Digital outputs are working! The digital output consists of a device whose logic state corresponds to the activation or deactivation of a physical output of the controller. Put like that, it seems simple, doesn’t it? As always, the work behind the scenes is much more complex:
Inverted outputs
The physical state of the controller output does not have to coincide with the logical value that we intend to assign. For example, in the Vesta shield that we have used, the physical outputs represent the complementary value of the assigned bit. The programmer doesn’t have to bother with these low-level tasks, so I’ve added a configuration flag specifying whether the output will be complemented or not.
Timered mode
A useful function of home automation is energy saving and humans are potential sources of failure; One of the most common is to leave lights on. The built-in timer in each digital output prevents this type of failure. It’s as simple as assigning a shutdown time in seconds (from 0 to 65535 seconds).
Two timers can be activated, one on and one off, each with their respective times, and it is even possible to make an output turn on and off cyclically in a loop.
Local mode behaviour
When the vesta controller loses the network connection to the server, the system goes into local mode. The devices stop behaving as parts of a global system and reassign their activation inputs as provided by the user in the configuration. Each device has a different configuration in its local mode. In the case of digital outputs, the ID of a digital input of the same controller against which it will act can be assigned. This means that in the event of a network failure, server crash or major system failure, the lights and elements under control will go into a fail-safe mode without the user having to worry about it. Intuitively, each Vesta controller will integrate with your home configuration, making it behave as if it didn’t exist.
DHT sensors
There’s more: The third type of device is a real-time temperature and humidity sensor. I haven’t had time to give it functionality yet, but it already appears in the configuration and will be described shortly.
