I will be distributing these for Dave. Bare printed circuit boards and partial kits will be available. The two expensive components (ZX-40 microcontroller and the EM202 Ethernet module) will not be included, and must be purchased from other sources.
The printed circuit board included with the kits will have the surface-mount components pre-installed. Completely assembled units will not be available.
The kit price will be determined in the near future.
I need to gauge potential demand before ordering components. Once the initial stock has been depleted it will take several weeks to fill additional orders.
If you would like to reserve one of the early kits, please add your name below this post.
I'll try to put together a feature list PDF and send it to Jeff in the next few days. I'm really busy right now trying to finalize details, coding, etc,
Here's a brief overview.
roZetta firmware is written in ZBasic and uses the ZX-40 from Elba, Corp. It is designed to maximize flexibility and I've labored to avoid features which only work with certain devices/controllers. The board can also be used as a general purpose ZX-40 or ZX-40A development board or with other projects that use these chips.
There is one main highspeed RS232 level serial port (S0) which interfaces with the ZX-40's hardware UART. There is an optional ethernet module which also requires the ZX-40 hardware UART so there are jumpers to select S0 or the EM202 ethernet port. So far, the author of ZBasic has refused requests to modify his download procedure so it can work over the network so you will need S0 active to update the ZX-40 firmware (roughly analogous to an OS) or the roZetta firmware. The Tibbo EM202 ethernet module is also programmable in Tibbo's dialect of Basic although, initially, I'm just using it as a serial device server with a virtual serial port. Any external device server can do the same.
There are two TTL ports which are intended for use with a TW523 (or equivalent) and/or controllers (e.g. ADI, JDS, HomeVision, etc.) that expect to see a TW523 or equivalent. Additional hardware is required to interface with the TW523 as the ZX-40's interrupts are sluggish about 3% of the time. A 555 Timer chip stretches the data pulse to allow the lazy ZX-40 interrupt to catch it. Jeff Stein at JDS reacted in horror (well not really) when I suggested using a 12VAC transformer to supply ZC so optos are required between any of the controllers and the TTL port. I've designed circuits for both that are easily built on a general purpose board I've designed. I'll create PDFs with all the details for those who prefer home-grown. I'll be sending a board to John M. Jones who I hope will test it with HomeVision when he gets time - I think he's still rebuilding his tornado damaged house. If there are problems with any controllers, I have a preliminary design for a PIC based serial interface to the controllers which gets away from the ZX-40 lazy interrupt issues but at the cost of using one of roZetta's serial ports. I'm not 100% confident that X-10 output via the TW523 will be 100% reliable but the fact that all commands are sent twice may compensate for the lazy interrupts. For reliable X-10, use a CM11 or 2414S.
There are 3 full duplex RS232 level serial ports which use interrupt driven software UARTs that operate in the background. The software UARTs are limited to 9600 BPS maximum. Another software UART can be used for RS485 or as a 0-5V RS232 port. There's a jumper to select which. The serial ports can be used with MR26, CM11, 2414S, UPB PIM, ASCII devices, and players to be named later. I plan some PIC based RF receiver modules that will use RS485.
There are 8 ZX-40 pins which can be used for 10-bit ADC, digital inputs (with optional internal pullups) or digital outputs.
There are sockets for an RF receiver module (e.g. RWS434) which are available worldwide in several frequencies. There is a socket for a wideband IR receiver module (33-57kHz). The RF and IR are mutually exclusive. Neither can be used if the TTL ports are used.
There is a 32K SPI EEPROM which is shared by the roZetta firmware and user data. I'm not yet sure how much will be available for user data so the final feature list is incomplete. ST and Catalyst make 64K SPI EEPROMs but they are not yet readily available. ST dealers want a $6K minimum order which is a little beyond a DIY project like this. If they become available in small quantities, I'll use them and possibly add features.
roZetta "understands" the X-10 PLC and RF protocols as well as the communications protocols of various supported devices. roZetta also "understands" the UPB and Insteon protocols and will be able to translate between the various supported protocols (not as easy as it sounds). I'll put the exact details in the PDF I'll send to Jeff.
Users can schedule events by time of day, etc. or react to incoming codes on any of the ports. There will be a built-in astronomical clock (may be sacrificed if memory gets tight).
Elba just introduced a ZX-40A variant which has more internal RAM and Interrupts on any pin change. I have no current plans to rewrite my firmware for it as I suspect the interrupts will still be too lazy to deserve the name interrupt.
When I started this, the author of ZBasic said he planned to add X-10 operation in the background. He later reneged on that, leaving me to scramble to find ways to adapt. Should he eventually do that, the board is designed to take advantage although the external opto module will still be required between roZetta and any controllers.
WARNING: Installing the EM202 is not for the inexperienced or faint of heart. The
0.025" pins are on 0.050" centers and are a near-interference fit. No misalignment can be tolerated. Soldering the closely spaced pins requires a small tip, low-wattage iron and small diameter solder. Anyone who thinks it beyond their skill level should just opt for an external device server (I hear they are cheap on EBay). The advantage of the EM202 is that it's customizable so can support email, web server, etc. but I'm in my upper 60s, have been totally disabled for about 20 years, have serious heart trouble, have rising PSA levels, find the VA (who provide my medical care and meds) trying to "disappear" me, expect to lose my lease in a few months and may never customize it. (Anyone who wants, can do so however.)
Jeff Volp's XTB-II design can replace the TW523 and will be able to compensate for the ZX-40's lazy interrupts.
I'll supply the firmware and a Windows interface. You just download the firmware over a serial connection - it's a menu item in the Windows interface. It takes 5 seconds or so.
I'll let Jeff provide final figures but, when I started this project I said I thought it would end up around $100-125 assembled (excluding the ethernet module, RF receiver, & IR receiver which weren't in my initial plans). I think it's going to come in towards the mid to low end of that although there are additional costs for the opto module and the 555 pulse stretcher module. There are also added costs for cables, power supply, etc. I think Jeff plans to be a single source for everything needed.
Those who build it themselves can save even more. Jeff (whose wife won't let him use the toaster oven for SMT) has been beating me about the head with a
2x4 for a couple of days until I finally saw the light (or maybe I saw stars or the 2x4 going up in flames) and now see a way to modify the design so it can use either vertically mounted through-hole caps/resistors or the SMT versions. Through-hole simplifies hand assembly while SMT simplifies automated assembly.
There will still be a few SMT components but they will be pre-installed. The initial (small) batch of boards are all SMT and will probably be sold fully assembled (except for ZX-40, ethernet module, RF receiver, IR receiver) as I saw a way to simplify the TTL controller interface which requires soldering in a wire that can only be added after most of the components are installed.
Jeff is getting quotes on pre-machined enclosures (versus machining them himself) and is planning to offer a for-fee assembly service so it's starting to look semi-professional for a DIY project (assuming it works). ;)
It should work with HomeVision but hasn't been tested with any of the controllers yet. I haven't given up on persuading the author of ZBasic to improve his X-10 support. If I'm successful with him, then I'm sure it will work with any controller that now works with a TW523 or equivalent. Once he sees my code, I think he may see the light (pun intended) - it's really simple - the only glitch I've had to deal with is the occasionally laggard ZBasic interrupts.
Is the Clipsal protocol free? I had an opportunity to play with some of their RF gear and was impressed with the quality so I think folks will be happy when Square-D makes CBUS available here. Since it hasn't been available here I haven't tried to keep up with the details.
Do they have any type of serial gateway? If so and there is either an ASCII protocol or a free communications protocol, then I can probably control it. Since it will soon be available here it's worth exploring.
ASCII will work now - if I have to write any code for a non-ASCII protocol then I cannot promise anything until I see details. Anything that takes a lot of codespace is probably out and any protocol that isn't free is definitely out - I get by on a disability pension and will be lucky if I recover my development costs and it will tale a _LOT_ of boards to do even that - I can't pay license fees.
If the protocol is available then there's a possibility I could do a PIC based module for CBUS that would interface with roZetta over roZetta's RS485 bus. That moves it out of roZetta's codespace and allows for more flexibility but that is speculation and would be much longer range.
Another possibility would be to interact with them using RF but they do some funky things with RF which would make that a much tougher job.
A brief look at the link you gave is not encouraging. The license for the high level protocol (C-Gate) sounds very expensive. The Windows DLL or Linux drivers for embedded systems are not applicable. The ZX-40 only has about
0.0000000000000000000000000001% of that kind of computing horsepower.
I think a serial gateway with an ASCII protocol will be the only viable option. I don't have the time right now to go Googling but the Pascal Automation Controller PDF mentions "RS232 strings". If there are other CBUS controller devices that can accept "RS232 strings" as input, roZetta can work with that.
BTW, for lurkers, Jeff got the quote for pre-mach>
but it all depends on whether there is a published ASCII protocol to use with them. The ethernet interface would be much longer range as it would likely require customizing the EM202 ethernet module in roZetta.
I could not find manuals for either of the Clipsal devices - until I see user manuals this is all speculation but the roZetta hardware is certainly capable of talking to CBUS over RS232 or (maybe) ethernet - it's just a matter of whether they can speak a common protocol.
C-Bus has 2 hardware devices for interfacing external computers.
Both use the same protocol, one is serial RS232 and the other is ethernet.
A public release version of the protocol (read not fully published, some secrets held back) is available for free by registering with the link that Frank gave you.
There is however likely to be a catch. That protocol is released to an individual for their own use, you are not allowed to release a broduct based on it. It's in the agreement.
I bumped into this when writing the C-Bus driver for CQC, but I did manage to get around it. Clipsal agreed to let me distribute my work, so long as anybody I gave it to had also been granted access to the public release protocol.
In your case it might be slightly different so long as you don't ever release the source code for general consumption. All CQC drivers are distributed as source to encourage development.
Clipsals preferred interfacing method is via an intemediate product called C-Gate that allows socket connections to an in memory object model. Very powerful, but very complex and you now need a PC as well.
Dave it might be too much hassle to persue a CBUS Interface as from what i hear you have to jump through hoops to get approval to use in your hardware.. I have signed Clipsal,s NDA and i can send CBUS Commands from Homevision... I had forgotten that the Public Release is only for Personal use as Rohan has mentioned.......
I know how hard it is to get anything from them. One of their European dealers sent me some of their hardware and asked me to evaluate it. I looked at their NDA but didn't want to get that much involved just to do a freebie for someone. Even the dealer had problems getting information.
Are the commands you enter ASCII commands? If so, roZetta can handle them. If they are binary, there will be ways to handle them as well but roZetta will not "understand" or interpret them in any way. Without knowing the details of the protocol I may later get a surprise but I think anything you now send with HV you will also be able to send with roZetta "as is".
Users will just tell roZetta there is an ASCII device >
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