Controlling Rako scenes and lights from uOS
This guide explains how to pull data from Rako’s API so you can control it directly from uOS, uControl App and uControl Remote.
What this guide will cover:
- How to find room, channel, scene and level IDs in Rako’s API.
- How to create a Rako API so that you can control any light or scene in the property.
- How to add that API into uOS.
Important: you must setup Rako first
For the purposes of this guide we are going to assume that your Rako controller is on IP address 192.168.1.15 and your uOS device (MHUB, MZMA or Zone Processor) is on 192.168.1.196. We will use this to illustrate all examples moving forward.
Important: To get an overview of your project, which for this example is on IP address 192.168.1.15, type 192.168.1.15/rako.xml into a web browsers search engine and enter.
What a typical Rako API looks like
192.168.1.15/rako.cgi?room=5&ch=4&sc=0
In most cases you will either want to turn a light on/off or change the scene in any particular room. To do this you will need to send an API which looks like the example above.
In the example above we are going to send a command to the Rako controller (at 192.168.1.15) to execute a Scene 0 in Room 5 on Light 4.
Understanding what those numbers in the API above mean:
room=5
This is the ID of the room which your Rako devices are installed in.
ch=4
This is the channel which is how Rako refers to individual lights or RGB values.
sc=3
This is the scene ID.
“&”
This is a separator which is used to separate room, channel and scene values or IDs.
- Scene 0 = Off.
- Scene 1-16 = Custom Scenes which you have made in Rako (lights at 10%, RGB value etc).
Testing your APIs
We recommend that you test every API before you enter them into uOS. All IP based APIs all have different requirements when it comes to testing but the Rako API is great because it is super simple.
To test your API, open a web browser and enter the full API in the URL window and hit enter.
Testing your Rako API is as easy as entering it into your favourite browser and hitting enter. If the Rako device does what you expected it to then you’re good to enter it into uOS.
If the Rako device responds as you expected then your API is working and you can proceed adding it into uOS.
If it doesn’t work then try the following:
- Make sure the IP address is correct.
- Make sure that you do not have any typos.
- Ensure that your IDs are correct and that you’re observing a light in the correct room and location.
- Make sure that the structure of the API matches our example (no spaces, no special characters, data is in the correct case (often lowercase).
How to add your APIs into uControl
Need more help with the API? Get in touch.
All HDA staff are able to help with any API questions you might have including any advanced features. Get in touch for help or assistance.