X10 / TINI

[Gordon Christie <homeautomation@xxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

Joined the list a few days ago, have been lurking to try to figure out the
lay of the land, so to speak..

Keith Doxey kindly pointed me in the direction of this list, as I am
currently seeking more information about home automation, a subject with
which I am poorly acquainted. Let me explain a little about myself,
and why I need your help.

I'm a Computer Science student, currently in my honours year at The Robert
Gordon University. My course is mainly taught in Java, but I also have a
background in C, assembly, and playing about with computers since the ZX
Spectrum.

The reason I'm looking for information about X10 is that I have started
work on my honours project, which involves the use of a small Java-powered
system called TINI (more information on this is at www.ibutton.com, if
you're interested). I'm informed that TINI has been discussed here
before, but a basic summary of TINI is that it has serial, parallel, and
Ethernet interfaces, as well as full onboard HTTP (with dynamic pages
using servlets), FTP and telnet server implementations. It also has it's
own device bus, called 1-wire, which has stuff like locks, switches,
sensors etc available.

I had several choices of what to do with TINI, but after some
consideration, I decided I want to create a combined home automation and
security system using only the TINI board and an X10 controller, which
would hopefully occupy a box approximately the size of a VHS tape, and
would be controllable on a local intranet, or possibly if security
concerns can be addressed, over the Internet or via WAP. This might also
be useful for providing a gateway between an existing Ethernet network
and X10 kit without having to have a full computer dedicated to it.The
planned configuration for the TINI, board, and associated power supply,
etc, will probably cost about $150 after paying for shipping and stuff -
so may provide a fairly cheap, networked alternative to using a PC for
this stuff.

I would appreciate any input, feedback, suggestions, etc.. if anyone has
bought a TINI from the US, then information about your experiences would
be useful - the university has one, but I want one to play with at
home. Also I'd be interested to know what kind of features would be
required of a system like this.. I've looked at other systems, but it'd be
helpful to have a few people suggest a list of requirements. I am planning
on releasing the full source for my program as I write it, so others may
benefit from my work.

Thanks for your time!

~Gordon Christie
homeautomation@xxxxxxx


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