes for the lowest and highest temperatures and those will be used whatever temperature you request.

key	description	example	default
data (required)	Hex data stored as a key-value JSON object.	See below.	-
minTemperature (optional)	The number of times the hex code should be sent.	14	0
maxTemperature (optional)	The amount of time between each send of a hex code in seconds.	28	30
temperatureDisplayUnits (optional)	Specify celsius or fahrenheit.	F	C
defaultCoolTemperature (optional)	The temperature that will be requested when no hex code exists for the specified temperature.	14	16
defaultHeatTemperature (optional)	The temperature that will be requested when no hex code exists for the specified temperature.	28	30
heatTemperature (optional)	The temperature at which we change the UI to show that we're heating. Also used to determine whether "defaultCoolTemperature" or "defaultHeatTemperature" is used.	20	22
replaceAutoMode (optional)	When we turn on the thermostat with Siri it sets the mode as "auto" which isn't supported at this time so we set the mode to "cool" or "heat" instead depending on the value of this key.	"heat"	"cool"
pseudoDeviceTemperature (optional)	Some RM devices don't have a built in thermometer, when set this prevents the device thermometer from being accessed and shows the provided value instead.	0	0
autoHeatTemperature (optional)	When the temperature is below this value, the heat mode will be enabled.	18	-
autoCoolTemperature (optional)	When the temperature is above this value, the cool mode will enabled.	27	-
autoMinimumDuration (optional)	The minimum amount of time in seconds that an auto mode should be turned on (or after being automatically turned off) for to prevent it from turning on/off too frequently.	300	120

"data" key-value object

key	description
off	A hex code string to be sent when the air conditioner is asked to be turned off.
temperatureX	A hex code string where X is any temperature you wish to support e.g. "temperature30".

"temperatureX" key-value object

key	description
data	Hex data stored as string.
pseudo-mode	The mode we set when this hex is sent. i.e. "heat" or "cool". For graphical purposes only (hence use of the term "pseudo").

Air Conditioner Notes

There looks to be a glitch in the Apple Home app in that nothing happens when setting the mode to Off when you've turned the thermostat on by setting a specific temperature. Siri and other HomeKit apps don't have the same glitch. As a work-around you can just select a different mode and then press Off. This only happens the first time after launching homebridge.

Adding "autoHeatTemperature" and "autoCoolTemperature" can help automatically maintain a temperature. When the temperature falls below and hits above the "autoHeatTemperature" and "autoCoolTemperature" temperatures the accessory will automatically set the temperature to whatever the "defaultHeatTemperature" and "defaultCoolTemperature" is. The accessory will then keep checking (every "autoMinimumDuration" seconds) and if the temperature changes to be between the "autoHeatTemperature" and "autoCoolTemperature" temperatures then it will turn itself off. Something to note however is that if you decide to set a new temperature when the accessory has automatically turned itself on then it will still attempt to turn itself back off. To stop this automatic turn-off you can turn off the accessory manually and then turn it back on manually. Bare in mind that while the Home app may say 22C, the temperature may actually be 22.4C and if the Home app says 23C then it may actually be 22.5C.

Multiple Broadlink RM Devices

If you have multiple devices (e.g. one in the bedroom, one in the lounge) then you can additionally specify a "host" value with the Broadlink RM's IP or MAC address.

If you wish to have multiple Learn Code accessories (e.g. for each device) then you can add accessories with a type of "learn-code" and then specify the "host" and "name" values.

Thanks

Thanks to @tattn (https://github.com/tattn/homebridge-rm-mini3), @PJCzx (https://github.com/PJCzx/homebridge-thermostat) @momodalo (https://github.com/momodalo/broadlinkjs) whose time and effort got me started.