Most of the blog post was about reverse engineering the control protocol and automating the unit. The same principles could be applied to other A/C units, like

Most of the blog post was about reverse engineering the control protocol and automating the unit. The same principles could be applied to other A/C units, like window units that are ubiquitous in many parts of the US. It is not specific to split system, they didn't even install it themselves, that was a minor part of the blog post. Also, their methodology of writing their own software is uncommon anywhere, even in Japan; but that's true of many things that get posted here, that's what makes them interesting.