Shola's Home Gadgets

I've recently had to spend some time changing the configuration of my Misterhouse based home automation system since it had started behaving erratically.

The problem was with some of the hardware used in the system rather than the Misterhouse software itself which I have been running for about 3 years and have found to be very reliable.

The first hardware to fail was the wireless router that connected the Misterhouse Windows NT4 computer to the internet and the main home computer. This meant I could not remote connect to the Misterhouse computer and administer the system, though the system was still running albeit erratically, as I could not reset the state of some of the X10 hardware used in my home automation system.

The other item that failed was a TM13 X10 receiver which was switching off the unit connected to it at times when it was not supposed to. I haven't gotten to the root of that problem, so I've removed the electrical appliance connected to it for the time being.

Everything is back to normal now after decommissioning the NT4 computer and running the Misterhouse software on my XP computer.

I now have to budget for a new wireless router, and I would like to replace the NT4 computer with a new PC which would double as a media storage device for my DVDs and music CDs, but it looks like my home automation needs will have to take a back burner, as I'm going to be concentrating my efforts on my hang glidingfor the first half of this year.

Here is a run down of what home automation does in my house.

1. Provide audible reminders for tasks that need to be done, this includes the children having their bath at the right time, leaving home for school on time and me leaving for work on time.

2. Audible notification of emails to the accounts of my wife and I.

3. Switch off electrical appliances in living room when home is un-occupied or we go to bed.

4. Automatically turn on lights in the hallways at night on detection of motion.

5. Provide audible weather reports in the morning before I leave for work.

6. Allow me arm chair remote control of the living room, study, hallway lights.

The following are features that I would like to add when I get the time and money.

1. Connect the heating system to my home automation.

2. Automate the lights in the kitchen.

3. Install an alarm system that also allows some control of my lights via X10, will also have telephone interface so I can be notified of events as well as use phone to control security and home appliances.

4. Interface phone to TV, so I can display caller ID on screen.

5. Install CCTV system with remote web access as well as automatic motion recording both locally and to a remote location.

6. Smart phone access to home automation and security system via GPRS network.

7. Connect home automation system to HTPC when I get one.

If you had read my accounts of home automation in my previous posts Home Automation and Home Automation II, you could be forgiven if you thought I was day dreaming, those accounts were true events that actually take place in my home, the only fictional part was the names used, which were changed to protect the identity of my family.

I currently have a X10 based home automation system controlled by a windows PC running MisterHouse.

X10 is a cheap system to implement, but more importantly it is very easy to retro fit to a house, so removes the need for expensive home redecoration or rewiring.
I chose MisterHouse home automation software because I'm a geek, and it can control almost anything with the right interface, is open source and has a large developer base which means if anything is missing, it is not long before someone will add it once a request has been made.

Home Automation is not as complex or expensive as you think, X10 and Misterhouse make it very affordable.

In my first post about home automation, I started sharing my thoughts about what images the word automating a house conjured in my mind.

In this post, I will conclude sharing those thoughts, and look at home automation in my home.

It is 12:00 noon at home, my wife who works from home is busy in the house somewhere, a voice is heard in the study and the hallway 'Grace you have 3 new email messages', the voice then goes on to read the addresses that have sent the email messages. My wife can use the information to decide if there are any urgent emails she needs to check even if she is not on the computer.

A few hours have passed, that voice again 'Grace you have 15 minutes to pick up Tina from school'.

Its 6:00pm, I'm just leaving work, back at home, that voice announces to my wife the latest emails she has in her in box.

At 7:00pm, I open the front door, as it is winter, it is already dark, I enter the hallway, the hallway light automatically comes on, with the light on the landing at the top of the stairs also coming on. I put down my briefcase, take off my shoes and crash on the couch in the leaving room.

2 minutes after I had opened the door, the lights on the landing automatically switch off, followed 3 minutes later by the hallway light.

At 8:00pm my older daughter gets a verbal reminder by that voice to have her bath before going to bed, while I ask my younger daughter to go put her pyjamas on and I take her to bed. By 9:00pm my wife and I have the house to ourselves.

At 10:40pm the voice announces 'Misterhouse is going to bed, goodnight', we decide we are having an early night too so walk up the flight of stairs but forget to switch off the study light. One hour 26 minutes after we went upstairs, a voice announces on the study PC 'all systems will go off in 4 minutes', 4 minutes later, all power is cut to the entertainment cabinet and the light we forgot to turn off goes of too.

This is home automation at its best with control by Misterhouse software.

What images do the words Home Automation conjure in your mind? A home filled with robots and talking computers or even something more sinister?

For me it looks like this:

I'm in bed enjoying a snooze and hear a female voice in the corridor announce 'Good Morning people, rise and shine this is the day the lord has made', I roll out of bed, glance at the bedside radio clock the time is 07:45am exactly. I walk down a flight of stairs wake up my children who always ignore the wake up call. As my children walk down the second flight of stairs, they hear a click in the living room as power automatically is switched on to the entertainment cabinet by misterhouse, another click in the dinning area confirms the TV and Video in that area are switched having been off through out the night (why waste electricity powering those appliances in standby mode while we sleep?).

I have a shower (we do that in the morning right?), get dressed and go down to the dining room where I make sure the kids finish off their breakfast and get ready for school.

I grab a breakfast bar or toast and some juice and make my packed sandwiches for lunch, an automated voice in the entrance hall announces 'Please standby for the weather report', the voice then continues to read the weather, no need for a coat today, its going to be 28 degrees Celsius and dry, I glance at the clock on the wall in the kitchen, it's 08:30am.

I check on my younger daughter who I have to take to school, get her dressed, meanwhile in the hall that voice again 'Angela time to leave for school' that is the first warning for my older daughter who goes to school by herself to finish off whatever she is doing and leave for school, my wrist watch shows the time as 08:45.

Tina my younger daughter walks down the stairs, I'm putting my lunch box in my briefcase, 'Attention Please', Angela zooms past me, the front door slams shut, 'Angela leave for school now!, Tina you have to go to school too come on!', Tina was miming the last words as I grab her hand say good bye to my wife and walk out the front door, the time is 08:50 am.

Home Automation 2 coming soon!