[CHOWMAIN] Control4 integration now available

Integrations
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Chowmain - Bond Bridge controls Somfy Shades, RF Ceiling Fans, Fireplaces and more!

Chowmain is proud to release the Bond Bridge driver for Control4. This revolutionary product can control over 700 RF devices including Somfy RTS Blinds, virtually all remote controlled ceiling fans, fireplaces and more!

Integrating Somfy RTS shades into Control4 has never been so affordable and easy. Since it is wifi based you can place the Bond Bridge device anywhere meaning better coverage (unlike the Somfy RTS transmitter or URTS transmitters which require cabling) and you can use the Bond app to pair with the Somfy RTS shades.

If for some reason the product you are integrating its not in the database fear not as you can learn the RF codes yourself!

The product is easily accessible and can be purchased through a wide range of retailers including Amazon and Home Depot for a MSRP price of $99.99 USD .

Features

  • Automatic Discovery of Bond Bridge

  • Automatic import and naming of Devices

  • Supports IR / RF based fans (including built in lights) for Fan On/Off, Fan speeds and Light On/Off functionality

  • Supports IR / RF based fireplaces with Flame up action, Flame down action, Flame levels action, Fan speeds action and Power On/Off functionality

  • Supports Blinds (including Somfy) for Open, Close and Stop functionality

FAQ

Why is this product exciting?

  • This product provides the easiest and cheapest way of integrating Somfy RTS shades into Control4! Since it is wifi based you can place the Bond Bridge device anywhere meaning better coverage (unlike the Somfy RTS transmitter or URTS transmitters which require cabling).

  • The product is extremely inexpensive with MSRP pricing at $99.99. Though some retailers have them on sale for $69.99 at the moment.

  • This product can control over 700 devices including virtaully all remote controlled ceiling fans, fireplaces, shades and more!

  • You can learn in your own RF codes using the Bond app for devices that are not in the database!

  • The database is always growing!

What products does it support?

Bond supports over 700 RF devices. You can contact Bond to verify if your device is compatible with your product. Just provide them with the FCC code on the back of the remote and includ make and manufacturer details.

My fan has multiple fan speeds will this work with the driver?

The driver will send discrete fan speed codes if available.

My fireplace has multiple controls. Does this driver support the functionality?

We have created custom experience buttons to provide detailed control over fireplaces including power on/off, flame level, fan speed, flame up, flame down functionality.

Does this driver provide feedback?

This driver provides pseudo feedback by obtaining the state data from Bond Bridge. Bond Bridge keeps track of the last code sent and assumes that the device is currently in that mode. We utilise this data for feedback.

Where can i purchase this hardware?
The product is easily accessible and can be purchased through the following retailers

Bond Home
Amazon
Home Depot

How do I find out more information about the driver?
Please see the links below for more information about the driver.

Chowmain Website

Installation Guide

How do I buy the driver?
This driver can be purchased from our distributor driverCentral.

Download Driver / Purchase Licence

Who do i contact for technical support?
We have two support desks. One in Australia and one in the US. Click on the link below for details.

Support

Do you provide trial licences?
All Chowmain drivers for Control4 come with a 7 day trial.

1000Ă—625

1000Ă—625

1000Ă—625

4 Likes
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!!:fire: :fire: :fire:!!

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@alanchow : Question on Somfy support in Control4: Does your driver support setting to favorite position? I see a “Stop” icon in your screenshots, and the RF signal happens to be the same, but can you clarify if the “Set to My Position” user story works via your Control4 driver?

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Control4 utilises a concept called proxys which is a pre-defined notion of how a device should look. With Blinds there are two types. There are absolute positioning blinds and there is up / down / stop blinds. You cannot add additional buttons or commands to these proxys.

With the Bond driver we have mapped up to up, down to down and stop to My.

What we haven’t done (due to limitations in the BlindV2 Control4 proxy) is map favorite position.

I am working on an update to the driver which will automatically import in all commands so integrators can arbitarily program them to specific events in the system (physical button press on a keypad for example).

This should solve the problem of not having the favorite command.

Hope this helps Chris.

2 Likes
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Thanks for the explanation, Alan. It actually sounds like the “set favorite position” can be accomplished when the user taps the “stop” button when the shade is not moving. It’s the same RF signal, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. But totally makes sense that you’d want to give more UI flexibility to the integrator.

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The problem is how do we determine if the device is not moving.
it is essentially one way with no true feedback. We will make
expose the command through programming so the programmer can tie
it into an arbitary button (not tied into the blinds proxy).

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DRIVER UPDATE

Version #20191007 - 07-OCT-2019

  • Added the ability to fire any command via the Bridge Driver’s programming device actions in the programming tab.

Version #20190919 - 19-SEP-2019

  • Fixed stop command for shades (turns out stop isn’t used for stopping shades but stopping sending signals)
  • Resolved issues where ipv4 address is not returned in mdns packet (bandaid applied which grabs ipv4 address from connecting client)
1 Like
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DRIVER UPDATE

Version #20191011 - 11-OCT-2019

  • Added support for dimmable lighting (mainly found on smart by bond fans). Note if you already have one of these then you will need to press the clear bindings button in the master driver so it will recreate the bindings.
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DRIVER UPDATE

Version #20200227 - 27-FEB-2019

  • Added new generic device type with on/off experience button and relay binding (so you can bind a motorised device driver to it).
1 Like
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DRIVER UPDATE

  • Implemented Step by Step binding (this allows Control4 keypads to cycle between up-stop-down-stop for blinds easily)

  • Implemented alternative method to get token. You can now enter in the BOND PIN (found on the rear of the bond bridge) along with the BOND ACCOUNT CODE (found under account info in the settings of the bond app for iOS or Android)

  • Forked Fan driver so that there is now a version for each speed 2-7 as Control4 does not support dynamic fan speed limits. Please install the correct driver for the maximum amount of speeds your fan supports.

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Awesome! That’s often convenient.

Account Code shouldn’t be required just to get the Token. Supplying the Account Code allows associating a Bond unit to an account, or to change the account. This is typically used internally by the Bond Home app during setup flow, or supplied by the user in the unlikely event they need to use the webgui for setup.

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In that case can you update the documentation (Bond Local API) as the instructions mention that you need to

perform PATCH with "locked": 0, correct pin, and desired account_code

Also your example shows that the patch request with the following example. You might want to change it to the bare requirements or provide additional examples.

{
  "locked": 0,
  "account_code": "1234567890",
  "pin": "1234",
  "disable": false
}
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This expalins why I am having the issue of the Stop not working, really need to make a change so the stop can be active all the time, very needed to recall the preset or even Stop the shade once its moving, presently you can’t in the Navigation on Touchscreen or app. I made a post yesterday about this. Maybe a shade profile- Vision- that would allow Stop active 100% of the time.