Hello.. I'm navin and i live in india. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to home automation. I came across a thread by a fellow country men about his home automation system project, i was very much impressed by it. Though there are system integrators for doing this jobs, I want to learn it and do it myself. Kindly guide me with this.
First to give a outline, following are the rooms in my building :
1 living room
4 bed rooms
1 kitchen
1 dining area
right round balcony
And following are the existing Fixtures and Fittings in each rooms:
Living room - 1 TV, 6 sets of CFL lights, 4 fans
bed rooms - 3 sets of CFL lights, 1 fan, Air conditioner
Kitchen - 2 tube light, 1 fan
dining area - 2 set of CFL lights, 2 fans
Balcony - 5 cfl lights
Sensors I would like to add:
2 X motion sensor
2 X temperature sensor
Kindly help me with this project. Please guide me with list of parts that i should procure to start this project.
It is not possible to say what is needed, because it depends what you want, and there are many possibilities.
I think the Domoticz project uses a mini-computer and not an Arduino board : http://domoticz.com/
At Adafruit, they are starting "Adafruit IO" for IoT and Home automation. You can sign up for the beta : https://io.adafruit.com/
I have an Arduino Mega 2560 board with an Ethernet Shield. Around the Mega board are a few Arduino boards with special tasks, like receiving data via 433MHz. That requires a lot programming, and was the most common solution a few years ago. Today, perhaps the Arduino Yun would be better for the web interface, or a Raspberry Pi.
Start small.
Get a cheap UNO, a breadboard, a PIR sensor, an LDR, a few 5mm LEDs, 10k and 1k resistors, and breadboard/hookup wire.
And a 9volt mains power supply with a DC jack that fits into Arduino's DC socket.
Download the IDE here and start with the examples from that program.
When you start to understand the examples, the possibilities and limitations become clear.
Leo..
Thanks everyone.. since the size of the project is very big, i think it is difficult for me to understand and learn entirely. So, I would like to start with one switch, learn and get things up-and-running. And then build on that by integrating more and more components.
There is 4 220V 15Watt CFL light in my room controlled by a regular switch. I would start learning with this. What are the required components that I should get to control this switch.
I'm not inclined to any system as of now. If OpenHAB is more feasible, i will go with that.
I didn't know OpenHAB. If OpenHAB is a fully working system, that might be good choice. The Raspberry Pi (or the Beaglebone Black) can be used as central unit. I don't know how sensors can be added, are sensors added by an internet connection ? In my opinion, that would be very limiting.
Adafruit IO is still in closed beta, but it is promising. Adafruit makes the best tutorials.
If you (like me) want to control everything yourself, and want to focus on sensors and controlling a number of small projects. Then the Arduino is the best choice. As Wawa wrote in reply #2, start with an Uno board and learn by doing things.
You could start by buying a Raspberry Pi and a Arduino Uno. Spent a few days experimenting with them and then decide what you like most.
You can always use the Raspberry Pi to make an internet radio inside a vintage tube radio. And you can always use the Arduino Uno for anything, testing sensors, controlling things, and so on.
you have one area that will not change based on your micro-controller choice and that is the relay.
you need to get relays that can be used to turn a light on and off. it is easy, but many on this list do not like to help people interface 220v to an arduino. the possibility of death is extraordinarily high, many orders of magnitude when comparing anyone trying to light LED's.
once you have figured out what would work for you, your options expand.
if you want to control it wireless or if you want to control it with wires.
put in a motion sensor and you can have lights go on in the room when you enter, dim after a few minutes and then go out.
you can get any of the microconrollers to do that,
one area o concern is that of fluorescent lights. they do not like to be turned on and off. their lift is greatest when turned on on day and then, after some 10,000 to 20,000 hours, they die. turn them on and off and their life becomes much shorter.
these are not good candidates for controlled on/off with occupancy sensors. better to swap them out with LEDs if you can.
also, the Arduino offers some great opportunities in chips. for instance, you can control the brightness of a light so that it will brighten as the sun goes down, and dim as the room is filled with daylight.
There is 4 220V 15Watt CFL light in my room controlled by a regular switch. I would start learning with this. What are the required components that I should get to control this switch.
You might want to study current home automation systems to see what hardware is available and how it is controlled in an automation system. Look at the bottom forum and see what people are doing and using. A simple issue with controlling a light switch is making one that can be both locally manually operated and also remotely controlled.
