My house is growing up

My super-secret project advances pretty well! Ok, so my home automation project is not that super secret anymore, but the progress is definitely there.

The network of nodes is working perfectely, lighting and blinds control is 100% done in terms of logic (I still need to prettify these elements visually), as are the temperature sensors. The sensors still need some low-pass-filtering, because the noise is a bit harsh for the logic I need the nodes to execute in “Emergency Mode”.

Yes. Emergency Mode. When the control machine is offline, the home automation keeps on going. The nodes, when not talked to for a few seconds, take control of their critical systems. Lights, blinds and climate control keep on going in a basic way, so that you still can control your house. You loose special control routines, like turning on lights based on motion sensing, opening blinds to harvest the sun’s heat in winter, blind positioning, earth tubes house air intake, etc, but the basic funcionality is always there.

In the beggining, this emergency mode was the mode the home automation was running in, every day. Now the control “server” is online, the system is accessible remotely, and complex control can easily be achieved.

The climate control system is now coming along nicely, including control of radiant floor valves via temperature sensors, solar hot water tank (with solid fuel boiler support), and earth tubes for the house air intake (with direct exterior air alternative).

The roadmap includes the complete security system (that is presently working but via a very quick and dirty hack, needs reimplementing) with volumetric and periferic sensors, the botanic manager (gardens, vegetable growing, fruit trees, greenhouse, etc), and meteorology center. There are a couple of very advanced (and useful) features planned, but that will be a surprise… 🙂

Stay tuned for more info!