Loxone KNX integration (MDT JAL-810.02)

[Russ]

Finally got around to trying to get the MDT device integrated for rolling shutter control and am running into some issues. 

On the knx side, I used ETS5 to define the knx project, downloaded the MDT JAL-810.02 catalog info from the MDT site, defined group addresses for up/down for each channel, and downloaded this into the device.  I connected a shutter to the MDT device and tested it using the (very handy) manual controls to open and close the shutter.

On the Loxone side, I created an EIB/KNX actuator, giving it the group address for the first shutter control in the MDT device, added the "EIB Blinds" object to my room, and made a connection between "AQI" (longterm operation) output and the actuator object, then removed the connections from the pushbuttons currently used for a rolling shutter, and made them inputs to the EIB Blinds object for Up and Down. 

Issues:

1. Pushing the pushbutton assigned to "Down" makes the shutter go down (cheers!), however pushing the button assigned to "Up" doesn't do anything.  I see the button input going to the EIB Blinds object in LiveView, and I see the output change to "0" (for Up) to the KNX actuator object, but the MDT relay does not engage and the shutter doesn't move.  I tried the AQs "Short term operation" output as well with no difference in operation.

2. The manual buttons on the MDT device work well; a short push "bumps" the shutter up or down, and a long push makes it continue to end of travel either open or closed.  With the Loxone EIB Blinds object and a pushbutton, I need to hold the button down for travel; it does not latch as the manual buttons do, and which I would prefer.

3. I've defined Memory Flags to make certain blinds open and close at dawn and dusk, but there is no CU (Completely Up) or CD (Completely Down) inputs on the EIB Blinds object to make it open or close with that pulse.

Any suggestions?  Anyone successfully integrated this device into a Loxone setup ?

Thanks,
Russ

[Russ]

Ok, I was able to solve one problem already: in the EIB actuator object, the EIB Type was incorrect.  The default is EIB1 which is a button, but it needs to be EIB7 which is Blinds.  Once this was changed and saved in the miniserver, the Up switch activated the MDT device to raise the shutters, and the functionality is now the same as the manual buttons: a short push bumps the shutter in that direction, a long press makes it continue to end of travel, and you can stop a moving shutter by pushing the button for the opposite direction briefly.

Now just need to figure out how to make it work with the Memory Flags.

I think I'm going to be happy with this unit: 8 shutters (that's 16 contacts) for around 200 euros (KNX power supply also needed of course).

Russ

[Russ]

Follow up: Been using it for a few months and am fairly happy.  The issue of not having a Completely Up or Completely Down function I resolved by putting a delay on the memory flag input to make it look like a long push which works fine. I added a separate Switch function block for each blind to enable/disable the automatic function (with AND logic function block with Switch and memory flag as inputs).

This actuator has lots of functionality I'm not using due to the limited KNX implementation in Loxone (including scenes, alarms, absolute positioning, auto-shading for sun based on window orientation and geographic position, etc.), but really the only one I miss right now is status; no way to tell if the shade is open or closed.

If anyone has any tips on visualising KNX status that would be appreciated.  Are there options that don't go through the Loxone interface but still work with the miniserver as a knx gateway?

Still, I may well be getting a second one of these as we continue with our house extension project.

Russ

[Julián Medrano Silvestre]

As you know the time that the shutter takes to open and close, you can always "count" the time that the shutter is on movement and calculate the proportion.
For example, the shutter takes 20 seconds to completely close and you push the down button. The shutter moves during 12 seconds, so it will be closed at 60% (12*100/20).
It's the way in which most devices calculate this %

[Russ]

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm not sure how I would do that; one long push and the blind will open or close fully, and there's no output in the EIB Blinds function block to indicate that the motor is turning, so I'm not sure how I could count the seconds that the shutter is moving.

There is an AQ output on the EIB Blinds function block that is labeled "Analog output for Blind position" which sounds perfect, however, the output is always 0 so it doesn't seem to be working.   ...unless there's some sort of status feedback from the KNX device that I haven't enabled.

The KNX<->Loxone communication and interfacing seems to be a less explored subject...

[Russ]

Update: I saw that Position Status info is available in the KNX definition for this device, so I created additional KNX Group addresses using ETS and assigned them to the Position Status channel for each of the channels.  In Loxone, I added EIB Sensors with these KNX addresses and... voila!  I have now have an indication of the percentage closed for each blind (so 0 = fully open, and 100 = fully closed). 

I see there is also a Goto to position function that I could use that could move the blinds to whatever position I want which I may implement at some point in the future.

There are automatic shading functions in this device, but so far I haven't found an easy way to activate or disactivate this from Loxone, so for the moment I'm not using this.