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Need some help with home automation — Parallax Forums

Need some help with home automation

MacGeek117MacGeek117 Posts: 747
edited 2007-12-18 03:16 in Propeller 1
I'm going to start automating my house, and one of the things I'm automating are lights. The light controllers are 'dumb' which means they only respond to on/off commands. I need help programing a schedule to control them i.e., you're leaving for a few days, you set a schedule for when you want the lights to come on each day.
RoboGeek

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Post Edited (RoboGeek) : 12/18/2007 3:20:06 AM GMT

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2007-12-16 00:00
    That's a nice project idea. What do you have in mind for hardware and software?
  • MacGeek117MacGeek117 Posts: 747
    edited 2007-12-16 00:59
    The main controller·will have·a DS1302 RTC, Propeller (naturally!), a touch-screen LCD from ComFile Tech [noparse][[/noparse]IntelliLCD], and RF transceiver from Linx Tech [noparse][[/noparse]TRM315-LT].
    Here is what I have for code at this point (still in the early stages)


    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    "I reject your reality and subsitute my own!"

    Adam Savage, Mythbusters
    www.parallax.com
    www.goldmine-elec.com
    www.expresspcb.com
    www.startrek.com
    zip
    zip
    Home Automation Controller - Archive [Date 2007.12.15 Time 19.01].zip
    5K
  • RaymanRayman Posts: 15,141
    edited 2007-12-16 01:35
    I've got the X-10 pro setup... It's hard to argue against it. It really works great and the new version knows when the sun sets for the whole year, apparently.
  • MacGeek117MacGeek117 Posts: 747
    edited 2007-12-16 02:49
    I like to design my own interfaces-so far, they've worked fairly well. (don't ask why -I don't know)
    RoboGeek

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    "I reject your reality and subsitute my own!"

    Adam Savage, Mythbusters
    www.parallax.com
    www.goldmine-elec.com
    www.expresspcb.com
    www.startrek.com
    ·
  • Michael07Michael07 Posts: 12
    edited 2007-12-16 06:19
    I agree with Rayman. Under $20.00 and a trip to HomeDepot would be my best bet. Save the Propeller for some other fun projects. tongue.gif
  • Timothy D. SwieterTimothy D. Swieter Posts: 1,613
    edited 2007-12-16 07:03
    RoboGeek - did you say you purchased the hardware already or that you are going to or you are asking opinions about that hardware? If you have purchased the hardware already I am curious what your opinion is on the IntelliLCD - how do you like it?

    Depending how fancy and how automated you want to be I would start small and work to bigger things. Lights are a good thing to start with. Consider designing a system that is flexible and uses know protocols like X-10. This will open up for flexibility.

    By the choice of the hardware you have presented it sounds like the home automation will not interact with a PC? Maybe you could add one of those DigiConnect devices to serve web pages for changing settings while you are away from home. Just a thought.

    There are many places you could go with this. If I was to build a house I would automate so much of it from the get go or at least put in the infrastructure for it. I would have all the lights and outlet wiring go back to a single panel that would get wired with solid state or mechanical relays. Then there would be a central brain for control of the house, dimming, etc. Most of it is just wishful thinking at this point.

    Good luck with your project!

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    Timothy D. Swieter
    tdswieter.com
    One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
  • PatMPatM Posts: 72
    edited 2007-12-16 21:25
    RoboGeek said...
    The main controller·will have·a DS1302 RTC, Propeller (naturally!), a touch-screen LCD from ComFile Tech [noparse][[/noparse]IntelliLCD], and RF transceiver from Linx Tech [noparse][[/noparse]TRM315-LT].
    Here is what I have for code at this point (still in the early stages)


    I just received my IntelliLCD from Comfile a few days ago. Beautiful display! I'm just spent a few hours playing with buttons and serial comms to it, pretty easy once you figure out how to grab and parse the serial packets. Running 38400 baud right now but I'll bump that up to 115200 once I know for sure my code isn't causing problems (hard to tell when its dropped bits or mangled code!).

    The IntelliLCD has an RTC built in but I don't see any commands to retrieve date and time yet. Firmware is still young though.
  • MacGeek117MacGeek117 Posts: 747
    edited 2007-12-18 03:16
    Tim, I'm going to buy the hardware soon (No timetable yet.). I probably will have it interface to a computer eventually.
    Michael, You said save the Prop for a fun project, well, this is my kind of fun!
    Pat, I knew the IntelliLCD is going to be a good choice!
    RoboGeek

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    "I reject your reality and subsitute my own!"

    Adam Savage, Mythbusters
    www.parallax.com
    www.goldmine-elec.com
    www.expresspcb.com
    www.startrek.com


    Post Edited (RoboGeek) : 12/19/2007 2:57:37 PM GMT
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