Re: Controllerless distributed automation

["Mark McCall" <mark@xxxxxxx>]

This method has been discussed before on this list David.  I think Dr John
was developing a system similar to this too.

The idea is sound, however the prospect of designing and building this
yourself is a bit daunting.  I suppose the question is to you want to
automate your home now or spend the next X years working on a propreitry
system.

While X10 is far from perfect it is available now and (relatively)
inexpensive.  It's also all "standard" that allows your alarm to
talk to
your lights etc.

M.

----- Original Message -----
From: David Paterson (Pixi) <david.paterson@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 10:23 PM
Subject: [ukha_d] Controllerless distributed automation


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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