Simple piston to turn off power to a tablet mounted on wall every 3 hours

#1

Hi guys, looking for some help with a very simple piston.

I have a Fire 10 tablet running action tiles, and after reading some posts, it sounds like it’s a good idea to have the device turn off every 3 hours and run on battery for 3 hours. The device is plugged into a zwave switch. I’m just confused with what to put in to get it to turn off for 3 hours, then back on for 3 hours to charge the device. This link has an example script, but what has me confused is the “set variable” part…is that what will tell it to turn on/off every 3 hours?

shm-webcore-powercycle.png600×634

#3

The last block in that piston is just for logging purposes…
It is optional, and not needed for the piston to function.

#4

You can do this differently.
I have wall ipads and I do the same thing.

Here is my piston,

Every hour at 00
With  (TCP set to never)
Zwave switch do turn ON
Wait 30 minutes 
Do turn OFF

In you case you can wait 3 hours and change every hour to every 6 hours.
Basically the switch turns ON waits X amount of time and turns OFF
my plug turns ON at - lets say - 1.00pm
runs for 30 minutes and turns OFF at 1.30pm
30 minutes later piston executes again…
etc/

#5

Thanks, appreciate your help, very simple I knew it was just a wording thing. What is the “with (TCP set to never)” line.

#6

Nevermind, I got it, thanks.

#7

Perfect:)

#8

Sorry to go off course but curious if You’re using wall mounted iPads with action tiles? @ike2018

#9

Yes i do… I have Action Tiles on all of them…
But not happy with my ipad choice… :)))

#10

I’m running the fire 10", works for what I need. I’m not an apple guy, see too many of them at the office. I know I’m not much help for the pistons etc., but I just like android.

#11

Thanks bud. Brand new to Actiontiles and picked up a firehd 8 and saw most people using fully kiosk browser which allows for motion detection but I’m nervous about a front facing camera being on all the time lol.
I have a spare iPad but couldn’t find any good kiosk software.

Sorry to hijack thread OP.

#12

I understand completely… If you can give up the motion detect, then you can tape a tiny piece of electrical tape (or a tiny flap) over the lens. Alternatively, a less obtrusive way is to install the tablet in a hallway… This way, even if you get hacked, all they see is a wall.

Side Note:

I have been debating testing a thin coat of clear nail polish over the lens… Ideally, I would like light, and moving objects to be seen, but fuzzy… (as if seen thru a shower curtain)

For the security minded, this would be the best of both worlds for wall mounted tablets…
(motion detection without the camera)

Maybe there is an appropriate ‘lens sticker’ out there that can mask visible details.
(I’d be much more willing to test this, LOL)

#13

Very interesting concept as usual @WCmore

By any chance are you or @Billb1981 using the fully kiosk browser and if so the paid or free version? Any security concerns with the browser itself? I don’t know how often it’s patched or updated but I guess I can reach out to the developer.

#14

well for my next house, i will go to a very different route.
Touch screens and RPi 3…
instead of a regular tablet…

#15

I have installed it for many clients, but I do not use that app in my household…

#16

Every since I started using this piston with my tablet, daily I find Fully Kiosk browser is closed and my tablet is on the main desktop screen. I am using a Fire HD 8 tablet. Do you know why this would happen?

#17

I too am running a Fire 8HD with Action Tiles (paid) and Fully Kiosk (paid).
After experimenting with different settings to see what they did, I too was getting the same thing.
In Fully Kiosk, set:
Device Management --> Keep Screen ON (Prevent the display from dimming and switching off by Android after some time)

#18

I will try this, thanks for the info.

#19

I have been able to use this piston with Smartthings Actiontiles with my FIre HD8 tablet. I have recently switched to Hubitat and Sharptools and for some reason there must be more load on my battery so it does not fully recharge in 3 hours and after 24 hours my tablet is on the lock screen because it had shutdown because of low battery and restarted when power was back on. Is there another way to setup the piston to have a longer time for having the power on and a shorter time to have it off?

#20

Try changing the every 3 to every 2 hours.

#21

I had though about shortening the duration, but I would like to have the outlet cycle as little as possible to minimize wear on it. Is there a way I can have it on for 4 hours and off for 2?