Gordon MeyerSEWWUG

July 18, 2007

Home Automationfor Humans

©2007

Welcome tomy automated home

Wake me at 5:30AM.If I’m not up by 5:45,try again.

OK

If my wife is home, wake her at 6:30.

Unless it’s a weekend, then let us both sleep until 8:00.

Start the coffee pot before I go downstairs, and turn on some lights if it’s still dark.

Turn everything off after the last person leaves for work.

Bye

Send me an email if anything interesting happens while I’m gone.

Turn on the yard lights a few minutes after sunset.

And if nobody is home yet, look occupied.

When I arrive, tell me how many email messages I have from friends.

And remind me that it’s garbage night.

If the phone rings during dinner, tell me who is calling.

It’s time for bed. Tell me tomorrow’s weather.

Tell me that I left the garage door open. Close it for me.

Turn off the lights. Adjust the thermostat. Be quiet until morning.

G’nite

The home of tomorrow, today.

Your house as the ultimate peripheral• Your computer needs to talk to

your house. To do this you need to make your house smarter.• But you don’t need a new house.• You don’t need new lamps.• What you need is…

Your house as the ultimate peripheralYour computer needs to talk to your house. To do this you need to make your house smarter.

But you don’t need a new house.

You don’t need new lamps.

What you need is…

XYour house as the ultimate peripheralYour computer needs to talk to your house. To do this you need to make your house smarter.

But you don’t need a new house.

You don’t need new lamps.

What you need is…

Powerline Carrier (PLC)

Sends data over household AC

Since 1978, now public domain

Dozens of brand names

Hundreds of devices

X10 Technology

• Serialized commands sent over the AC power line• X10 modules are connected to power line and listen for commands• All modules are always listening for commands• Modules respond when they see a command with their X10 address– House codes: A-P– Unit codes: 1-16– Example X10 address: B5

X10 Details

X-10 Powerhouse The BSR System X-10 Magnavox Leviton Manufacturing Co. HomePro Advanced Control Technologies Stanley GE Homeminder PCS Safety First

IBM Heath Kit - Zenith Wesclox NuTone RCA HomeLink SmartLinc Universal ElectronicsOne-For-All Sears Radio Shack Plug 'n Power

A rose by any other name...PLC (x10) label names

Modules

Lamp & Appliance Modules• Modules let you control:– Lamps– Fans– Coffee Pots– Radios

Motion Detectors• Passive Infrared Detection• Battery-operated• Sends wireless signal to a nearby

transceiver• Transceiver relays signal to the

power line• Not exactly instantaneous

Sending X10 Commands• Mini-controllers let you manually

send X10 commands• Turn lights on or off• Dim lights• Trigger a macro in your home

automation software

Can’t I just turn on a light like a normal person?

control is not automation

Control

Automation

Makes your house a peripheral

• Serial device• Plugs into wall socket• Receives all X10 commands• Sends X10 commands• ActiveHome Pro CM15A

US$50• SmartHome PowerLinc 1132U

US$40

X10 to Computer Interface

The Zen of X10

It takes time

• Transmission timing means it takes 1.5 seconds to send commands.• Longer if you’re using wireless

devices, like motion detectors, without a separate wireless receiver.q

Noise happens

• Electrical noise blocks commands– power supplies– electric toothbrushes– fluorescent lights– your favorite gadgetF

Give it a hand

• Normalize your electrical environment– Use X10 filters– Use X10 signal boosters– Bridge your home’s phases!

Keep perspective

• Relax, take a deep breath– If a light doesn’t come on, you’re

no worse off than before, right?– Do you stop using WiFi because

the microwave knocks you offline?– If you don’t like it, stop. Starting

small means you can."

X10 Alternatives

• Backwards compatible with X10• Uses the powerline, but with a

modern protocol & repeaters• Wireless Bridging for reliability• SDK available• So far, software for Mac and

Windows only

www.insteon.net

• Completely Wireless (900 mhz)• Each module is a repeater• Acknowledgment of commands• Several manufacturers• Costly buy-in for developers• Windows-only (so far)

www.zen-sys.com

The Brains(software)

1. Talks to your devices– turn on living room lamp– motion detected in garage– dim the bedroom lights

Four Building Blocks

2. Talks to groups of devices– turn on upstairs lights– motion detected outdoors– turn off the sprinklers

Four Building Blocks

3. Keeps track of states– The sun is up– Nobody is home– Today is a holiday

Four Building Blocks

Four Building Blocks4. Applies simple logic– If it is cold outside– When rain is forecast– The last person has left the house

If today is a weekday and Gordon is hometurn on bedroom alarm clockturn on all bedroom lampsturn on all downstairs lightswait 15 minutesrepeat if no motion in master bathroom

end

Example

Misterhousewww.misterhouse.com

Misterhouse

if (time_now ‘5:30am’) {if (state_now $Gordon_home eq ON){

set $bedroom_alarm ON;set $bedroom_lights_all ON;

}}

HomeSeerwww.homeseer.com

Three Fun Hacks

SMARTHOME

HACKSTM

100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

Gordon Meyer

Detect a Beer Thief

What it doesKeep an eye on the babysitter, or your teenagers, while you’re away from home.

Courtesy of Michael Ferguson

Motion detector• Mounted on inside of the door• Opening door sends two signals:– motion– dusk-to-light• Silently write message to log• Say “You’re busted!”• Sound an alarm

In the liquor cabinet• Mounted on inside of the door• Opening door sends two signals:– motion– dusk-to-light• Silently write message to log• Say “You’re busted!”• Sound an alarm

In the liquor cabinet• Mounted on inside of the door• Opening door sends two signals:– motion– dusk-to-light• Silently write message to log• Say “You’re busted!”• Sound an alarm

Hacking the hack• Use this technique to monitor:– The fridge, for dieters.– The gun cabinet.– Your car, parked in the garage.– The furnace closet, to log when you last changed the air filter.

Simulate a Sunrise

What it doesGently brightens the bedroom lights so you wake up naturally.

Starting 15 minutes before the time that you want to wake up, raise the light level in the room.

SunRise clockhttp://www.dreamessentials.com/a_clocks_sunrise.aspx

US$110.

XTension scriptScheduled to begin 15 minutes before your wake-up time

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 10

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 20 in 3 * minutes

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 30 in 5 * minutes

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 50 in 7 * minutes

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 75 in 9 * minutes

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 80 in 11 * minutes

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 100 in 14 * minutes

Repeating eventMonday—Friday, 15 minutes Early

Hacking the hackMake it smarter

• If you’re not at home, because you’ve left earlier or are on vacation, skip the whole process.if (status of "Gordon Home”) is true then

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 10

dim "Bedroom Lamp" to 20 in 3 * minutes

[...]

end if

• Reverse the technique to dim the lights when you go to bed.

Hamster-Powered Night Light

What it doesHarness your hamster’s nocturnal running to power a night light.

Courtesy of Dan Fink

The specifications• A visit to the pet store showed that most rodents achieve between 40

and 60 RPM on their exercise wheels.• Cheap exercise wheels are noisy, which means they’re wasting energy.

Use a ball-bearing mount instead. (Scavenged from a skateboard.)

The specifications• Build an alternator into the exercise wheel– mount the wheel on stand– add a circle of magnets around the outside perimeter– wind two coils of enamled magnet wire (connected in series)

The light• Two bright red LEDs.• Wired backwards to each other, so

one is lit, depending on which direction the wheel is spinning.• Plenty bright for lighting the way

to the bathroom during the night.

Why stop there?• Calibrate the bicycle computer to

the circumference of the exercise wheel.• Skippy regularly achieved 2 to 3

MPH.• The computer keeps track of peak

speeds, elapsed time, and how many Hamster-Miles (hM) are run each night.

Skippy the HamsterIn memoriam

Resources

Where to turn for help

XTension website and Discussion List• A treasure-trove of ideas, scripts, and an excellent mailing list– www.shed.com

HomeSeer– http://www.homeseer.com/

MisterHouse– http://misterhouse.sourceforge.net/– http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/11/11/

smrthome_hks1.html

Best Deals

Hardware PackageActive Home Pro Starter Kit - US$99Includes computer interface and modulesInterface supports both wireless and power-line commandsWorks with MisterHouse and HomeSeer

Most importantly...

S. A. F.

Spousal Approval Factor

The Key to Home Automation Success

www.gordonmeyer.com

Technology, humanized.Gordon meyer