Configuring the Wevolor device

The myWevolor web site

This is the simplest way to send commands to the device. It's probably worth using just to test your Wevolor is operating properly, even if you intend to use Alexa etc. mostly.

No need for IFTTT for this. Simply go to https://wevolor.com/myWevolor and enter the Unique ID of your Wevolor, along with the Security Phrase if one is set. You'll see a section called 'Wevolor Commands'. You can send your Wevolor commands from here directly via the messaging server.

You'll need IFTTT to handle the commands and send them to the messaging server.

Steps to connect IFTTT

1. Go to the IFTTT web site or Download the IFTTT app on your phone. If you don't already have an account, sign up for free.

2. IFTTT has 'triggers' (this) and 'actions' (that). Using Alexa as the example, a voice command "Alexa open the blinds" is our trigger and the Wevolor activating the remote is the action.

3. On the IFTTT web site, click the 'Create' menu item taking you to a 'Create Your Own' page. Click on 'This' and select the Amazon Alexa service or your preferred service such as Google Assistant etc. Follow the steps to configure IFTTT to access your account, and set your specific trigger. For example, with Alexa the trigger can be "Say a specific phrase".

4. Next click on 'That'. Wevolor uses the 'Webhooks' action service. Click on it and select 'Make a web request'. This is where the unique 16-character identifier you noted earlier comes in. Let's assume it was '00112233AABBCCDD'. The URL field should be set to 'https://do.wevolor.com:9443/set/00112233AABBCCDD/open' to open the blinds. 'https://do.wevolor.com:9443/set/00112233AABBCCDD/close' would be the URL to close the blinds. Make sure you use your Wevolor's unique 16-character identifier and the correct action. Also note that alpha characters in the identifier are always upper case, and the actions lower case.

   Wevolor supports 'open', 'close', 'tiltopen', 'tiltclose', 'stop' and 'favorite'.
   Note: if your blinds/shades operate with the left and right buttons on the remote then use 'tiltopen' and 'tiltclose' rather than open/close

   To override the default group(s) that commands are sent to, simply add a '/' followed by the group numbers to the end. Examples: Adding '/12' will execute the command on groups 1 and 2, or adding '/123456' would execute on all six groups.

   Multiple Wevolors can be 'set' with a single command if required. Add additional 16-character identifiers to 'set' commands separated by a '+'.
   For example 'https://do.wevolor.com:9443/set/00112233AABBCCDD+22446688AACCDDFF/open' would send the open command to two Wevolors.

   As well as the actions listed above, additional ones are 'toggle' and 'tilttoggle'. Sending these will open (or tiltopen) your blinds if previously closed and vice versa. Note: If toggle is used before an 'open' or 'close' command is set, it will initially open your blinds. Toggle allows a single IFTTT action to be set up which both opens and closes your blinds (handy since IFTTT only allows five applets to be configured without paying for a Pro account). 'tilttoggle' is similar but toggles between tiltopen and tiltclose.

   Other fields:

   • Method must be left as 'GET' if there is no Security Phrase set on your Wevolor. It must be 'POST' if a Security Phrase is set.

   • The Content Type should be 'text/plain'.

   • The body will be left blank if no Security Phrase is set. It should be your Security Phrase exactly as you typed it in the Wevolor setup, between a <<< and a >>>. Example, if your Security Phrase was set as 'I l0ve Wevolor!' the body will be <<<I l0ve Wevolor!>>>.

5. Save. IFTTT should show you your new 'Applet' for example 'If you say "Alexa trigger open the blinds", then make a web request'. Note the 'trigger' word in there. If you prefer not to have that you can set a routine in the Alexa app to recognize "Alexa, open the blinds" without the 'trigger' word.

6. Go ahead and say to Alexa "Alexa, trigger open the blinds" and your blinds should activate.

7. Repeat for the other actions you wish Alexa to perform (close, tiltopen, etc.).

iPhone Shortcuts

Thanks to Wevolor user Jeff for sending me information on this.

No need for IFTTT for this. On your iPhone or Mac find the 'Shortcuts' app.

1. Create a new shortcut and name it something like 'Open Kitchen Blinds'
2. Click 'Add Action', and you'll see a category of 'Web'. Click on that.
3. Select the action type 'Get Contents of URL'

4. The URL to enter is the one for the messaging server. It should be of the form: https://do.wevolor.com:9443/set/UID/action/groups where:

   UID - This is where the unique 16-character identifier you noted earlier comes in. Let's assume it was '00112233AABBCCDD'. This should be set to 'https://do.wevolor.com:9443/set/00112233AABBCCDD/open' to open the blinds. 'https://do.wevolor.com:9443/set/00112233AABBCCDD/close' would be the URL to close the blinds. Make sure you use your Wevolor's unique 16-character identifier and the correct action. Also note that alpha characters in the identifier are always upper case, and the actions lower case.

   action - Wevolor supports 'open', 'close', 'tiltopen', 'tiltclose', 'stop' and 'favorite'.
   Note: if your blinds/shades operate with the left and right buttons on the remote then use 'tiltopen' and 'tiltclose' rather than open/close

   groups - To override the default group(s) that commands are sent to, simply list the group numbers. Examples: Adding '/12' will execute the command on groups 1 and 2, or adding '/123456' would execute on all six groups.

   Multiple Wevolors can be 'set' with a single command if required. Add additional 16-character identifiers to 'set' commands separated by a '+'.
   For example 'https://do.wevolor.com:9443/set/00112233AABBCCDD+22446688AACCDDFF/open' would send the open command to two Wevolors.

   As well as the actions listed above, additional ones are 'toggle' and 'tilttoggle'. Sending toggle will open your blinds if previously closed and vice versa. Note: If toggle is used before an 'open' or 'close' command is set, it will initially open your blinds. Toggle allows a single shortcut to be set up which both opens and closes your blinds. 'tilttoggle' is similar but toggles between tiltopen and tiltclose.

5. Save it and it will appear in the shortcuts on your iPhone.

Once saved you can call it from Siri "Hey Siri, open kitchen blinds", or you can add automation to run the shortcut at a time of day, at sunrise or a list of other actions.

Home Assistant or OpenHab etc.

If you want to keep everything local to your home network and you configured the Wevolor to not 'Send to Server', the server will be unaware of your device and you will need to drive it locally. OpenHab and 'Home Assistant' allow for that, and there are probably others. The Wevolor publishes a local API for this case.

Local WiFi network API

The Wevolor publishes a simple application programming interface(API) on your local WiFi network. It is only accessible to other computers and devices connected to the same WiFi network. The API allows:

1. Getting status of your Wevolor - http://{local-IP-Addr}/_status will return a JSON string with status. Optionally add '?log=1' to the end to also return the latest log information.
2. Sending commands to the remote - http://{local-IP-Addr}/_command?action=close&groups=1 will send a close command to the group 1 blinds. Valid actions are documented above in the Alexa or Siri sections. If 'groups' is omitted the default groups from setup will be used. Note: unlike how groups are defined in the Alexa/Siri sections above, this is a bit field value between 1 and 63 (6 bits) for the 6 groups, where: 1=group1, 2=group2, 4=group3, 8=group4. 16=group5 & 32=group6.
   Examples:
   • '&groups=9' would apply the action to group 1 and group 4 blinds (1+8).
   • '&groups=38' would apply the action to group2, group3 and group6 (2+4+32=38).
3. Update the code on the Wevolor - http://{local-IP-Addr}/_update?file=Wevolor/blinds_BLE_5_4_2.ino.lolin32.bin will load the 5.4.2 version stable code to your Wevolor. This takes 30 seconds to a minute, so wait until a success or failure response comes back. _status above shows the code version and modification (fix) level.

You can call the API directly from a browser, or it can be used when configuring OpenHab or Home Assistant. See documentation from those suppliers on how to call a URL endpoint API.

1. To access your Wevolor during normal operation, go to https://wevolor.com/myWevolor and enter the 16 character unique ID of your Wevolor. If set you will also be prompted for the Security phrase. Once the correct Unique ID is entered, status of your Wevolor will be shown (this is accessible anywhere):

   

2. The first panel shows the status of your Wevolor:

   
   • The Alias is handy so you don't need to always remember the UID. Once set it will show up in the 'recent' dropdown.
   • The Remote Name is the remote (name set in the Levolor app) this Wevolor will connect to. It's ok for this to be blank if you only have one remote.
   • Boot Time and Last Ping show the 'health' of you device. It's normal for the device to boot periodically, but if it's booting ten times a day you might have a weak or unstable WiFi. Your device pings the server every 15 mins or so, so this value should be 15 mins or less.
   • Last Set and Last Acknowledge are the last time a command was sent to the board, and how long it took for the board to action and acknowledge the command. It's normal for there to be two or three seconds between. If it's a lot more than that, the board may be having issues connecting to the remote.
   • Blind State and Tilt State show the most recent open/close, tiltopen/tiltclose command received. This is used for toggle or tilttoggle.

3. The second panel allows you to sent actions directly to the messaging server. This is the easiest way to send actions as it doesn't require IFTTT etc.

   

4. The third panel has a link that allows you to connect to your Wevolor directly (only works if you are on the same WiFi network):

   

5. Clicking on 'Wevolor Setup, local status and Command Interface' takes you to a second page which connects directly to the device on your local network. The first panel allows you to access the configuration page of the Wevolor (same as 'setup') and make changes. It also shows any updated code levels for you to load on the device.

   

   Note: If the IP Address was not send to the server (setup option) you will need to find the IP Address of your Wevolor on your local WiFi network and enter it.

6. The second panel on this page has more detailed status direct from the board.

   
   • BLE State shows the bluetooth connection to the remote. 'REMOTE FOUND & READY' is what you are looking for. BLE_INITIAL would mean the remote has not been found.
   • WiFi Strength should be Good or Ok. If it's Poor or Bad consider moving the device closer to the WiFi router.
   • Log gives detailed log entries from the device showing actions being performed etc.

7. The final panel allows commands to be sent to the board, similarly to the Command interface on the myWevolor first page. The difference being commands are sent directly to the device without the messaging server being involved.

   

   Because commands go directly to the device on your local network, the messaging server is not aware of activity so the set/ackowledge and toggle/tilttoggle states are not updated.

The 'reset', 'rst' on 'EN' (Enable) button on the various board types will restart the board similar to removing power and reconnecting.

Version 5.4.1 and up allows factory-reset via the 'BOOT' ('001' on some boards) button which when held will flash the blue LED once per second. Hold the button for 20 seconds to factory-reset the device - blue light will turn solid-on showing returned to setup mode. For devices with no 'BOOT' hold finger down on the D04 (marked '4' on some boards) and that will have the same effect. Prior to version 5.4.1, the 'BOOT' button has no effect.

If you believe the device is properly configured, yet is not performing as expected, try restarting the device with the ‘reset’('rst', 'EN') button.

If you still believe the device is not performing properly, please take a look at the 'Wevolor Status' panel at https://wevolor.com/myWevolor (if not previously entered, you'll need to enter the 16 character unique ID and any Security Phrase set). On the lower panel, click on the link. If the link is not shown, or the command interface panels remain grayed-out, make sure you are on the same local network as your Wevolor.

If you are on the same network, but your Wevolor is not being found, check whether the bright blue LED is pulsing every half second (remove the lid of the box if it's in a box). If it is, then the device is failing to connect to WiFi. Try moving the device to a stronger WiFi location. If you think the WiFi details may be wrong you can factory-reset, or access the configuration (setup) page - see 'Other useful Features' for details - on the device to reset and re-enter the WiFi credentials.

If the Local Status and Commands page displays correctly then it is connected to the Wevolor. The Status Panel display the 'BLE State' (the bluetooth connection to the remote). The ‘BLE State’ should be one of the following:

• "BLE INITIAL" - the device has not found the Remote. Move it physically closer – within 10 feet. Make sure the batteries in the remote are good. If you named the remote, make sure it exactly matches the name in the Levolor app.

• "REMOTE FOUND & READY" – the Remote is found and is ready to receive commands. This is the expected state if all is well.

• "REMOTE CONNECTED" – the Remote has received a command and is executing it. The Wevolor will automatically disconnect from the remote once the action is complete, in order to save the remote’s batteries. If your blinds are not responding check the remote is working properly by using it to open/close. Also check the ‘group’ is set properly in the Wevolor configuration or the command being sent.

Any other problems, please contact me via e-mail at support@wevolor.com. Please send as much background information as you can, and a description of the error. Suggestions for features and changes are also welcomed.