Controlling multiple motors independently

[homeblinds]

Hi,

I have 4 (and planning for 3 more) G series motors+blinds. All of them working well with the provided remote.

I also bought the RF transmitter and z-wave trigger module shown here:
http://rollertrol.com/store/en/all/253-zwave-group-control-starter-kit-for-blinds-and-shades.html

Got this working with SmartThings w/ z-wave device type being "Aeon Motor Controller":
https://github.com/bravenel/SmartThings/blob/master/Aeon%20Motor%20Controller

While doing the Z-Wave/SmartThings integration, I realized that the Z-Wave device can only represent ONE channel, and hence one motor (in my setup, as I do want all the motors on different channels, and do not want to group these). This is *severely* limiting my home automation setup Sigh. It seems I need to buy 1 pair of (RF transmitter+Z-Wave trigger module) for EACH of my motors, for independent control. That will be a pretty expensive setup!

I was hoping to tap into the collective wisdom of this list, to come up with a cheaper way to multiplex and control N motors independently.

Any suggestions/ideas?

Thanks in advance!
Abi

ps: fwiw I am fairly hands-on with soft/hardware, so open to any DIY solutions (it just needs to be order of magnitude cheaper than the present alternative of buying N transmitter+z-wave triggers :-)

[admin]

Hello, there's no question that z-wave is an expensive solution if you want individual control of the blind motors. Most z-wave users use it to control a group of shades, and use the remote for individual control.

Our BroadLink smart hub system is a very inexpensive solution if you need individual control; please see the application link here:

http://rollertrol.com/blind-motor-phone-app-introduction

I realize you are already using SmartThings, so I will check and see if anyone has made a bridging app between the two platforms.

Regards, Adrian

[homeblinds]

Thanks!

Meanwhile I plan to build a WIFI-RF bridge (similar to opennethome/jeelink combination) and a SmartThings app. This bridge will live on local home LAN, and the SmartThings app will talk to this bridge and control the blinds. Will keep you posted on the progress.

Part of the puzzle is to decode/understand the RF protocol between the remote and motor (will start a separate thread for that).

Thanks again for your response!
Abi