HAL
Project (2001-2010)
In 2001 we moved
to a small rented apartment in Manhattan NY so the automation took
a slightly different direction, although I kept the automation on
my UK home. The focus in the US became more webcam related to allow
friends and family to see us and our US views (see bdlcam.com
). Then in 2004 we purchased a house and the fun started again :)
I started with
some X10 units I was using in the apartment but quickly moved to
Insteon which is more flexible and reliable than X10 and solves
the one way nature/design of X10.
Orignially I
was using BDLCAM to track and allow me to control the Insteon devices
remotely but now I'm using a great little device from Universal
Devices
So what is currecty
automated and controllable both locally and via the web:
- It the morning
when I turn off the alarm clock I turn on the electric kettle
so that it's boiled by the time I get downstairs in the morning.
- I'm using
BDLCAM to monitor the outside of my house and the cameras are
intergated with everything else. So if movement is sensed still
images are taken/recorded. Something else I can do is have the
camera move to a certain position based on a trigger (like pointing
at the garage door when it is opened)
- A wireless
motion detectors automatically turns on the light in the powder
room and the light is then automatically turned off two minutes
after motion stops. When the batteries are running low the Universal
Devices ISY99 will send me an email to advice me they need changing.
- The Garage
door is connected to an Insteon IO Linc, monitoring the status
of garage door (Open or Closed) and allowing Insteon control of
the door
- Automated
sprinker system using a Rain8 device and some custom coding with
BDLCAM
- Web enabled
thermostats for upstairs and downstairs - Great for keeping the
climate in the house just right and checking on the house when
travelling.
- Virtually
every room has a web enabled xbox running XBMC
- All of my
local and remote storage needs (CIFS, HTTPS, SFTP etc) are taken
care of by a Infrant (now Netgear) 6TB X-Raid NAS server
- Control
of whole house audio and outside speakers via HACS
ESS and BDLCAM
- Rovio
for monitoring the basement and taking remote tours
- Sipura (now
owned by Linksys) SPA3000 giving us multple telephone numbers
including a UK number making it easy for friends and family in
the UK to call us. I can monitor all call logs via the web and
listen to voicemails.
- Motorized
drapes, sheers and skylight lightblock shades from Velux and Hunter
Douglas
- Tracking
of whole house power consumption using TED
Energy detective
- ELK M1 Gold
web enabled alarm system
- Slingbox
to allow me to watch tivo on the road
- Violet Nabaztag
("Internet Rabbit") is my latest addition to report
status and announce things like the garage door being open or
to communicate status of certain events with its ears and status
LEDs. Next I what to use the RFID reader in the Rabbit to communicated
to the rest of my system. So perhaps when I leave the house and
just pass the keys (with an RFID attached) pass the Rabbit the
house will know to open the garage door, turn lights off, arm
the alarm etc.
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