5 ms·

I played around with X10 networking (device control using the in-house power wiring as a message bus) years ago, for home automation. Fun stuff, and usable even

by logic 16y ago

I played around with X10 networking (device control using the in-house power wiring as a message bus) years ago, for home automation. Fun stuff, and usable even today. Recently, I've started working on an Arduino-driven thermostat replacement using XBees to get around the problem of running wiring in a house without any conduits (and not wanting to run plenum-rated cabling in the heating ducts). It's actually pretty simple stuff, with off-the-shelf ICs (and I'm no hardware guy) and a little programming. The biggest challenge was figuring out the existing thermostat and HVAC wiring; I knew practically nothing about this stuff previously. Some folks have gone quite far with this kind of thing: http://diy-zoning.sourceforge.net/Advanced/faq.html http://diy-zoning.sourceforge.net/Advanced/faq.html (I particularly like the idea of using R/C servos to provide rudimentary zone control.)

phamilton 16y ago
I submitted my simple arduino thermostat a while back to hack-a-day and it got a lot of good feedback. Extending it has been on my todo list, but then again, that list is evergrowing. Link to my blog documenting the very simple thermostat : http://undiscoveredfeatures.blogspot.com/2010/08/thermostat.html http://undiscoveredfeatures.blogspot.com/2010/08/thermostat....
byoung2 16y ago
I played around with X10 networking (device control using the in-house power wiring as a message bus) years ago, for home automation I had lots of fun with X10 back in college, tricking out my apartment to have voice control over the lights and drapes. The X10 computer interface combined with Homeseer allowed me to create pretty complex "scenes" such as the always popular "seduce" command which would close the drapes, gradually dim the lights to 15% in 1% increments over a 1 hour interval, and start playing a playlist of mp3s that sadly started with Sarah Mclachlan and ended with Barry White.

by logic 16y ago

phamilton 16y ago

I submitted my simple arduino thermostat a while back to hack-a-day and it got a lot of good feedback. Extending it has been on my todo list, but then again, that list is evergrowing. Link to my blog documenting the very simple thermostat : http://undiscoveredfeatures.blogspot.com/2010/08/thermostat.html http://undiscoveredfeatures.blogspot.com/2010/08/thermostat....

byoung2 16y ago

I played around with X10 networking (device control using the in-house power wiring as a message bus) years ago, for home automation I had lots of fun with X10 back in college, tricking out my apartment to have voice control over the lights and drapes. The X10 computer interface combined with Homeseer allowed me to create pretty complex "scenes" such as the always popular "seduce" command which would close the drapes, gradually dim the lights to 15% in 1% increments over a 1 hour interval, and start playing a playlist of mp3s that sadly started with Sarah Mclachlan and ended with Barry White.