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Updated on February 11, 2022

‘FOR’ Function

‘FOR’ is a trigger function that lets you specify the length of time that the trigger conditions must be true before proceeding to the action.

The trigger conditions only become true if the result is sustained for the period of time that you specify.

For > At Least

Example 1. You might want to receive a notification if a door is left unlocked, but only if it is unlocked for 3 minutes or longer. This avoids notifications when the door is open for short periods while somebody completes a task (answering the door, taking out the trash etc).

Example 2. You have a motion sensor set to switch a hallway light on if it detects motion, and off when it stops detecting motion. However, you don’t want it to turn the light off if somebody just stops moving for a few seconds. You could choose ‘Stops detecting motion’ as the sensor capability and set the ‘FOR’ function to ‘3 minutes’:

Method 1

  • Create a meshbot with a trigger/action pair that turns the light ‘on’ if the motion sensor detects movement.
  • Create another meshbot with a trigger/action pair that turns the light ‘off’ if the sensor stops detecting motion. Set the trigger ‘FOR > At Least’ function to 3 minutes, so it has to stop detecting motion for that length of time before the condition is classed as true.

Method 2

  • Create a single meshbot with a trigger that turns the light ‘off’ if motion is not detected. Set ‘For > At least’ to 3 minutes.
  • Create an action with a ‘True’ response that turns the light ‘off’. Set the ‘False’ action to turn the light ‘on’:

  • Either method will effectively reset the light back to a 3 minute ‘on’ state every time somebody moves.

For > Less Than

  • You can also invert the ‘FOR’ function so the trigger only activates if the condition is true for less than a certain period of time. This lets you disregard certain events like, for example, if a light switch is quickly turned on then off. You don’t want every light in a room or house to react to this annoying sequence. So if the ‘on’ state is only true for less than a period of time, set all lights to ‘off’ as your ‘Action’.

You can apply the ‘FOR’ function to individual triggers, groups, nested groups, or to an entire trigger set.