Re: Ethernet-based systems for DIY?

["Brad" <bsnedek@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Don,

Diy ethernet, If you are willing to jump in SitePlayer, And Xport are
two pieces I have been working with for a couple of years. I got no
where with the extended X-10 protocol. I have a several circuits that
use both SitePlayer and Xport packages, when you include a pic
microcontroller and a nice front end like Homeseer, the sky is the
limit.

   Siteplayer is a web server on a 1" BY 1" board it includes a good
TCPIP/UDP stack. It also includes a serial port that I connect to a Pic
micocontroller. I have found an issue with the UDP protocol though. If
you pass more then a few bytes of data per message the SitePlayer will
loose itself.

   Xport is the best ethernet on a chip I have found so far. Its web
server is weaker then SitePlayer but its easier to program. Once
programmed, data that appears on the ethernet is sent to the serial
port and vise versa. Again hook a Pic Microcontroller to the serial
port and you have a powerful control device.

I chose HomeSeer as my front end because as a programmer it is fairly
easy to expand and write scripts to control and receive data. I am sure
there are others but I got the best bang for my buck. HomeSeer has a
plugin called HS_Commander that speaks UDP. And I completed a HS_TCPIP
plugin. With these two plugins I can monitor temperatures around my
home on a room by room basis as one example.

If you want to Google these names, and also look for Tom Igoe's web
page.

Good Luck

On Dec 9, 4:56 pm, "Don Stratton" <anguishandf...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I have been carefully considering what I would like to see in total
> home automation for a long time.  it can best be described as Star Trek
> technology; I want to know pretty much everything going on in my home
> and I want a high level of computing assistance (voice responce,
> internet interactivity, intelligent alarm systems that correlate
> multiple sensors to evaluate threat and response, tons more).
>
> Needless to say I have not found it.
>
> I can find pretty much all of it in bits and pieces, but nothing that
> would logically stitch together very well.  Systems like X10 are weak
> in security, alarm systems are weak in home automation, media systems
> ignore both, very little of it embraces a do-it-yourselfer, most
> systems don't scale or intergrate well with each other, and good
> software is absolutely non-existant.  Which brings me to my point.
>
> _IF_ I am right and nothing "good" exists, I may be interested in
> building it myself.  I say this both as an interested homeowner who's
> handy with a soldering iron, and as the owner and senior engineer of a
> company that makes consumer electronic gear.  I did a quick block
> design of a data aquisition module I thought would be a good idea
> (multiple A/D, multiple GPIO and video inputs with ethernet out back to
> the base), checked the net to find nothing quite like it, and am
> intrigued by the idea of developing it into a full-fledged commercial
> product.  My thinking is that systems like this should be more cellular
> in nature, and this DAQ would seem to allow for all home security
> sensing needs, some or all of home monitoring needs, easy as hell for
> DIY installation and integration into existing sensor systems, and
> absolute expandability in the form of ethernet output.  VERY simple
> software would allow you to do a lot, very complex software boggles my
> mind in terms of sheer potential (the Star Trek stuff).
>
> Am I wrong?  Can someone recommend what they think are good systems and
> components?
>
> --Don