Hello Thinkers, Its been quite a while since I hooked up, but believe me, I have been very busy doing so many many things. I can only sum them up as my deep dive into the rave of the moment - Internet of Things (IoT). We have all had our share of that sad moment after driving hours into town only to realize that you didn't switch off the air conditioner at home. Or perhaps, there was no power when you left, but you know you left several appliances running before the power cut - meaning that you will be running (wasting) energy with no one around to enjoy them. In the 3rd world where these are scares resources, no body wants anything to go to waste. It could be anything;-
you forgot to close the garage door. you forgot to switch the generator to manual to prevent it from kicking in when there is a power cut. You forgot to switch off the TV, Fan, AC, etc. depending on where you are, your problem might be different.
The Problem
My problem was how to create a smart home, that allows me the freedom of switching these things off even after I have left home. Yes! without coming home, or calling in the neighbors. Literally from anywhere I am in the world. My plan is to create a smart home, capable of doing the following;-
MyController?
Controllers as the name suggests are the brain behind an IOT architecture. The controller is the unit like a CPU is to a computer, that does the processing of data fed in by sensors like temperature sensor on a node circuit tucked away somewhere in the compound. The controller uses this data to make rule based decisions (as created by me) to set switches on or off as desired. For example, I could use the rain gage data that shows that it rained today to tell the water sprinkler not to come on as scheduled every 4:00pm. In addition, the controller can tell, the node that controls the fence light to come on as soon as it gets dark, this could be set at a specific time, or just based on day light, the latter being the preferred as it will switch on the lights both in summer or winter when day light is delays or even during a storm when it could get dark even at noon.
My choice of controller was stressful. I was looking for a neat easy to use (and understand) controller with an active community to help when I get stock. I settled on MyController another open source project by JKandasa. The system is based on pure java (back end) and angularJS (front end) it can run it in any platform supporting Java SE 1.8. I liked its look and feel. and as expected JKandasa himself was readily on hand to support newbies like me. but after a difficult start and several huddles I faced with frustration, I went back to the square one to look for an alternative... my research lead me to Domoticz.
Domoticz is a free/open-source Home Automation System that lets you monitor and configure various devices such as lights, switches, temperature, rain, wind, UV and meters (electric, gas, water). It appeared quite powerful and intuitive as it promised. In less than an hour after I downloaded and installed it, it had latched on to the flimsy MySensors Gateway that I had arranged on my breadboard. with that, my journey has begun.
IOT here we come1
you forgot to close the garage door. you forgot to switch the generator to manual to prevent it from kicking in when there is a power cut. You forgot to switch off the TV, Fan, AC, etc. depending on where you are, your problem might be different.
The Problem
My problem was how to create a smart home, that allows me the freedom of switching these things off even after I have left home. Yes! without coming home, or calling in the neighbors. Literally from anywhere I am in the world. My plan is to create a smart home, capable of doing the following;-
- Open & Close the gate (electric gate already exist)
- Arm Electric fence
- Let the Dogs out of their kennel
- Monitor the weather to ascertain steps to take for air-conditioning, watering plants, letting out dogs, switching on lights, notifying the pool maintenance guy,
- Switch off / on several equipment's
- Generator
- Air Conditioners
- Fence / Outside Lights
- Borehole pump
- Swimming pool pump
- Swimming pool lights
- Monitor the battery level of the inverter
- Monitor the temperature of the deep freezer
- Water the lawn and the plants at home
- Monitor the security alarm
- Track motion after hours
- etc.
MyController?
Controllers as the name suggests are the brain behind an IOT architecture. The controller is the unit like a CPU is to a computer, that does the processing of data fed in by sensors like temperature sensor on a node circuit tucked away somewhere in the compound. The controller uses this data to make rule based decisions (as created by me) to set switches on or off as desired. For example, I could use the rain gage data that shows that it rained today to tell the water sprinkler not to come on as scheduled every 4:00pm. In addition, the controller can tell, the node that controls the fence light to come on as soon as it gets dark, this could be set at a specific time, or just based on day light, the latter being the preferred as it will switch on the lights both in summer or winter when day light is delays or even during a storm when it could get dark even at noon.
My choice of controller was stressful. I was looking for a neat easy to use (and understand) controller with an active community to help when I get stock. I settled on MyController another open source project by JKandasa. The system is based on pure java (back end) and angularJS (front end) it can run it in any platform supporting Java SE 1.8. I liked its look and feel. and as expected JKandasa himself was readily on hand to support newbies like me. but after a difficult start and several huddles I faced with frustration, I went back to the square one to look for an alternative... my research lead me to Domoticz.
Domoticz is a free/open-source Home Automation System that lets you monitor and configure various devices such as lights, switches, temperature, rain, wind, UV and meters (electric, gas, water). It appeared quite powerful and intuitive as it promised. In less than an hour after I downloaded and installed it, it had latched on to the flimsy MySensors Gateway that I had arranged on my breadboard. with that, my journey has begun.
IOT here we come1
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