Re: Linux, anyone?

[patrick@xxxxxxx]

On 10-Mar-99 Harrison, Mark (Alliance) wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Anyone out there using Linux to automate some (or all) of their
> homes?
>

Yup!

For end-user interface, I have a mixture of Infra-red remote control, web
and menu-driven text interfaces (via mini RS232 terminals).

The linux box interfaces with: X-10, home security system (including
PIR's), caller-id with SMS (pager-style) notification to my mobile phone,
IR control of TV and video, interactive voice control (I can phone the
server and follow voice prompts to e.g. record a tv program, turn the
lounge lights on) as well as providing usual Linux like facilities such as
e-mail, web cacheing (eg. daily download of TV listings etc.), networking
services and dial-on-demand connection to my ISP.

On the in-progress front: I already have a video camera on my front door,
but am struggling to get a Hauppauge capture card working under X-Windows.
I also have a Creative Labs VGA to PAL converter (acquired off someone on
this list), which should allow me to connect the Linux box to my TV set,
and will open up the possibility of vastly improved user interface once get
it working under X-Windows, but again is proving a bit problematic (I
haven't tried _that_ hard; I'm travelling a lot and don't have much spare
time these days).
I'm tempted to try interfacing with my heating too - but the potentially
high price of failure (freezing to death) is putting me off...

Almost all the software is home-brew. Linux was definitely the best choice.
X-10 performs reasonably well, but can be a bit slow. I've found that most
of the really cool home-automation features seem to come from being able to
combine simple tasks. For example, sensing PIR state is easy. Turning
lights on is easy. Turning the bathroom light on when you get up in the
night is easy to do by combining these things, and dead handy to boot. As
is turning on the coffee machine when I get up in the morning.
Automatically turning the sound down on the TV when the phone rings is
another useful trick...

Patrick

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