Reader's Voice: An Introduction To Home Automation

[Guest]

Linuxmce?!?!?!?

 

[sorusbay]

I know KNX is not well known in US. However it is superior to anything else. Just check www.knx.org

 

[Guest]

so far the only worldwide, open, multivendor, ISO certified standard for HA is KNX. backed by big names such as ABB, Siemens, Schneider and 100 other companies.

 

[ceteras]

[citation][nom]Weyland[/nom]Also, perhaps only relevant to Europe I dunno but cable color codes have changed through time and older houses might provide you with installed runs of cables that do not match the current standard at all.Sometimes you'll happen upon different colors used for the same thing just because an older standard wasn't specifying a color for certain things at all, or the technician ran out of white and didn't care...[/citation]

Indeed. Whenever I want to fix something in the house I always get a tool to check the hot and neutral wires before touching them. Even when I power down the whole place, I still check it .

Regarding linuxMCE, that seems like a great idea. An open-source HA solution would be first adopted by more or less technical geeks, then it might become popular. I salute that, and I think a DIY HA could be useful even for small condos.

 

[smoothtlk]

I didn't realize that a home's power lines were color coded. In US, there is just Hot (black), Neutral (white) and Ground (not coated). One can't trace a power cable from distribution panel to outlet or switch using colors at all. A tone generator and receiver works great to trace a cable. Better than color coding as it is sure.

For low voltage (ethernet) there are the two 586A and B standards that as long as both ends of a cable are terminated same, no problem.

HVAC seems to keep to a color coding standard.

Media connections are standardized.

So I don't think color standards is the issue of HA adoption.

I think the real issue is cost vs. value vs. complexity of choice and ensuring that pieces work together towards the end objective(s).

 

[Shadow703793]

Imo, one solution for the need for the multiple controllers would be to replace them with a single PC based on ARM or may be even an Atom.And make all the items Wireless g/n compatible.

 

[juliejacobson1]

May I suggest a few related articles? We (EH Publishing) are probably the home automation industry's greatest advocates, but we give an honest view of the industry as well.

Why Home Automation Manufacturers Fail

Why H.A. Manufacturers Fail: Revisited
Road to Home Automation Standards Paved with Good Intentions
Has Home Automation Standard Finally Arrived?

 

[Grims]

They seem to primitive for me to get into it. I see no reason why they couldn't interface with a webcam mounted above your big screen TV, and a high quality microphone coming out of a small hole in the drywall behind the couch for phone calls and voice control. I should be able to say "Call Kaitlyn in any room of the house) or a nice touch LCD control panel mounted inside the wall. It would also need to control door locks, so that if you forgot to lock the doors when you left, or you didn't have your keys on your a cellphone could be used to "lock down" the house.

I also think facial recognition has came far enough to be used as a security device if a user forgets their keys (not as the main use for entry)

Until theses devices are updated to the point where they don't like like tacked on 1950s stuff, I won't be interested.

 

[antiacid]

Bleh. This HA stuff looks like technology from the 90s, not technology that is available to us right now!

What happened to the networked fridge that knows its inventory and that you can remotely manage in tandem with your favorite food retailer's outlet current up-to-date selection as to find the best deals around and always have a reminder of when you'll run out of stuff?

What happened to the networked temperature/lightning/water heating/music/whatever system that knows when and where you are in a room as to turn stuff on/off when you are in/out with proximity sensors?

Why isn't voice recognition implemented with those systems as well?

What about your home sending you a warning if there is an intrusion / fire / accident with a quick option to notify the correct authority?

Doesn't take a genius to come up with improvement to those systems... It looks like those companies are lazy with their innovations and that might be why they aren't finding a lot of buyers, since it isn't such a big improvement vs currently available low-cost/low-tech solutions.

 

[sublifer]

[citation][nom]antiacid[/nom]What happened to the networked fridge that knows its inventory and that you can remotely manage in tandem with your favorite food retailer's outlet current up-to-date selection as to find the best deals around and always have a reminder of when you'll run out of stuff?What happened to the networked temperature/lightning/water heating/music/whatever system that knows when and where you are in a room as to turn stuff on/off when you are in/out with proximity sensors?Why isn't voice recognition implemented with those systems as well?What about your home sending you a warning if there is an intrusion / fire / accident with a quick option to notify the correct authority?Doesn't take a genius to come up with improvement to those systems...[/citation]
The fridge would be expensive to review (for those that don't get a free one sent to review) and I don't even know if they're available. Everything else you mentioned is already available. Pretty much every HA can network HVAC, lighting, water heater, the rest... Voice recognition is available with HAL (and maybe others) Home sending warnings is available through software, security systems and other HA add-ons.

 

[Tindytim]

[citation][nom]pratik77[/nom]If you want the real deal, go for Crestron.Sure it costs money but so does liquid nitrogen cooled overclocked gaming rigs.[/citation]
Please tell me where I can buy a 24/7 LN2 rig.

...

What's that? Yeah, you can't buy an LN2 rig. The only feasible method for a 24/7 LN2 rig is an extremely large cascade cooling system, and I doubt such a system would be shippable by normal methods.

 

[Guest]

I've used Minerva to hide all the protocol problems in my setup. It works well, but it doesn't support as many protocols as I'd like, so I've had to write some myself. Why don't the manufacturers do this for me? I hate using their closed systems

 

[Guest]

I honestly feel if they want to see home automation move along and become more of a reality. They need to work together with hotels.

First off with hotels you have an unlimited advertise potential. As a society, we are a see to believe. It truth, how many people would have really gone out to buy a new HDTV if you hadn't seen the visual difference at a store. If I had seen a 36" picture tube next to a 36" HDTV and saw the difference was only wide screen to standard and the cost was double. I would buy the picture tube.

The second thing is a reason to further develop ideas that revolve around a hotel but can also be modified to fit your home. For example, a lot of hotel doors are spring loaded to shut, this is a not a large problem, but wouldn't it be nice if when you scanned your key card it opened the door for you and turned on a light. Making it easier to get your luggage inside and see were your going. Place motion sensors in the room so when a guest checks out and leaves lights on in the room. If the motion sensors do not detect movement after a certain length of time it turns off the lights in the room, tv, and turns off the AC box. Now you have a greener hotel that waste less energy and many of these same ideas good be adapted for home use as well.

If home automation is going to move forward, people need to see the benefits and have to want it. You also need to make it seem like a convenience and not just something the rich would buy just to say they have it.

 

[pdesai2019]

Don't forget Zigbee and Control4. I had it recently installed and its great. Only downside is that they don't allow homeowner to add new devices. You have to call the Control4 dealer. If I had known that before not sure if I would have gone with them.

 

[jtrgovich]

[citation][nom]smoothtlk[/nom]The next step is to tie into a PC based home automation software setup. This is where the many independent and most always different protocols can be blended together into a more seamless user experience.The software bridges one technology across to the other.Media / HVAC / Lighting / Security / cameras / Internet derived info like weather / Irrigation come together for the user via iPhone / in wall touchscreen / automation logic / schedules, etc.MainLobby / Homeseer / CQC are amongst the software leaders. All three handle all of the above capabilities.[/citation]

I couldn't agree more! Really a set of standards is only necessary with respect to the HA hardware and your PC. Why not just use something that already exists like USB or even better, TCP/IP over a home LAN. The end-user can then simply install a driver provided by the manufacture and use a generic software package to control everything. We do that for the oodles of peripherals available. The biggest roadblock as many here have pointed out is the lack of benefit (or at least an apparent lack of benefit). If you think about it, HA is portreyed by the media as the home of tomorrow--not the home of TODAY! The only people who have these "toys" are those with more money than they know what to do with (ie: Bill Gates). Provided things were standardized (PC compatible), I believe you'd see a dramatic drop in cost. Granted a majority of the stuff isn't really necessary; however, there are a couple of HA products that deserve merit. What homeowner wouldn't love to be able to remotely notified their basement beginning to flood due to a sump pump failure and then be able view the situation in real-time on their smartphone. Granted you could probably do that now, though I can almost guarantee you'll need to somehow bring completely incompatible systems together in some jerry-rigged fashion. Perhaps even some custom written software running on a PC or microcontroller. Hopefully someday, we'll be able to VPN into our home server and monitor/manage everything--all while on vacation.