[Rehaan]

Interesting stuff guys...

Originally Posted by anekho

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ented?ref=card

Very cool indeed.

Originally Posted by bullock-Car

Among the conventional system, typically require all wires to centralised distribution wires or in HAI systems from switchbox a cat 5 cable to controller.

Yeah! This is the biggest pain for people who aren't starting off with a new house!

Luckily for me i think i will be able to pull a set of relay control wires (am using a cat5 cable) from my main switchbox to another location where the arduino controller will be.

Originally Posted by bullock-Car

Though I consider this year will be an watershed with ZIgbee and zwave devices and low cost controllers making headlines
i.e http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...art-home/posts

Wow... for $99 that is a cool one!

Originally Posted by bullock-Car

Finally I am thinking i will go for conventional electrical wiring and provide for some extra space for these modules,may be after 1 year, to integrate lighting with Control from phone.

Definitely a good idea.

cya
R

[dgupta]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Definitely a good idea.

cya
R

Rehaan, did you consider the Raspberry Pi instead of Arduino ? From what I read in general on the net, RPi has a cost advantage over Arduino, of course depending on the exact project objective and hardware requirement.

I just got hold of a RPi board over the weekend and I was thinking of embarking on a home automation project. Don't know much about it as of now, still in the research phase. Here are a few links I found.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Rasp...6/Install-App/

http://www.recantha.co.uk/blog/?p=1517

[Sprucegoose]

Guys,
Won't the simplest way be to use a powerline to ethernet adapter to control an ethernet controlled relay?

Powerline to Ethernet Adapter:
http://www.newegg.com/Powerline-Netw...ategory/ID-294

Ethernet Controlled Relay:
http://www.robot-electronics.co.uk/a...y_Modules.html

That way:
1> Where ever you have electrical wiring you automatically have the control wiring as well
2> If each relay module can be communicated with individually then just plonk in both of these into a switchboard, wire it up and your hardware will be ready to use.

[girimajiananth]

nice thread , just came across this website, its a Bangalore based company .

http://www.silvanlabs.com/

How far are these things effective ? Is it affordable ?

[Rosso Corsa]

Anyone tried getting a Raspberry Pi shipped directly to India? Any hassles?

[null]

Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa

Anyone tried getting a Raspberry Pi shipped directly to India? Any hassles?

Try this site? http://www.crazypi.com/index.php?rou...&product_id=57 Prices are quoted in INR & looks promising.

PS: I am not associated with them. came across this link in another forum earlier today.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by dgupta

Rehaan, did you consider the Raspberry Pi instead of Arduino ?

Sorry just saw your post!

I did NOT consider the Raspberry Pi, simply because i didn't think i needed the additional advantages it provides, i'm familiar with arduino, and i have no idea about programming a R-Pi (and didn't want to spend more time learning instead of executing the project).

Originally Posted by dgupta

Don't know much about it as of now, still in the research phase.

Check out these SOLID STATE relay boards. I bought the 4-ch one. Its working well.

Amazon link (see the reviews etc here)

Buy from here, they ship to India: Sainsmart Site

Originally Posted by Sprucegoose

Won't the simplest way be to use a powerline to ethernet adapter to control an ethernet controlled relay?

Perhaps, though i've never tried one of these. There might be other problems with it : range? interference?

Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa

Anyone tried getting a Raspberry Pi shipped directly to India? Any hassles?

Forget getting it shipped from aboard. Why don't you buy from here:
http://www.rhydolabz.com/index.php?m...oducts_id=1217

cya
R

[clevermax]

Very informative thread.

I recently started looking into Home Automation. I plan to utilize my existing home media network eco-system, which consists of a WD MyCloud, which is nothing but a low power consuming Debian Linux with a massive hard drive.

Bit of a background, I am currently using MyCloud as the media store, torrent client, cloud storage for backing up my data from phone, PC etc. Since TV is also connected to home network, I can play movies directly from WD MyCloud using DLNA.

Have perl scripts which already automates everything from searching and adding proper subtitles, merge subs and movie into a new mp4 media file to make it ready to play in TV. (Thanks to bhpian nkg77 for the scripts)

Learned about X10 switches from several home automation sites in the internet. I have one question about them - are they compatible with 230V distribution system in our land? Anyone successfully using such switches to automate appliances or lights here?

I wish to interface them with this low-power Linux PC, and then figure out how to control them remotely. WD MyCloud consumes 4W when HDD is not spinning. It goes upto 8-9W when HDD spins. I can expect 15-19 hrs of sleep time (4W) per day.

[::CMS::]

I would prefer cheap USB-Relay boards in host mode instead of aurdino (if the sensor/relay status is not required). Create a custom app in android to send commands.

[shashi63]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I'd just run CAT5 / ethernet cables all over the place. To every point you need a camera, switchboard, or any other control. This will do the trick for DIY stuff, but i don't know how well it will integrate with other solutions.

Also, leave a lot of room around the switchboxes for controllers, but once again i'm just talking about what i wish i had done in my room so i could get on with my DIY project

cya
R

Number of solutions.. one of the best if fro, Schneider - www.mysehome.com and another company which provides an advanced solution is crestron - www.crestron.com.

The C Bus concept is a Schneider speciality!


Plus ofcourse a company called Leviton.

[Rosso Corsa]

Planning to get a ceiling fan remote control kit. Could not find anything about products catering to the Indian market. Has anyone tried this before ? How is the pricing/availability ?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa

Planning to get a ceiling fan remote control kit. Could not find anything about products catering to the Indian market. Has anyone tried this before ? How is the pricing/availability ?

Check the Crabtree site for this. I am using Crabtree I-sense which is basically remote control lights and fans all over the house since about 3 years. Works perfectly and is really convenient for lazy people like me.

[abhi182]

Some of you old timers may remember me as the guy who had setup a full fledged PC in his Corsa for Music/Nav etc back in the era when uttering the word Tablet would lead to a question on what your ailment is

Of course, that whole project is a pointless one now but it had been a while since I had done something substantial DIY-wise..

This time , I diverted the attention of my drill bits and wiring harnesses to my home (much to the chagrin of the lady of the house). Eventually though, she likes what it resulted in :

This was done for rather cheap using off the shelf components and supports any business logic combination you want to use - some examples I

- Send me an alert with Pics if there is motion in Porch but only if its a weekday and time is between 10AM to 7PM
- Switch living room lights 10 mins before sunset with a warm hue if temperature <24C or cool hue if temp >28C
- Dim living room lights to pale blue if a movie is switched on the media center, brighten if paused or stopped

[knp]

Interesting work and I believe, it's the right time we talk about home automation.
I'm thinking to do the same and would you please share more details on the hardware, etc?

[abhi182]

Here you go - Attaching scrshot as text formatting is getting messed up