EZMotion 3in1 Z-Wave Sensor

Posted by nodecentral on February 3, 2013 · 4 Comments 

While most Z-Wave devices do just the one job, you will also come across a few that try to combine a number or devices into the one, such as the Express Controls EZmotion 3 in 1 sensor, which seeks to provide light, temp and motion sensing functionality.

If you decide to buy one, be prepared for the price tag, as the EZmotion comes in at a hefty £80. It’s a position i feel it aims to make justifiable should you try to compare it to buying the same functionality via individual sensors. Although for me, the purchase was helped by its look and compact nature, plus I’m a fan of both form and function 😉

Anyway, lets move on to how it works.

So with the unit in my hand, its batteries locked and loaded, the device feels nice in the hand, it’s compact and reasonably well made. I should at this point, point out that there are now 3 versions of the EZmotion sensor in circulation, all of which (as I understand it) are pretty much identical from the outside. Therefore I recommend you look at your receipt to know which one you’ve got, alternatively you can use the following guide to try and work out which one you have…

EZmotion 3in1 V1 – This was Express Controls first release, the version is physically evident by the fact that on the inside it only has a battery compartment for power. Software wise, the version number is shown in the last 2 numbers of the “root” or parent device, so for example if yours is 6,2,40,1,13 – then it’s version 1.13

EZmotion 3in1 V2 – This is fundamentally the same as the V1 although this time next to the battery compartment there’s now a small blue terminal block to allow you to connect the sensor to an external 5v power source. (External powering is still possible in V1, but a bit more complicated). Software wise, like the above, if your root/parent device is 6,3,34,2,1 then it’s version 2.1

EZmotion+ 3in1 V3 – I’ve not seen one of these in the flesh yet to share any physical differences, but I believe it still has the blue power block like V2, but this time the changes are more hidden, as i understand the V3 makes use of a new chip and ZWave libraries so it’ll behave slightly differently to the previous 2 releases. Software wise, your root/parent device will be something like 6,3,40,3,3 which would make it version 3.3. – Please Note, the EZmotion+ requires the next firmware release to work properly.

Just incase you were wondering, the first batch of numbers in the version reported, are the Zensys library version (whatever that means) 😉 .

The Installation Process

So with my expectations conveniently set (and the version of my sensor being a V2) it’s time to include the EZmotion into my Vera. For the purposeses of the following guide the screenshots used and associated experience involved me using a Veralite controller running MIOS firmware version 1.5.408.

1) Reading the instructions from the manufacturer (Express Controls), the very first thing it recommends you do is to exclude (or as it can also be referred, Reset) the 3in1 sensor before adding it to your Vera system. To do this you need to press the ‘-‘ minus button on the top of the controller to enable the exclude/reset process. Once pressed, you then need to press the blue button on the side of the EZmotion sensor to wake/power it up. Once awake the slowly blinking orange light should quickly flutter briefly to show you that Vera’s captured the request. Next press the ‘+’ button to end the exclusion process…

Please Note – it’s highly recommended when pairing and initially configuring an EZMotion device with Vera that you keep the sensor right next to controller before you move it to it’s final location.

2) With the the orange light still blinking slowly, or back to being constant/always on, press the ‘+’ button again to start the inclusion process, then press the blue button on the side of the 3in1 sensor. Like the exclusion process, for the inclusion process to be successful, the orange light will need to flutter for a couple of seconds again in order to show that the registration was successful. After it has, press the ‘+’ button again to end the inclusion process.

3) Now sit back, relax and wait for the EZmotion devices to show up on the Vera UI under the Devices tab. Version 1 and 2 of this particular sensor will create 4 separate devices. A parent device (a.k.a the ‘root’) which represents the node itself, and then 3 individual sensor devices for light, temperature and motion.

Experience tells me that it can take time for a ZWave device to appear, If you only see one, then try to Reload the UI again by pressing the Reload button (top right on the UI). If the child sensors devices still fail to show up, it’s possible that the EZMotion went back to sleep before the required exchange of information with Vera completed. Should that occur, simply press the blue button on the side of the sensor again to wake it up to allow Vera and the EZmotion to finish talking.. If needed afterward, you might want to try another Reload or a refresh of the browser just to ensure you have everything listed.

3) Assuming all goes well you should now see something like this.

4) With the EZmotion now installed, press the blue button again to keep it awake and then click on the spanner icon on the root/parent device on the Vera UI, to go to the Settings tab where you should see something like the following. Please Note – All changes to the devices configuration should be done against the parent device

5) Staying under the Settings tab, click on the ‘Poll Now’ button to ask Vera to reach out and confirm the location and status of the 3in1 sensor.

5) When polling you should check the status information of the root/parent device icon to ensure it states via a blue light that it’s being polling by Vera. If you notice a red light with a error message, this usually means that Vera cannot reach the targeted device, which for battery ones, is often due to it not being awake. So to fix this, press the blue button on the side of the 3in1 sensor again to wake it up, and this should hopefully remove the light and complete the polling requirement.

6) With the polling test completed, still under Settings click on Configure Node Right Now – By doing this it will configure the EZMotion, including such things as routing, WakeUp times (if changed) etc.

7) In the current firmware Vera sets the Poll frequency to 10800 seconds by default for battery devices, to improve this it’s recommended by Express Controls to change the Poll This Node value to 60. This is to ensure that Vera will more regular check if the sensor is awake to capture information.

8) With the 3in1 sensor configured I would leave the sensor next to Vera for a while to ensure it’s working as planned, by ensuring the Vera UI is being updated with appropriate temperature and light readings plus that motion is being noticed and recorded too. Then once you’re happy it’s working, you can place the EZMotion in it’s final location.

9) Once installed in it’s final location, with the sensor awake do another poll just to see if Vera can reach it directly. This is an interesting step as you will get an idea if Vera can go direct or will always need to route any commands or sensor updates.

10) Irrespective of the results of the Polling, do a couple of UpdateNodeNeightbors under the Device Options tab and then another Configure Node Right Now to ensure Vera’s well aware of the new location and what options it has to reach it.

The picture below, highlights the new poll settings and also the new neighbours (nodes) that Vera understand are around the 3in1 sensor in its new location.

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Filed under Micasaverde, Veralite, Z-Wave