Re: Last Night in London?

[Stuart Grimshaw <stuart@xxxxxxx>]

On Friday 22 June 2001 10:40 am, you wrote:

> ii. Maybe the project doesnt need a full software control system but
rather
> a software API written in various languages.  Maybe the HA masses
would
> prefer a COM object they can embed into their VB?  Or the perl geeks
can
> have a perl module, or those java heads can get their hands on a jar
file.

<snip>

I was planning on doing this anyway, so I'll volunteer for doing the Perl
module, as well as the Kylix component suite when/if Inprise decide to
release their Open Source version of Kylix. (Who was it from the list told
me
it was in the next few weeks?)

> iii. We also talked about sponsorship for the ukha project from
> letsautomate or laser etc to help cover up front costs for CE
compliance
> etc.  In return they get guaranteed stock and the honour of being the
only
> stockists for x number of months or x amount of stock etc.

In principle, I agree with this.

> As to Mark mentioning my sensor ideas I get all evangelical about this
and
> I know ive already spoken to Ian and Stu about it so my apologies if I
am
> repeating myself.
>
> I think there are two major issues with nearly all HA systems
currently:
>
> a. There is virtually no easy way to integrate the components in a
> controlled fashion (thats what makes the expensive systems a good deal
if
> you could afford them)
>
> b. Most people implement HA by controlling devices and then adding
sensing
> capabilities
>

> Each room has a number of sensor modules.  A module would be made up
of a
> small breaboard containing a 64kbit iButton plus n+1 1-wire sensors
(light,
> humidity, temp etc).  Using the xml 1-wire project (on sourceforge)
you can
> define relationships between 1-wire devices.  The idea is that each
sensor
> has its own local data storage on the nvram.  This is then farmed off
> through an object model into a database for historical use.  The great
> thing is that even if you lose the database you can still boot strap
the
> house using the few hours worth of data on the nvram buttons.

I still dont get how you're going to acheive this, will the NVRAM be
updated
by the controller, or be updated locally? To be of any use it should be
done
locally then in the event of an extended controller failure th data is
still
gathered. It's the mechanism of recording the data onto the NVRAM that I
can't see...

> Historical mapping of data provides trend analysis of the house status
> which can then be used with a bit of logic to define outcomes when
> situations occur.  I wanted to be able to dim lights in a room to
different
> levels depending on light levels in different parts of the room so you
get
> a uniform light level across the room.

I have a historical graph of data collected by my DS1820, it's stored ina a
Round Robin database and it's something I will be looking at when I
eventually get round to buying a TINI and extending the 1-wire net outside
of
my office :-)

> p/s Found some groovy stuff using vrml in java 3d.  think I might have
> found the ideal vehicle for my systems front end.  virtual movement
through
> house and point/click -> on devices using a mouse click

Is ther any chance of s sneeky peek Keiran? Sounds interesting.

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Stuart Grimshaw         www.schoolsnet.com          sg@xxxxxxx
Special Projects Developer                            t: 07976 625221
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