esphome::custom::CustomLightOutputConstructor' has no member named 'current_values'

ESPHome
1

Hello,

I’m trying to control a Kassil A160 light for reef tanks with ESPHome. This light can be controlled by two 0-10v analogue channels: one to control the intensity and one to control the color.
I have created the circuit to covert 2x ESP8266 PWM outputs to 0-10v analogue signals. And I’m now working on setup ESPHome to control these two PWM outputs.

I reviewed the different light components available in ESPHome and seems that none of them are fit to control a light that requires two channels with one for brightness and one for the color.

I have so created a custom light component (kessil.h) as follow:

#pragma once

#include "esphome.h"

class KessilLight : public Component, public LightOutput {
    public:

    KessilLight(FloatOutput *brightness_output, FloatOutput *color_output)
    {
        brightness_output_ = brightness_output;
        color_output_ = color_output;
    }

    LightTraits get_traits() override {
        auto traits = LightTraits();
        traits.set_supports_brightness(true);
        traits.set_supports_color_temperature(false);
        traits.set_supports_rgb(false);
        traits.set_supports_rgb_white_value(true);
        return traits;
    }

    void write_state(LightState *state) override {
        float brightness, red, green, blue, white;
        // use any of the provided current_values methods
        state->current_values_as_rgbw(&red, &green, &blue, &white, this->color_interlock_);
        state->current_values_as_brightness (&brightness);
        white = white / brightness;
        if (brightness == 0)
                {
            this->brightness_output_->set_level(0);
            this->color_output_->set_level(0);
        }
        else
        {
            this->brightness_output_->set_level(brightness);
            this->color_output_->set_level(white);
        }
        
    }
    
    protected:
    FloatOutput *brightness_output_;
    FloatOutput *color_output_;
    bool color_interlock_;
};

And in my ESPHome .yaml I have added:

esphome:
  includes:
    - kessil.h

light:
  - platform: custom
    id: reef_tank_light
    lambda: |-
      auto kessil_light = new KessilLight(id(reef_tank_light_brightness_pwm), id(reef_tank_light_color_pwm));
      App.register_component(kessil_light);
      return {kessil_light};
    lights:
      - name: "Reef Tank - Light"

output:
  - platform: pca9685
    id: reef_tank_light_brightness_pwm
    channel: 0
  - platform: pca9685
    id: reef_tank_light_color_pwm
    channel: 1

This works well to control the light and from HA I can adjust the light intensity (using the brightness slider) and the light color (using the the white slider).

Now I would like to create a sensor that returns the current brightness and white (color) value for this light. The reason for this is that I use very long transitions to reproduce dawn and dusk, and I would like to see brightness and color throughout the transition. When using a standard monochromatic light I would add the following to the ESPHome .yaml file:

  - platform: template
    name: "Reef Tank - Light Brightness"
    id: reef_tank_light_brightness
    update_interval: 20s
    accuracy_decimals: 0
    unit_of_measurement: "%"
    icon: "mdi:weather-sunny"
    lambda: |-
      return (int(id(reef_tank_light).current_values.get_brightness() * 100));

When using the same approach with the custom light I get the following error when trying to compile:

src/main.cpp: In lambda function:
src/main.cpp:720:35: error: 'const class esphome::custom::CustomLightOutputConstructor' has no member named 'current_values'
       return (int(reef_tank_light.current_values.get_brightness() * 100));

Any suggestions on how to implement the equivalent of .current_values.get_brightness() and .current_values.get_white() for a custom light?

I have tried several approaches (trying to overwrite get_brightness(), create a custom sensor etc.) but I’m getting nowhere… Any suggestion or hint would be much appreciated.

2

The closest I got to get the brightness and color values was to edit the custom light to behave a bit also like a custom sensor (not sure if this is correct or makes much sense):

#pragma once

#include "esphome.h"

class KessilLight : public PollingComponent, public LightOutput, public LightColorValues {
    public:
    Sensor *brightness_value = new Sensor();
    Sensor *color_value = new Sensor();

    KessilLight(FloatOutput *brightness_output, FloatOutput *color_output) : PollingComponent(30000)
    {
        brightness_output_ = brightness_output;
        color_output_ = color_output;
    }

    LightTraits get_traits() override {
        auto traits = LightTraits();
        traits.set_supports_brightness(true);
        traits.set_supports_color_temperature(false);
        traits.set_supports_rgb(false);
        traits.set_supports_rgb_white_value(true);
        return traits;
    }

    void setup() override {
    }

    void write_state(LightState *state) override {
        float red, green, blue;
        // use any of the provided current_values methods
        state->current_values_as_rgbw(&red, &green, &blue, &white, this->color_interlock_);
        state->current_values_as_brightness (&brightness);
        white = white / brightness;
        if (brightness == 0)
                {
            this->brightness_output_->set_level(0);
            this->color_output_->set_level(0);
        }
        else
        {
            this->brightness_output_->set_level(brightness);
            this->color_output_->set_level(white);
        }
        
    }

    void update() override {
        // This is the actual sensor reading logic.
        brightness_value->publish_state(brightness);
        color_value->publish_state(white);
    }
    
    protected:
    FloatOutput *brightness_output_;
    FloatOutput *color_output_;
    float brightness;
    float white;
    bool color_interlock_;
};

With this change in the log I can see the brightness and color values coming through:

[15:52:19][D][sensor:092]: '': Sending state 1.00000  with 0 decimals of accuracy
[15:52:19][D][sensor:092]: '': Sending state 1.00000  with 0 decimals of accuracy

But I cannot figure out how I could assign these values to a sensor so that they can be visualized in HA…

3

Hello all,

Following what suggested here I managed to find a solution that works. I have edit the custom light component (kessil.h) as follow:

#pragma once

#include "esphome.h"

class KessilLight : public Component, public LightOutput, public LightColorValues {
    public:
    KessilLight(FloatOutput *brightness_output, FloatOutput *color_output)
    {
        brightness_output_ = brightness_output;
        color_output_ = color_output;
    }

    LightTraits get_traits() override {
        auto traits = LightTraits();
        traits.set_supports_brightness(true);
        traits.set_supports_color_temperature(false);
        traits.set_supports_rgb(false);
        traits.set_supports_rgb_white_value(true);
        return traits;
    }

    void write_state(LightState *state) override {
        float red, green, blue;
        // use any of the provided current_values methods
        state->current_values_as_rgbw(&red, &green, &blue, &white, this->color_interlock_);
        state->current_values_as_brightness (&brightness);
        white = white / brightness;
        if (brightness == 0)
                {
            this->brightness_output_->set_level(0);
            this->color_output_->set_level(0);
            reef_tank_light_brightness_value->value() = 0;
            reef_tank_light_color_value->value() = 0;
        }
        else
        {
            this->brightness_output_->set_level(brightness);
            this->color_output_->set_level(white);
            reef_tank_light_brightness_value->value() = brightness * 100;
            reef_tank_light_color_value->value() = white * 100;
        }
        
    }

    protected:
    FloatOutput *brightness_output_;
    FloatOutput *color_output_;
    float brightness;
    float white;
    bool color_interlock_;
};

And I have edit my ESPHome .yaml as follow:

esphome:
  includes:
    - kessil.h

globals:
  - id: reef_tank_light_brightness_value
    type: float
  - id: reef_tank_light_color_value
    type: float

sensor:
  - platform: template
    name: "Reef Tank - Light Brightness"
    id: reef_tank_light_brightness
    update_interval: 20s
    accuracy_decimals: 0
    unit_of_measurement: "%"
    icon: "mdi:weather-sunny"
    lambda: |-
      return (id(reef_tank_light_brightness_value)); 
  - platform: template
    name: "Reef Tank - Light Color"
    id: reef_tank_light_color
    update_interval: 20s
    accuracy_decimals: 0
    unit_of_measurement: "%"
    icon: "mdi:palette-outline"
    lambda: |-
      return (id(reef_tank_light_color_value)); 

light:
  - platform: custom
    id: reef_tank_light
    lambda: |-
      auto kessil_light = new KessilLight(id(reef_tank_light_brightness_pwm), id(reef_tank_light_color_pwm));
      App.register_component(kessil_light);
      return {kessil_light};

This setup works. However, I would like to avoid hard coding in the kessil.h file the name of the esphome global variables to be used for the sensors (i.e. reef_tank_light_brightness_value and reef_tank_light_color_value).
I would like to be able to pass these variables to the KessilLight class when defining the custom light. I would like to be able to call in the .yaml file something like:

light:
  - platform: custom
    id: reef_tank_light
    lambda: |-
      auto kessil_light = new KessilLight(id(reef_tank_light_brightness_pwm), id(reef_tank_light_color_pwm), id(reef_tank_light_brightness_value), id(reef_tank_light_color_value));
      App.register_component(kessil_light);
      return {kessil_light};

I’m however stuck at this point… I have tried to define the KessilLight class as:

class KessilLight : public Component, public LightOutput, public LightColorValues {
    public:
    KessilLight(FloatOutput *brightness_output, FloatOutput *color_output, GlobalsComponent *brightness_value, GlobalsComponent *color_value)
    {
        brightness_output_ = brightness_output;
        color_output_ = color_output;
        brightness_value_ = brightness_value;
        color_value_ = color_value;
    }

However of course this does not work… :slight_smile:

Any suggestion on how to pass to the custom class the global variable “names” instead of hardcoding the actual varibales?

4

The solution is to not use global variables. Instead store the values in your custom object (where they conceptually belong anyway). For example:

kessil.h:

class KessilLight : public Component, public LightOutput {
    public:
      float brightness;
[...]

.yaml:

sensor:
  - platform: template
    id: reef_tank_light_brightness
    name: "Reef Tank - Light Brightness"
    lambda: |-
        return ( ((KessilLight*)reef_tank_light)->brightness );