RK-WK-HUB Rako App User Guide

: June 11, 2024
: rako

RK-WK-HUB Rako App User Guide

System Requirements

A Rako lighting system can be controlled by the Rako App if the system meets the following requirements:

ARK/WK-HUB is installed.
The system has been programmed using a computer and the project file has been uploaded from the computer to the HUB
The HUB and the device running the App are connected to the same wireless network or a connection has been established via the MyRako cloud services.

If the above requirements are not met, please speak to the system programmer.

The Rako App is available to download from the App store on Apple devices or Google play for Android devices. The App is also available for the Kindle fire via the Amazon App store.

Connecting to the HUB

After opening the Rako App the first screen displayed will be headed “Searching for Systems”. If correctly configured the HUBs available for connection will be displayed here.
The Rako App can connect to Rako HUBs via two methods as outlined below.

Local Discovery

When using Local discovery the HUB can only be accessing while the App is connected to the same local network as the

If both the mobile device and HUB are connected to the same WiFi network the HUB should appear upon opening the App. Select “Connect” to continue. If the HUB cannot be connected to it may not be on the network. Check physical ethernet connection from HUB to router, if patched in correctly please speak to the system programmer.

MyRako

The system can be accessed via the Rako App without needing to connect to the same Local network by enabling “MyRako mode”.

from the local wifi network meaning the system can be controlled from anywhere. This is achieved through the creation of a MyRako account and linking it to the HUB, you are then able to login on the app using the MyRako section.

PLEASE NOTE:
If you are logged into your MyRako account on this device then the Local Network devices

WILL NOT display – logout of MyRako on the App to revert to “Local Discovery” mode.

Similarly only Local Network devices will be shown when logged out of MyRako on the App.

Configuring MyRako for Remote system access

To access the HUB remotely (App is not connected to the same local network as the HUB) the

Logging In to MyRako

If the HUB has already been linked to a MyRako account, login via the “MyRako”

Signing up to MyRako

If the hub has not been linked to an account, you will need to access the HU B’s webpages to do so. You will need the HU B’s IP address to access this, you will find this when connected to the system on wifi, and by selecting Advanced

Diagnostics.

Enter the IP address into a web browser, (example on picture is 192.168.2.204). This will bring up the webpage required. Select ‘Cloud’ on the left and then ‘Connect’ after clicking on Agree to privacy policy & terms and conditions. This will take you to a login/signup page. Sign up as prompted.

Once signed up and authenticated, login in to the HUB and App as above.
This will take you to the webpage where you can login.

Navigating the Rako App

The room list screen

Once the App has connected to the HUB the room list screen will open automatically. This screen can be displayed in two ways either as tiles or as a list. By default the room list will appear as tiles:

To change between list and tile view: click the icon in the top right corner.

The wallplate screen

Selecting a room will bring up the “wallplate” screen for this room. This page mirrors a default keypad in the room itself. The appearance of this screen will depend on what type of room it is (as set in the software during the setup of the system).

A room to control curtains and blinds will have “Open”, “Stop” and “Close” options whereas a lighting room will have a number of scene buttons, fade up, fade down and off (both displayed above).

NB
The keypad on the App will always mirror a default keypad of the type selected in the software. For example an App panel set as a 7 button keypad will always send Scenes 1-4, off, fade up and down. The App does not take account of custom maps set in the HUB or WCM/RNC mapping screens.

The channels screen

To access the channels screen click “Channels” in the top right of the keypad screen. This will open the screen as shown on the next page.

The lighting circuits that have been associated with this room and uploaded to the HUB will be displayed here. The light levels can be manually set from this page by sliding the slider to the desired lighting level. In this way one off “scenes” can be created for special events or parties where lighting moods not usually assigned to a button are required.

These will remain stored in the channels screen until a button is pressed on the wallplate screen. Pressing a button on the wallplate screen will change the channel sliders to match the levels of the scene that has been pressed.

The bottom toolbar has three buttons:

Rako – This button opens a menu to access the extra features of the App. These are:
Events, Holiday Mode, MyRako and Advanced. There is also a refresh button if changes have been made to the HUB.

Home – This will return you to the room list page that initially opened when the HUB was connected to.
Star – The favourites button cycles through any room that has been added to the favourites list.

Setting scenes

The Rako App allows users to set scenes from their mobile device. Changing these will alter the scene when triggered from either the app or from a wallplate.

How to set a scene

Select the room in which the scene is to be set from the room list screen. (In this example the Front External).
This will bring up the wallplate screen as described in the navigation section.
Select the scene to be set by pressing on the scene number on the wallplate screen. Once this scene is selected it will highlight white.
If this white highlight is not present the scene will not be able to be set.

– Now click on the “channels” button at the top right of the screen, this will bring up the list of circuits that can be used to set this scene.

– As the sliders are moved the lights should also change dimming level (a non dimmable circuit should have an on/off switch rather that a slider). To turn a circuit off completely move the slider to the far left of the screen.

Once the desired lighting levels have been set for this scene press the “save scene” button.
This will bring up a pop up menu. Pressing confirm will transmit the scene to the dimmers.
At this stage both the scene button on the app and on any associated keypad will send the newly set scene.
This process can be repeated for all the scenes available on the app by using the same method.

Favorites

When in tile mode press and hold the tile to bring up the option as below:

Selecting this will move this room into “Favourites”. Rooms that have been added to the favourites list will appear at the top of the room list and can also be accessed by pressing the star on the toolbar.

Once favourites have been added the room list will now be divided into two sections.
“Favourites” at the top of the page followed by the rest of the rooms.

Events

Managing Events

Upon selecting “Events” from the Rako menu this page will open. On this page all Events can be viewed, enabled or disabled and deleted. Pressing the plus button in the top right corner will add a new event at the bottom of the screen much like the alarms page installed as standard on a phone.

Editing events

Selecting an event will bring up the editing events page as below. New events can be created using this page and existing can be edited.

Event options

Event State
Sets the event as either enabled or disabled. A disable event will be displayed on the event homepage as greyed out and with a cross to the right of the screen.

Event Trigger
This sets the time at which this event will trigger. Either a specific time can be defined by ticking the “time” box and using the “hours” and “minutes” menus. Dawn and dusk times are offset daily to track seasonal changes, these can be customised in the HUB webpages.
To ensure these time are accurate set the “latitude” and “longitude” fields for the location of the system.

Active Days
The days that the event will be repeated can also be set from this page. Any combination of days of the week can be selected as can presets for “all”, “weekdays”, “weekends” and none.

Set Action
This section selects the command that will be sent at the time defined in “Event trigger” and “Active days”. Any room or channel stored in the HUB can be selected, as can options for “All Rooms” and “All channels”.

I) Room
This defines the Room that the command will be sent to. The list will include all the rooms listed on the room list screen and also Whole House.

II) Channel
On most occasions this menu will be left on “All Channels” which will mean all circuits in
this room will be affected by this command. A specific channel can be selected, to identify
which channel is which refer to the channels page of each room to see the named channels.

III) Action
This menu is used to select what command will be sent to the previously defined room and
channel. There are three options for action when setting an event from the App.

At the bottom of the events page are the buttons to save event, test data and cancel.
Saving the event will write the information to the HUB and the event will activate as set in “event trigger”.

Holiday Mode

To access the Holiday mode page in the App press the Rako logo on the bottom toolbar. If holiday mode is available it will appear as below:

Holiday mode can be in three states: Stopped, Record or Playback. Above Holiday mode is in its stopped state. From this screen a new recording can be started or a previous recording can be played back. When the App is successfully connected to a compatible HUB the pinwheel should be cycling.

Holiday Record

When set to record the system logs lighting usage so that an accurate recreation of the house in use can be played back.

Only one recording can be stored. Pressing “restart recording” at any stage will start a new recording and delete the previous one.

When in record mode the last event in the system will be displayed at the bottom of the screen as a diagnostic tool.

Holiday Playback

Select start playback from either the stopped or record state when you want the house to appear occupied.
Activating holiday playback will cause lights to be controlled by the system to match the recording that has been made. Holiday playback will continue until “stop playback” is selected and holiday mode has returned to its stop state.

When in playback mode the next event in the system will be displayed at the bottom of the screen as a diagnostic tool.

The integration of the Rako App into the today widget allows certain functions of the App to be performed without opening it. Swipe down from any screen, and select the “Today” tab at the top.

If the Rako App is running in the background a section headed “Rako” will contain the room list. Select a room to open a simplified wall plate screen. From here lights can be controlled as if from a keypad, it is not possible to set scenes or control individual channels.

Pressing “Open in App” will jump to the wall plate screen for the room in the App itself.