Get Started
Part 1

Getting Started

An overview of Reflex, a walkthrough of your first rule, and the screen layout.

About Reflex

Reflex monitors cameras, microphones, and connected equipment, and executes the actions you define as soon as your conditions are met.

What distinguishes Reflex from an alert-only camera is the range of actions it can run. A push notification is one of sixteen supported actions; closing a relay, publishing to MQTT, writing a Modbus register, calling a web service, playing a spoken warning, and logging the event are all executed the same way.

All analysis runs on the on-site device running the Grablo software (the controller), and does not pass through the cloud. This is why the response is immediate and why video never leaves the premises.

Note Reflex operates entirely through rules, without code. Most automation can be built by combining conditions and actions.

Creating Your First Rule

Build a rule that sends a notification when a person appears at the front door, covering the full workflow.

Before You Begin

  • Install the Grablo controller software on the machine that will run the monitoring, and connect it to your network. A wired connection is recommended.
  • Connect the cameras to the same network as the controller and have their addresses and passwords ready.
  • Sign in with your Grablo account.

Monitoring and configuration can be done from anywhere. Only the cameras and the equipment need to be on site with the controller.

Steps

  1. Click Connect in the upper right and select your controller. Controllers on the same network are listed automatically; a controller on another network can be added with its 16-digit device ID. After the first connection, reconnection is automatic.
    The Reflex screen before any rule exists
    An empty project. Rules are added to the list on the left.
  2. Click + Add rule in the left column and enter a name. Naming rules after the situation rather than the hardware makes them easier to manage, e.g. "Person at the front door".
  3. Click + Add condition and select AI Camera.
  4. Select the camera and the analysis (what to detect on that camera). If none exists yet, both can be created from this panel. Set Condition to Specific object and Target value to person, then click Add.
    The AI Camera condition panel
    The condition panel. Every setting a camera condition needs is on one page.
  5. Click + Add action, select Push Notification, enter the title and message, and save.
    The Push Notification action panel
    The action panel. Set the title, message, and which camera's photo to attach.
  6. Click the Start button in the upper right. The rule is now active. When a person is detected for longer than the hold time set in the condition, a notification is sent to your phone.
A finished rule with one condition and two actions
The completed rule, consisting of one condition and two actions.
Note Adding a Logging action is recommended. Without one, notifications are delivered but no event record is kept, so there is nothing to review afterwards. See Keeping Event Records.

Screen Layout

On desktop, the screen consists of a header and three areas.

The Reflex screen: header on top, rule list on the left, rule detail in the middle, events on the right
Below the header, left to right: the rule list, the rule detail, and events.
AreaContents
HeaderProject name, the Rules/Dashboard switch, the controller connection button, and the Start/Stop button.
LeftThe rule list, the Integrations section, and the account menu at the bottom.
MiddleThe selected rule in full: its cameras, conditions, and actions.
RightEvents: recent detections.

On mobile, the two side areas become panels opened with the buttons at either end of the header.

Caution Two conditions must both hold before anything runs: the app must be connected to the controller, and monitoring must be started. A rule that has been created but never started does nothing. If no events appear, check these two first.