Projects

We have planned the following projects in the coming months:

Smart front door: What makes a smart front door and how do you build one?
Z-Wave control of a heated towel rail: Using a Z-Wave module to intelligently control the electric heated towel rail in our bathroom.
Android@Home: Evaluation of this technology.
Z-Wave Thermometer: Development of a new, stylish, simple Z-Wave product to enable temperature sensing around your home.

2012

MR16 LED bulbs: Evaluation and testing of products MR16 bulbs on the market and fabrication of our own MR16 LED bulbs.
Raspberry Pi It's arrived!: Evaluation of this device to deliver home automation and home entertainment services.
Text interface to our HCS (In progress): Artificial intelligence (AI) style, generic text interface to our Home Control System (HCS) to support various transport methods including SMS, web interface and Apple iMessage.
XML Driven Home Automation (In progress): Migrating our Home Control System (HCS) to a fully XML driven, generic event engine.
Kitchen Convenience Lighting: Adding PIR sensor and door contact sensor driven convenience lighting into our kitchen.
Networked Smoke Alarm: Evaluation of a 12V smoke alarm connected to our Home Control System (HCS).
Data Visualisation: Identify the best and most useful way to visualise the data collected each day by our Home Control System (HCS).
Home Automation using Z-Wave technology: Integration of a Z-Wave controller, sensors and other modules to assess the capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of this wireless mesh networking standard.

Teenage daughter's bedroom revamp: Updating our daughter's bedroom to add some style, more storage and technology.
Ethernet IO capability: Integration of an Ethernet I/O board, to provide digital output and control capability.
Audio Announcements: Audio and text-to-speech announcements in our Home Control System (HCS).
Solar USB Charger: High power solar panel with 5Vdc regulated output via a USB type-A port for charging iPhones, iPads, etc.
Greywater recycling: Trying out some of our greywater recycling ideas in our current home, to see how well they work.
Cloud storage: Investigation and experiments to see how cloud storage can be of benefit to home automation.
19" rack installation: Migration of our home automation kit into a half-height 19" rack cabinet.
PIR sensors: Not really a new project but, we finally got round to writing this up. We have wired PIR sensors in every room in our house for reliable and secure occupancy and intrusion detection.

LED cycle lights: Build of LED cycle lights, using hub dynamo to power them and to also provide USB charging for Smartphones on a bespoke mount.
12V battery monitor: Monitors home power system battery status and distribution of power.
Wireless door contact sensor: You would think it would be easy to find something to meet these simple requirements!
Computer controlled irrigation system: Garden and indoor irrigation system using harvested rain water.
Optical-isolated input board: Generic input board for use on our Home Control System (HCS).
USB I/O board: To add USB connected IO capability to our Home Control System (HCS).
12V safety lighting: Emergency lighting for power cuts, fires, etc.
12V emergency lighting: Emergency lighting for power cuts, fires, etc.
2-way SMS gateway: EDGE USB modem to send and receive SMS messages.
UPS protected network switch: Essential elements of our home IP network are kept running during power cuts.
Mains power failure detection: Enable our Home Control System (HCS) to detect when the mains power fails.
12V DC Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS): Maintain 12V DC power to our Home Control System (HCS) when the mains power fails.
Dallas 1-Wire twilight sensor: Enable our Home Control System (HCS) to detect dawn and dusk.

Christmas lights: Real twinkling, external Christmas lights that require very little power.
1-Wire Input Board: Design and build for an 8-input circuit board using the Dallas 1-Wire networking technology and DS2405 devices.
X10 ambient email: Using X10 appliance module to switch an ambient device for new email notification.
X10 appliance control: Second X10 experiment to test out X10 appliance control.
X10 hall light: Experiment to test out X10 capabilities by solving an initial automation challenge in our current home.
Router status monitoring: Monitors router status, connection speeds and devices connecting over wi-fi.
Bicycle USB charger: Dynamo powered USB port charger for iPhones, etc. whilst on your bicycle.
Home Control System (HCS) email notification: Email notifications and scheduled reports.
Network connection monitoring: Monitors network connection and tests performance.