On a prior episode of the news program linked to below, a viewer commented that the thing he saw missing from the current consumer home automation market was systems that could handle multiple protocols. He said that business building automation systems could do this for a long time, and what was needed was for someone to come along and scale these down for home use.
In response to that, another viewer commented: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI-KO-VEXFc#t=1304 (offset 22:41) saying that the reason why we don't see such systems is the cost, citing expensive controllers, and Z-Wave light switches that run $50 each. He goes on to say there are some options, such as the Vera controller (not open enough, last time I looked), and Smart Things (which I haven't investigate yet; see below for video), both of which work with multiple protocols. Some interesting stuff happening in home automation lately, but I'm still left pretty skeptical as to the openness. The companies getting into this space are largely trying to make solutions that have some utility to low tech-skill consumers. The objective is to deliver something that's a turn-key appliance, that doesn't require a home automation consultant to design and install, and isn't something that can only be pieced together by hobbyists, as was largely the case with X-10. I can't blame them for wanting to do this, but often such efforts come at the expense of openness and interoperability. One place where we see ease of use taking precedent over openness is when it comes to reliance on cloud services. Most consumer friendly connected devices rely on some cloud service, because it makes the product setup easier. The down side is that it usually means your data is going to the manufacturer's site, and is either not available to you or available in a more limited form. Integration with other devices and controllers may not be feasible. Privacy is a problem. And if the manufacturer goes out of business, the device is likely useless. One of the most interesting projects in this space is the Home Automation Server project: http://homeautomationserver.com/ which is attempting to build a fully open home automation controller platform (using wither Arduino or Raspberry Pi hardware), and provides a free cloud service, to facilitate mobile control. (Presumably the cloud service can be swapped out for a local server.) Here's a tutorial illustrating an example project where you can light up a few LEDs and control a few servos and a web cam: http://randomnerdtutorials.com/home-automation-server-project-example-tutorial/ I've only skimmed the info on this project. So far I'm not seeing some critical bits, like interfaces to control existing home automation protocols, like Z-Wave. It also needs some controller software that allows creating home automations rules via web browser or similar. Without those parts, this is just a fancy way to remotely talk to an Arduino. I'm still working through the CES coverage of home automation devices. Here's Engadget's coverage of "The Smart Things House": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DQfhdK5qMw&feature=youtube_gdata_player -Tom _______________________________________________ Hardwarehacking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
