Control Livolo switches / Livolo switch library

[winnaing]

Yes, Itead switch is dual communication. It means switch send feedback status signal.
Whereas Livolo switch is not.
Anybody has any idea that where Itead source its switch from?

As I said earlier, another dual communication switch is Koti light switch. I have purchased them and play with them. It is nice and cool but its code is not open. I am waiting for FSK rf transmitter/receiver to decode them.

http://koti-china.en.alibaba.com/

If anyone has successfully decode them, please share.

Regards

[seagorf7]

here are pictures of the remote manual

http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/466879/vlrmt01-zip.html

[spch]

seagorf7,

Thanks for the manual! I'll keep it.

[eltin]

here other remote manual
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/1952335/scene-remote-controller-manual-pdf-june-4-2010-7-33-am-229k?da=y

[spch]

Thanks, eltin!

[winnaing]

hi spch
As I said earlier, I have purchased koti light switch. It is working perfect.
After I received fsk transmitter and receiver, I tried to decode them. Again, I have no talent to interpret their code properly.
I used Goldwave software to decode. Can you help me to have a look the wave file that I captured?
There are 3 files. kotiT is captured transmitted code only, kotiR is feedback signal from light switch and kotiTR is combined transmitter+feedback signal.
My opinion on this switch is that it is better then Livolo, in terms of design and functionality. In addition, it send back status signal.
Everybody who work with rf transmitter/receiver know that sending rf signal is not reliable. If we know the status of the receiver, it is perfect.
Thanks in advance.

Regards

[spch]

Hi winnaing,

You are right, this one could be hard to decode. Could you, please, record several different keycodes?

What is more, I still didn't learn how to receive. I've only managed detect Livolo transmission, so that I know when Livolo remote transmits a code, but I can not decode what's being transmitted.

[winnaing]

Hi spch
Maybe we are using different term for the code. I do not intent to decode it, what I want is "hardcode" (borrow your word) for Arduino. Same as what you did for Livolo switch.
I attached more transmitted signals from RC, altogether 5 buttons. If it is not enough, I am willing to send RC and switches to you, if you wish to take challenges.
Thanks in advance.

Regards

[spch]

Hi winnaing,

Got it. I'll take a closer look to these samples as soon as I have time later this week.

Sincerely,
Sergey.

[platenspeler]

Hi Spch,

Thanks for starting this topic. I'm a Raspberry user (not yet Arduino) and used your code to make a version for that hardware.

It's working, but not 100% reliable. When calling a sendButton 10 times only 7 times the switch would react.  And the distance (about 2 meters) is far less than what I do get with my 10 other 433 switches (klikaanklikuit.nl).

And the transmitter is much less reliable as for example the keychain device of Livolo. The keychain almost always reacts fine. I use the following timing settings: 520uSec for start, 110uSec for short, 300uSec for long pulses.

• ? Is the timing critical in your experience (I found that +/- 20 uSec is OK)


• ? What voltage you you use to power the transmitter? The keychain has a 12V battery, and my Raspberry only provides 5 V.

Just trying to find out why the keychain remote performs so much better than the DIY solution. Your feedback is welcome.

Btw: Let me share the codes for the VL-RMT-02 remote of 5 USD. It is capable of controlling 3 devices in toggle ON/OFF mode and has one all-off button:
A key: 08
B key: 16
C key: 56
D key: 42 (All Off)

As you see, none of these codes were used in the remote that you published. I did see that my VL-RMT-02 remote can also be used for dimmer control. In that case, A is On, B= Dim-Up, C=Dim-Down and D is Off. I do not have a dimmer so I cannot test it.

regards,

Maarten

[spch]

Maarten,

That is really great, you could build your code for Raspberry!

I've run into reliability issue too. And my best guess is that reliability depends on transmission quality. You can verify if it is true by placing transmitter and switch as close as you can. It should work each and every time.

I found that it is quite hard to match selfmade antenna with these cheap transmitters and receivers. And even factory helical antenna (I've bought several from eBay) is not good as I thought it would be.

Maybe these keychain and full-sized remotes are better tuned, or there is something I don't know because I, too, think that Livolo protocol has pretty good timing tolerance (maybe even more than 20 usec). And, yes, I've a bit varied timings, but as switches behaved quite well, I left them with 500-100-300 usec (in first version I used crazy 550-110-303-290 usec).

I powered transmitters both with 5V and 9V, but haven't noticed siginificant difference. What's even more strange, sometimes there were more "misfires" with 9V than with 5V (light didn't come on/off when expected). Don't know the reason,  but I think transmitter could slightly change waveform, although it must not. Can't remember for sure, but last hardware cofiguration could use 9V to power transmitter, and it is quite stable.

As for range, I didn't run any tests. All my switches are in range of approximately 2.5 meters from transmitter. And what could be important, transmitter is at about 2 m height.

Hope that helps and thank you for feedback!

Regards,
Sergey.

[platenspeler]

Spch,

Well, good to hear that I'm not the only one with RF reliability issues when using Livolo.
I have asked Livolo (and their competitor Kopou) for the timing and protocol description,
but they think it is business secret and an advantage to make their own interface.

Maarten

PS. You can save on a few characters in your code if you in function SendPulse leave out the last digitalWrite line in every case section.

so

Code: [Select]

case 0: // Start
digitalWrite(txPin, LOW);
delayMicroseconds(p_start); // 550
//digitalWrite(txPin, HIGH);
break;

[spch]

Maarten,

Thanks for the tip! It does really make sense.

You were lucky enough to get to "business secret". They only told me that switches are 433MHz - something I have already knew

[spch]

Hi everyone,

Mini-update. I've been trying to decode Livolo with Arduino, but so far only managed to detect Livolo transmission. Yes, I know, Arduino iterrupts are nothing  special, but for me they really are.

[platenspeler]

Hmm,

Why are you trying to do this? The protocol of the Livolo is crap and does contain very little error detection/control. As you know, it just sends 100 times the same code and hopes that the Livolo switch will pick up at least one , (and if it does it won't accept a new command for 4 secs,  to allow the user to release the button first and avoid "blinking")
Better use any well-known transmitter (there is code for several 433MHz transmitters available for Arduino and Rasp)berry) and translate such decoded button press to the Livolo code by your sender.

Maarten

PS. Some weeks ago I ordered a Kopou switch with remote. As soon as that one arrives I hope to integrate it in our system..

PS2. Yeah, I forgot that if you have such a remote already it might come in handy ...