Single Room Automation (Help a complete noob.)

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi! :slight_smile:

I'm absolutely new to the entire world of electronics/programming/anything cool, but I came across the DIY stuff about Adruino, and the Raspberry Pi, and I was hooked. :smiley:
So, I read up on everything a little bit, but the whole thing seems too huge for me to swallow at once, so I thought I should start by focusing on a single project that'll introduce me to all the aspects step-by-step, or goal-by-goal. The goal keeps me engaged, and enthusiastic while also helping me learn about different aspects.

a)
My aim was to automate my room (obviously :D), like Jarvis (the number of people who are going to be sighing at this isn't even funny.). So what I'd be needing to control would be:
2 lights (1 normal light, and a night light)
1 fan (and I hope to have some control over the speed. But that would be wishful thinking from the girl who doesn't know code. :stuck_out_tongue: )
a door (I was thinking RFID or keypad) (Surprisingly, I have the keypad and RFID thing down comfortably. Monkey see-monkey do type thing.)
curtains!
It would be nice to have some sort of integration with the calender on my phone (Lumia) (yes, I bought a Lumia. It seemed like a good idea at the time.)
Since I'll be living alone on my roof, I would like a basic alarm system. A simple tripwire would suffice.
Oh, and voice control. (I was thinking of using an Ethernet shield to connect to my wifi and use Google API. Someone somewhere has done this, which is where I got my idea.)
I need help on both software and hardware aspects of this.

b)
What my shortcomings are:
I have no idea how to do this. Like, NONE. I couldn't tell a relay apart from a ... I don't even know what. -_-'
(And I live in India, where you really can't GET everything. Though there are SOME sites which are emerging to fill this particular niche, we've still a along way to go.)

c)
And (this is getting messy, I apologize) also, would you recommend the book "freeduino.begin()" as a good starting point with getting a hang of Arduino?

So, guys, help a girl out?
( I am going to play the ditzy girl card up, front and center. Help me shed my ditzyness! XD )

Any responses are greatly appreciated, even if they are a bit condescending. I think I deserve at least a part of it. :slight_smile:

2

Things required would be :

  1. An atmega 2560 arduino board with ethernet sheild.
  2. A minimum 4 channel relay board ( since your switching on stuff that's 220 V +)
  3. Some knowledge in C, C++
  4. A PC ( DUH!!)
  5. After this. There is a little more learning to do.

PS: You don't need a book to learn this stuff. The main site arduino.cc teaches all the stuff in a pretty easy way.

3

Thank you for the reply! :slight_smile:

I was thinking of getting a Freeduino USB with Atmega328, would that be under powered?
(Times like this I wish I had stuck to learning computers in school. :stuck_out_tongue: )

I'm working on the programming! Since I don't have the board with me right now, I'll stick to theory at the moment. I've got Massimo Bamzi's book and the Earthshine Electronics pdf too. I'm more comfortable with books, seems safe to me. I'm saving up for the board, so I'll be getting that next month!

4

See here. The board will operate at 5 volts. but your requirement is to switch on devices @220v...so youl have to use relays to convert this 5v to switch 220v..so technically, the board can never be underpowered. What I mean is. your five volt board will be tellin your 220v switch to 'switch on' or off.

5

Ah!
So is there any specific reason why you suggested 2560? Curious. :slight_smile:

And thank you again for all the help. :slight_smile:

6

AtuP:
Ah!
So is there any specific reason why you suggested 2560? Curious. :slight_smile:

No there wasn't. An Uno should work just fine in this circumstance, unless you are expecting the code to be very complex (demanding more memory), or require a great deal of Inputs/Outputs.

7

The 2560 ? ....I love the UNO...BUT just in case you're looking to control a bunch of devices, remmeber the 2560 has like 52 pins to use. SO :slight_smile:

8

Hi, don't worry about being a newbie because we all start being one :slight_smile: I just signed up to this forum yesterday. I'm doing an automation project myself but it will be involving high current devices, which is the reason why I needed a second opinion here from experts. I'm no expert but I've made more than 10 prototypes already. But all of them required small currents so they weren't actually dangerous even if I made a mistake. I'm pretty decent at algorithms for robotics and automation. Since your projects need hardware and software considerations, it will be more than just programming. I've been a PIC, MSP, ATMEL microcontroller programmer using low level libraries. When I tried Arduino libraries, I realized they're just perfect for everyone. First off, programming your project requires time to understand. Sure you can copy paste available codes online but never do that because you wouldn't be able to practice your mind to create new algorithms. Your best tool to start with would be an arduino UNO. The arduino IDE has all sorts of sample codes that you can play with. Start off with a simple on/off LED, then jump to the next level when you're ready. Communication between smart devices such as an android phone and your microcontroller is actually easier than you think. You just need to have a good foundation of serial communication. There are different kinds of serial communication but most likely, you'll be using UART communication. I'd be happy to help you realize your imagination but first things first. Play with an arduino first. Then you can get back to me for the next level. I know these things because I've already done the things you're planning to do :slight_smile: YOU CAN DO IT :slight_smile: