DIY Smart home thread

Ok per a few requests I am going to start a thread detailing my ideas/plans/wants/needs for the Condo I am buying. This thread is NOT going to be a one off type thread. I am going to update it as I find what I am looking for or as I get bits done AKA LONG TERM THREAD!

I am "buying" an 840sf. condo. Not at all large, but a good start to my eventual plans of owning a castle or an island. It is 4 rooms (well 5 but the dining room and living room are combined) LR, Kitchen, BR, Bath.

I want to make it a smart home in a sense.

Things I want to do:

-Automate Blinds:

• Current foreseeable issues I have are, well I dont have any blinds up in the new condo and the current condo I live in has vertical blinds which require them to be turned 50% from L to R prior to being drawn open (will not open fully otherwise as they will bind up). I will need to find an assembly that can rotate 50% open and reverse the same procedure.

-Network entire Condo with as little use of wireless as possible (wired = security, you have to physically cut/splice the line to gain access to my network).

• Very easy to accomplish, only takes a few hours to complete, involving a few tools
  • Hole saw
  • Screwdriver (phillips and Slot)
  • pliers to attach mounting brackets to drywall
  • fishtape for longer runs
  • flashlight
  • Punch down tool for crimping Cat5e connections
  • RJ45 jacks
  • wall plates for assorted connections (I will be using keyhold plates as they are standard and have multiple snap in connections for the various ideas I have)
    • will need to find a Managed switch to replace existing unmanaged for security control
    • will also possibly need to convert a machine over to a Server OS and join all machines to the Domain for access control to the network.

-Network condo for Video (I like DVD's and would like to NOT have to pause/stop the DVD if I need to go out of eyeshot of the TV to do something.

• Slightly harder then Networking as certain plans may require more involved methods. Much shorter runs are required due to signal degradation, also each splitter will introduce some signal degradation as well.
  • Keystone plates again can be used here as they have RCA snap in plugs as well
  • Same tools as above

-Network Lighting Control

• Is easily done Via X10 and similar. I may look at a single controller for everything which would be much more expensive. This will be hopefully incorporated with automating fishtank controls and may be done via X10 or similar until a better option is found and installed.

-Network shared audio throughout the condo (instead of blasting the speakers so I can hear them, I would rather be able to flip a switch and hear the same music/dvd/MP3/etc in the adjoining room.

• easily done via networked condo and soundcard connections to HT. Other smaller options are available.

-Automate controls of Fishtank lights (currently have 4 fishtanks on timers, I would prefer to have 1-2 timers for all 4 instead).

• see lighting control

-live video feed (this may be a pipe dream due to ISP issues, but I would like to be able to log in to a secure page and see any room in my condo or my fishtanks even).

• there are programs available to stream to a webpage, even YIM could be used. Only foreseeable issue will be the ISP limitations.

If anyone has any other info to add or suggestions PLEASE ADD THEM! I would like to make an actual discussion if possible about this as I see very little info on it here on OCF.

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/09/hack-bedside-tables-into-music-studio.html

15.00 per case
a few screws 1.00
2 rackmount vertical rails 10.00 per side

figure 40 bucks per unit for stackable rackmounts.

Adragontattoo said:

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/09/hack-bedside-tables-into-music-studio.html

15.00 per case
a few screws 1.00
2 rackmount vertical rails 10.00 per side

figure 40 bucks per unit for stackable rackmounts.

Click to expand...

Nice!

I've been looking for ideas on mounting my 1841 and future switches. I like the idea of integrating the home into our tech as well. I'll be hanging around this thread

I have a friend northwest of me that has a custom home with built-in security/camera system, verbally controlled lights, a panic room and other cool crap. He did it all himself too, including designing his house from scratch. His computer's name is "sumbitch" LOL. He can sit down and say "sumbitch, set lights at 65% and turn on the tv" and sumbitch replies in a female voice "yes sir" and does just that. He also relayed all of his IR, such as vcr/dvd/tv/music remotes to a central station in the panic/control room, where he AND sumbitch can control the house.

Oh and the lights are per-room, so he can say "kitchen at 65% and living room at 10%" and it does it in that fashion as well.

Looks like an exciting, challenging, and fun project. What (if any) are your budget and time frame?

/subscribe

VinnyTAMU said:

Looks like an exciting, challenging, and fun project. What (if any) are your budget and time frame?

/subscribe

Click to expand...

Budget is cheap but not crap.
Time frame is sooner rather then later.

Im not trying to be vague I just really havent set a firm price point or time frame. I am sure that I will do some stuff and then find something better and upgrade.

I already have about 100 sunk in with the cables and bits that I ordered from monoprice on saturday.

Alot of the actual install work can be done by me with nothing more then time spent, the HW and programs are what I am most concerned about as they will be the biggest chunk of change by far.

Consider either stepper motors or servo motors for the blinds. Servos might be easier to do what you want in a package but I don't know of any that would be powerful enough to open and or close blinds. Again I assume the large french door type blinds that go from floor to the top of the door. I'm sure a servo exists for that but I'm familiar with hobbyist robotics servos at best.

Also adding a simple Arduino processor could control it as well as add networking capabilities. They are simple, complete open source processors and I'm sure there are forums that exist to support it and are fairly cheap as well.

Roofles said:

Consider either stepper motors or servo motors for the blinds. Servos might be easier to do what you want in a package but I don't know of any that would be powerful enough to open and or close blinds. Again I assume the large french door type blinds that go from floor to the top of the door. I'm sure a servo exists for that but I'm familiar with hobbyist robotics servos at best.

Also adding a simple Arduino processor could control it as well as add networking capabilities. They are simple, complete open source processors and I'm sure there are forums that exist to support it and are fairly cheap as well.

Click to expand...

Yes they are 8foot tall vertical blinds approx 8 ft long each way from center in the current Condo (5' from center in new Condo IIRC)

I was thinking along the lines of one motor to run the pulley to open and another to run the blinds open but I hadnt quite gotten it down yet.

I would prefer to buy something prebuilt if possible, but so far I havent seen anything that looks like it will work.

Adragontattoo said:

Yes they are 8foot tall vertical blinds approx 8 ft long each way from center in the current Condo (5' from center in new Condo IIRC)

I was thinking along the lines of one motor to run the pulley to open and another to run the blinds open but I hadnt quite gotten it down yet.

I would prefer to buy something prebuilt if possible, but so far I havent seen anything that looks like it will work.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking you might have to rig up a carriage system for opening and closing the blinds and that a simple gear system might work for rotating the blinds to be more or less open. I'm glad I assumed the right kind of blinds.

It will definetely take some work, I know that.

(help me out here or ask for clarification if it doesnt make sense)

What I am figruing is that I will need 2 motors that are slower but have higher torque. I will need to have them set up in a way that the first motor will rotate the blinds half open and then trigger the second motor to open the blinds. The problem I am running into in my head is how to design it so that when I want to close the blinds the second motor will run first. I may have to have them controlled seperately and design it so that something along the lines of:

if button 3 =on
run motor 1
then run motor 2

if button 4 =on
run motor 2
then run motor 1

Im not a coder but that is the basic premise for my idea, just dunno how to code to get it to work.




I actually just posted the question to a vendor of HA products to see if there is anything available. Admittedly I am working on a problem I dont really have but I want to knock this out in case I do go with these blinds again in a new place.

Next problem/issue.

sharing video:
either
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10110&cs_id=1011004&p_id=4069&seq=1&format=2
or
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=3047&seq=1&format=2
plus a DVI to HDMI adapter

is probably what I will have to get to share video between computers in different rooms, since I cant seem to find Composite to DVI adapters.

Adragontattoo said:

Next problem/issue.

sharing video:
either
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10110&cs_id=1011004&p_id=4069&seq=1&format=2
or
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=3047&seq=1&format=2
plus a DVI to HDMI adapter

is probably what I will have to get to share video between computers in different rooms, since I cant seem to find Composite to DVI adapters.

Click to expand...

Are you wanting to view the same video on different sets with this? The way I'm understanding is that if you're watching TV in the living room area and want to finish it in the bedroom, you want to just be able to turn the bedroom TV on and it's there. I don't understand how a multiple source to single target switching device is going to accomplish that, unless you have multiple DVI/HDMI inputs on your TV, while using more than one switch.

If using multiple HTPCs to multiple TVs, so long as the TVs have at least two HDMI inputs, I don't see why you can't just use a DVI>HDMI adapter and then use an HDMI splitter (so long as you're inside the length requirements on the cabling) to different inputs on the TVs. HTPC1 can go to input 1 on TV1 and TV2. HTPC2 can go to input 2 on TV1 and TV2. The remote can do the input switching on the TV

Currently I dont have a HTPC, I would be splitting the video between the Bedroom PC and the Living room PC (until I build a HTPC that is).

I only have one TV that is a 98(maybe a bit earlier) JVC 32 CRT so no HDMI, DVI or even VGA inputs.

I am looking at building a HTPC with Linux MCE now and also eventually looking at picking up a LCD to use as both a monitor and TV (problem is I refuse to get anything less then 1080 native so price is an issue).

The current plan is that if I am watching a movie on my desktop and decide I want to go to a different room, I can hit the button and the display will change over to the monitor in the bedroom.

Right, but that still doesn't explain how a multiple source to single target switching device will accomplish that. You want a 1x2 device instead of a 2x1 (which you linked).

Adragontattoo said:

It will definetely take some work, I know that.

(help me out here or ask for clarification if it doesnt make sense)

What I am figruing is that I will need 2 motors that are slower but have higher torque. I will need to have them set up in a way that the first motor will rotate the blinds half open and then trigger the second motor to open the blinds. The problem I am running into in my head is how to design it so that when I want to close the blinds the second motor will run first. I may have to have them controlled seperately and design it so that something along the lines of:

if button 3 =on
run motor 1
then run motor 2

if button 4 =on
run motor 2
then run motor 1

Im not a coder but that is the basic premise for my idea, just dunno how to code to get it to work.




I actually just posted the question to a vendor of HA products to see if there is anything available. Admittedly I am working on a problem I dont really have but I want to knock this out in case I do go with these blinds again in a new place.

Click to expand...

Got a response back from the vendor:
Hello,

The only drape blinds controllers that we have are from Add-A-Motor. They only have two different models, one for drapes only and another for pull-chain blinds only.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Home-Garden/Drapery-Controllers/

If you have two pull chains, one for rotate and another one for open/close you can use two Add-A-Motors at the same time and control both operations from one butler remote.
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Home-Garden/Drapery-Controllers/Item/800DR/
http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Home-Garden/Drapery-Controllers/Item/1361/

We do not have one product that does both operations at once.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
______________________________________
Looks like I was right and there is not a readily available controller for what I need. I'm glad I dont have those blinds in the new condo now!

If I do get blinds I will either have to DIY the controller/motors or have seperate motors for each portion.

On to the other issues now!

May have found the controller for the aquariums that I was looking for. This one may be a bit overkill but I havent decided totally yet:

http://www.neptunesys.com/aquaController3Pro.htm

Adragontattoo said:

It will definetely take some work, I know that.

(help me out here or ask for clarification if it doesnt make sense)

What I am figruing is that I will need 2 motors that are slower but have higher torque. I will need to have them set up in a way that the first motor will rotate the blinds half open and then trigger the second motor to open the blinds. The problem I am running into in my head is how to design it so that when I want to close the blinds the second motor will run first. I may have to have them controlled seperately and design it so that something along the lines of:

if button 3 =on
run motor 1
then run motor 2

if button 4 =on
run motor 2
then run motor 1

Im not a coder but that is the basic premise for my idea, just dunno how to code to get it to work.

I actually just posted the question to a vendor of HA products to see if there is anything available. Admittedly I am working on a problem I dont really have but I want to knock this out in case I do go with these blinds again in a new place.

Click to expand...

I wasn't a coder either, but microcontroller programming for embedded stuff is fairly easy, especially with the kind of stuff you are doing, simply 2 inputs and then motor control. I haven't used an arduino but they seem simple enough, the stuff I do is for work so I have a little more industrial setup behind me, and I don't have to worry about money as much.

Just for reference, I'm going to call draw-open as entirely opening the blinds and light-open as the control of 'twisting' the blinds themselves to add more light into a room.

draw-open for your micro would be fairly simple, you could literally have a on/off pushbutton be your input and then it would spin the motor one direction for a period of time, which might take some tweaking, or add a limit switch of some kind to tell it that it can't go any further. And then you could add a simple bit that you set to say the blinds are open, if I press the button again I'll close the blinds kind of thing.

light-open might be a little bit different especially if you want to have an adjustable kind of thing, because you need to set some kind of level input either analog or digital. This might be easy with say a 8 position switch. which would have 3 outputs (000 for least open 111 for most open) and you could read the three pins and then set each specific thing as a position to a servo motor. So 000 would equate to some voltage out and would be say 0 degrees (most open) then 111 would be some voltage out that would be ~90 degrees (most closed) and then the levels in between would be equivalent to the other stuff.

Once you start looking at blinds I think a stepper motor would be good for the draw-open part because they are high torque, and low speed which would be good, so you don't really have to work on gear ration kind of things. Plus they can spin freely (can go more than 360 degrees unlike servo motors). Then the servo would be good for the open, because you want an angle position to equate to some 'openness' of the blinds.

Jon said:

Right, but that still doesn't explain how a multiple source to single target switching device will accomplish that. You want a 1x2 device instead of a 2x1 (which you linked).

Click to expand...

true...

Basically I need to get off my tail and upgrade/buy some gear.

Anyone have any experience with Slingbox? I have been looking at them for awhile and have heard good things but I would like to hear what people hear think of it.

actualy this is something that im all ready working on at my house. im going to be seting up some new lighting setups and so fourth, this is one product ive ben considering so that i can voice control everything.

http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/PC-Home/HAL-all/Item/HAL102S/

SS toss in a worklog here on make a new thread if you so desire, I dont mind sharing this thread.

hmm, I dont know if I could run software named HAL. I would be a little worried that it would try to kill me in my sleep or something.

Hal turn the heat off
Im afraid I cant do that Jeff
Hal, its 95 degrees INSIDE turn the heat OFF
Goodbye Jeff.