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Does anyone have recommendations for good vendor(s) for home automation devices/systems/software/etc...? I'd love my house to be more "smart" but not really su

by modoc 13y ago

Does anyone have recommendations for good vendor(s) for home automation devices/systems/software/etc...? I'd love my house to be more "smart" but not really sure how to approach it. I need stuff that is either hidden or good looking, works well with iOS and OS X. Ideally would love a combination of home automation, HVAC control, alarms (smoke, CO, etc...), and security. There's also some logic that I haven't seen offered, for instance: if someone drives up my driveway, I'd like to hear a chime (and/or get a text with a photo of the car). If they drive up at 2 AM I want to be woken up! Unless it's me or my wife (RFID chips in our bumpers for ID?). Etc...

georgemcbay 13y ago
SmartThings is currently working on a platform to unify this sort of thing into a centralized hub with app control. I haven't actually used their product yet, but many years ago I used to work with the CEO there (Alex Hawkinson) and he's a great/smart guy.
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
How good are you with hardware? I'm building mine with rPi, Arduino, msp430, self-designed circuits (LM35 for temperature, phototransistor for light), COTS relay boards, all sorts of stuff I have lying about. I had thought about making it a serious design effort, but I hate doing printed circuit boards, and since you can buy this hobbyist stuff so cheap now, I usually just use what I can find cheap at the time. Someday I may put it all together after I've got the kinks worked out. Here are some sources: moderndevice.com, adafruit.com, sparkfun.com, pololu.com, mpja.com, taydaelectronics.com, surpluscenter.com, futurelec.com (flammable gas sensors, CO sensors, misc components), and then Allied, Digikey, Mouser, Future, etc. I used a cheap little relay breakout and 74HCT595's to control incandescent/halogen/fluorescent lights and 120VAC devices (search for "sainsmart relay"). Audio stuff came mostly from PartsExpress.com Good old X10 stuff works with OSX (it's just serial port controlled RF dongle), I think that new fancy Phillips HUE works with iOS, but it is mega expensive, you can create the same functionality from COTS parts for much less.

by modoc 13y ago

georgemcbay 13y ago

SmartThings is currently working on a platform to unify this sort of thing into a centralized hub with app control. I haven't actually used their product yet, but many years ago I used to work with the CEO there (Alex Hawkinson) and he's a great/smart guy.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

How good are you with hardware? I'm building mine with rPi, Arduino, msp430, self-designed circuits (LM35 for temperature, phototransistor for light), COTS relay boards, all sorts of stuff I have lying about. I had thought about making it a serious design effort, but I hate doing printed circuit boards, and since you can buy this hobbyist stuff so cheap now, I usually just use what I can find cheap at the time. Someday I may put it all together after I've got the kinks worked out. Here are some sources: moderndevice.com, adafruit.com, sparkfun.com, pololu.com, mpja.com, taydaelectronics.com, surpluscenter.com, futurelec.com (flammable gas sensors, CO sensors, misc components), and then Allied, Digikey, Mouser, Future, etc. I used a cheap little relay breakout and 74HCT595's to control incandescent/halogen/fluorescent lights and 120VAC devices (search for "sainsmart relay"). Audio stuff came mostly from PartsExpress.com Good old X10 stuff works with OSX (it's just serial port controlled RF dongle), I think that new fancy Phillips HUE works with iOS, but it is mega expensive, you can create the same functionality from COTS parts for much less.