Ethernet-based systems for DIY?

Have a look at the Elk M1-Gold.

Hi Don,

Diy ethernet, If you are willing to jump in SitePlayer, And Xport are two pieces I have been working with for a couple of years. I got no where with the extended X-10 protocol. I have a several circuits that use both SitePlayer and Xport packages, when you include a pic microcontroller and a nice front end like Homeseer, the sky is the limit.

Siteplayer is a web server on a 1" BY 1" board it includes a good TCPIP/UDP stack. It also includes a serial port that I connect to a Pic micocontroller. I have found an issue with the UDP protocol though. If you pass more then a few bytes of data per message the SitePlayer will loose itself.

Xport is the best ethernet on a chip I have found so far. Its web server is weaker then SitePlayer but its easier to program. Once programmed, data that appears on the ethernet is sent to the serial port and vise versa. Again hook a Pic Microcontroller to the serial port and you have a powerful control device.

I chose HomeSeer as my front end because as a programmer it is fairly easy to expand and write scripts to control and receive data. I am sure there are others but I got the best bang for my buck. HomeSeer has a plugin called HS_Commander that speaks UDP. And I completed a HS_TCPIP plugin. With these two plugins I can monitor temperatures around my home on a room by room basis as one example.

If you want to Google these names, and also look for Tom Igoe's web page.

Good Luck

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Excellent hardware is readily available to do everything you want to do and much more. Complex software is available that does some of what (I think) you want.

Have you looked into:

AMX

and Crestron ? HomeSeer and Charmed Quark Systems Elk M1G and Omni ?

-- to name a few of the more popular competing pairs of products in three HA product categories (namely, proprietary 'total' HA systems, HA DAQ panels and PC-centric HA control software).

I suggest you:

1 a) Draw a picture/diagram of actual physical locations of where you want I/) (environmental sensors, cameras, security devices, input screens, user controls) and then b) explain to yourself _exactly_ how you are going to route the information from those I/O points to the DAQs. Don't bluff. Details matter. If you choose a hard-wired (physical wiring) approach, you will most likely have a very robust system but may spend a lion's share of the effort physically installing wire especially if a retrofit. If you chose RF, IR and(or) powerline controls (or some mix) you should be aware of cost/reliability trade-offs that you may or may not want to make.

2) Diagram the control _software_ that would be required to do everything you want to do. Estimate the number of man-years it might take (and or investigate existing software that can do many/most of the things you mention and can serve as the basis for your own software extensions). Who is going to do this? Of what value is your hardware if it isn't available?

+++++++++

My experience is that there are two broad areas in which existing home automation offerings is in weak: 1) monitoring (not just reacting to 'events') including subsequent storage, retrieval, presentation, and interpretation/analysis of data, and 2) systems modeling that provides decisions based on calculated predictions of system behavior. (not just simple IF-THEN_ELSE 'events' handling).

HTH ... Marc Marc_F_Hult

One company I discovered has several devices you describe, all living on your home intranet, easy to setup,

However, you pay the monthly monitoring fee, since your devices basically call home to iControl, so that you can administer them on the internet.

Now, if only this were an open-source project and the monitoring could be setup yourself on your LAN, with your own choice of allowing remote management, and the open-source nature of it allowed you to write your own interfaces...and it wasn't just X10 stuff and perl scripts. Ok, there are few decent HA projects...

D> I have been carefully considering what I would like to see in total

Let me see if I understand this. You pay them a monthly fee to access the devices in your home, apparently meaning they can access those devices at will.

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I think they spy on me :) Actually, I didn't buy iControl. I just saw them at a show. It seemed pretty good. I'm hoping to hear from others that might have bought iControl stuff. But, you're right in what you say, they would indeed have access it seems to watch me with my own wireless camera. And turned my lights on and off if they desired...and change my thermostat if they pleased.

But, I like the simplicity of the starter kit. But there isn't enough money I suppose in selling starter kits, hence their fee...

Well I was using the editorial "you" rather than the literal "you".

It reminds me of the company that was offering to digitize signatures and insisted on being paid by check.

snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com

What happens if you sop paying the monthly fee? Do all your appliances fail to work like when your alarm company decides to scr*w you over because you refuse to renew for another three years at $40 a month?

to work like when your alarm company decides to scr*w

No, it's more like "On Star". To experience it, press the blue button.

RLB: "Help. My toast is burning."

OnStar: "Alright, Mr. Bass. Give me a moment and I'll send a signal to the toaster to pop up".

Don Stratton kirjoitti:

I'm thinking of doing something alike. There really isn't any good choices for doing what you want (or I haven't found one). The tibbo suggested earlier costs >50$ and you need hardware around it too. Have a look at

is one approach I'm considering. It certainly isn't fast enough to deliver video, audio could be possible, but this would make for a cheap networked data acquisition. AVR's have A/D and GPIO built in. Cost per unit in small quantities is quite low ~15$. Mix in power over ethernet, and you've got yourself a good start.

-- Tommi Herva

In which case it probably makes more sense to do this using the Microchip PIC18F97J60 which combines an MCU and the ENC28J60 (used in the project you cite) in one package.

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The idea of distributed I/O with ethernet/internet connection has been implemented and marketed since at least 1999 when Savoy introduced CyberHouse , a client server that could communicated with many, many specialized devices ( eg thermostats, X-10 and several different hardwired lighting systems, spa controls, IR control, security panels, audio, video, and so on) as well as general purpose I/O over RS-485 twisted pair via up to 32 Elk MM443S (four analog in, 4-10amp relays, timers, counters, RT clock, temperature in a single, small, wall-mountable, paintable module) and related accessories (I-button keyfob entry, recorded/able audio, etc).

The concept of an AVR + ethernet module was implement and marketed by about

2000-1 when Netmedia introduced the BX-24, LCD+ and Siteplayer.

The small processor + POE + TCP/IP concept scales upward to Pentium PC's small enough to be installed in a US wall switch box and powered by POE but powerful enough to deliver full-motion video (available from, eg Dell Business division/sales).

Where in that continuum do you want to be? What is the market? What cost point? Who will write the software?

... Marc Marc_F_Hult

Marc_F_Hult kirjoitti:

I'm sorry I didn't state that my goals were non-commercial. All of above I allready knew, all bit too expensive for my liking. What I'm looking for is open-sourced hard/software.

Dave: AVR just cause I like them over PIC's.

It is also quite hard to get some of these to Finland :)

-- Tommi Herva

Okay, so AVR is writ in stone.

How would you program it? This determines in part who you could also have working with you. For example, I have BASCOM for AVR

can be used with (eg) the AVR 128 or even more powerful successors including perhaps with CAN or built in hard-wired lighting (eg AT90PWM1 ) control and zigbee (eg ATmega256RZBV) But don't use C (eg AVR-GCC) or assembly language tools for AVR. An open source project using BASIC would attract a different group than one with C.

I have a pair of

M128 boards which are more powerful than BX-24 and successors previously mentioned and can recommend the company's products.

In my opinion, and open-community/source project around AVR's coded in BASIC could thrive. I, for one, would pay less attention to one based on C code.

... Marc Marc_F_Hult

[snip] [snip]

I'm looking for similar suggestions, but with more emphasis on getting the first copy running quickly and cheaply. Since I'm counting engineering time as a cost, I'd happily pay $200 more for hardware if it saves a week of engineering. Accordingly, I'm hoping to find a single-board computer that boots Linux from some kind of flash filesystem, plugs into my house ethernet, has a handful of analog inputs and digital outputs, and runs ssh and some kind of web server.

Likely candidates appear to be

have the feeling Gumstix is likely to have something, too, but when I try to use their web page, I always end up going in circles: If anybody is familiar with these systems, or others that may be better suited, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

OmniFlash...

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A very promising lead. Thank you very much.

It doesn't have ADC but there's an SPI port (probably documented in the ARM processor manual) and you can use one of the serial ports for RS485 so I figure it should be easy enough to add.

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