Automating Shutter Position Based on Time with MQTT

General
1

I’ve been working on automating my balcony shutter using the Sonoff Dual R2 and MQTT in Home Assistant. While I’ve got the basic functionality down, I wanted to take it a step further by having the position update automatically based on how long the shutter is moving. Here’s what I came up with!

First, I set up the MQTT template cover as follows:

yaml

  • platform: template
    covers:
    balcony_bedroom_cover:
    friendly_name: “Balcony Bedroom Shutter”
    open_cover:
    - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
    topic: ‘cmnd/bedroombalcony/power2’
    payload: ‘OFF’
    - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
    topic: ‘cmnd/bedroombalcony/power1’
    payload: ‘ON’
    close_cover:
    - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
    topic: ‘cmnd/bedroombalcony/power1’
    payload: ‘OFF’
    - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
    topic: ‘cmnd/bedroombalcony/power2’
    payload: ‘ON’
    stop_cover:
    - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
    topic: ‘cmnd/bedroombalcony/power1’
    payload: ‘OFF’
    - service: mqtt.publish
    data:
    topic: ‘cmnd/bedroombalcony/power2’
    payload: ‘OFF’
    position:
    - value_template: >-
    {% if is_state(‘cover.balcony_bedroom_cover’, ‘opening’) %}
    {{ 100 - ((now() - last_triggered(‘balcony_bedroom_cover’)) | 0) / 45 * 100 }}
    {% elif is_state(‘cover.balcony_bedroom_cover’, ‘closing’) %}
    {{ ((now() - last_triggered(‘balcony_bedroom_cover’)) | 0) / 50 * 100 }}
    {% else %}
    {{ state_attr(‘cover.balcony_bedroom_cover’, ‘position’) }}
    {% endif %}

This setup tracks how long the shutter has been moving and adjusts the position accordingly. For opening, it decreases from 100% to 0% over 45 seconds, and for closing, it increases from 0% to 100% over 50 seconds. The position is updated every second, giving a smooth transition.

I also modified the stop automation to ensure the position is set correctly when the shutter stops:

yaml

  • alias: ‘Stop down shutter after x time’
    trigger:
    platform: mqtt
    topic: cmnd/bedroombalcony/power1
    payload: ‘ON’
    action:

    • delay: ‘00:00:45’
    • service: cover.stop_cover
      entity_id: cover.balcony_bedroom_cover
    • service: cover.set_cover_position
      entity_id: cover.balcony_bedroom_cover
      data:
      position: 0

  • alias: ‘Stop up shutter after x time’
    trigger:
    platform: mqtt
    topic: cmnd/bedroombalcony/power2
    payload: ‘ON’
    action:

    • delay: ‘00:00:50’
    • service: cover.stop_cover
      entity_id: cover.balcony_bedroom_cover
    • service: cover.set_cover_position
      entity_id: cover.balcony_bedroom_cover
      data:
      position: 100

This ensures that if the shutter is stopped manually, it still reports the correct position. I’ve been testing this setup for a few days now, and it’s working perfectly! The position updates smoothly, and I can even create automations based on the shutter’s position.

If anyone has any suggestions or improvements, I’d love to hear them!