Controllerless distributed automation

["David Paterson (Pixi)" <david.paterson@xxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

Here's an idea to mull over (and a couple of questions relating to it).

I've finally bought my long dreamed-of country cottage, and I'm about to
start into the big automation installation :-)

I'd always planned on using a spare PC as a main central controller,
following what most people have done, but the other week I had a bit of
an epiphany, and decided that a "controllerless" system with
distributed
intelligence was the way to go.  This seems to me to have some good
points to it :-

*  if a central control system fails, all automated functions die, but
in a distributed system only one small part would be affected

*  it's easier to add in new devices and functions if they're all doing
small self-contained jobs, and can communicate information to each other

*  the sort of power now available in PIC-type microcontrollers makes it
possible to pack a lot of intelligence into every light switch, socket,
thermostat, motion sensor or whatever

There's lots more I could add, and I think the pros definitely outweigh
the cons (the main con being I'll probably have to design, build,
program and debug just about everything myself :-)

I've been looking for any information on similar systems, but drawn
almost a complete blank, so does anyone have any experience of this sort
of setup, or can you point me at any resources which might be of use?

After searching through most of the HA sites and newsgroups, I've not
come up with much, so maybe there are some major cons I haven't spotted.

I'm quite excited about this, and I think it might offer lots of new and
interesting possibilities.  Any thoughts or info????

David P.

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