Hack: diy Arduino wise house manage Panel utilizes OpenHAB & MQTT
We always admired the incredible hardware as well as software application that DIY house automators can put together as well as mat Smiths job to develop his ultimate house manage panel is a excellent example.
Mat is designing as well as building an Arduino based controller to deploy around his next home. The system utilizes an low-cost OLED screen as well as a rotary encoder that will be mounted in custom laser cut cleaned stainless steel wall plates together with a capacitive touch sensor to wake everything up
The controller communicates with Mat’s OpenHAB house automation server via MQTT as well as can be programmed to screen as well as manage quite much any systems around the house – such as entertainment, heating or curtains / blinds.
Here’s Mat’s latest update on the project. Make sure to inspect out his videos below too.
The spec for the ultimate house manage panel
A number of months back I ended up being consumed with the concept of controlling my space illumination utilizing knobs in the wall. Crazy, I understand
Seriously though, most illumination automation systems do not utilize rotary controllers (i.e. knobs), however rather you have to keep your finger on a button up until the preferred light level is reached. Isn’t that so 1990s? Knobs are the method forward. Worse still, many only let you choose “scenes” without even controlling private light level. So I set about making my own digitally managed lightswitch. The process has been one of research study as well as discovering new skills. soon sufficient I stumbled upon the ultimate method for things within the house to interact with other things: MQTT.
Here are my style goals for the ultimate house manage panel for every room.
Aesthetics
Use physical buttons as well as lights NOT touchscreen. I discover touchscreens excellent for web browsing however when I want to manage lights as well as volume I requirement an accuracy as well as responsiveness that can only come from;
Tactile switches with visual feedback
Rotary controller knobs
Display screen showing levels as portion (i.e. numbers) for fine adjustment
Look Sexy. diy metal faceplates with push buttons conjure-up pictures of 1970s style manage panels. Disabled toilets. pastime aeroplane remotes. I’m going with cleaned stainless steel faceplates without any visible screws, smaller LED-integrated tactile buttons, matching cleaned steel knob.
Use numbers on the display. In the increased sexification of house automation, things have ended up being as well touchy-feely. having managed lights as well as music from my iPad, I get annoyed if you press in somewhat the wrong place, or requirement to make that super-fine adjustment. likewise I get annoyed by the ubiquitous slider as well as the lack of info it provides the user.
Installation
The faceplate must run at low voltage, needing no special electrical certification
Connected with ethernet (CAT5, 6, or 7)
Powered over the exact same ethernet cable
Fit within a back-box easily offered in shops: 47mm depth max
Function
Use “Scene” buttons to quickly choose the illumination mood in a room
Dim private lights in a space to produce your own scene
Quickly cycle between different lights in a room
Control music volume as well as see what’s playing (track title as well as artist)
Similar to light scenes, there should be audio “favourites” (i.e. radio channels, playlists, shuffle mode for a provided genre, etc.)
Scalability
The system is designed for a variety of functions, however can be broadened later to integrate more. e.g. illumination as well as audio modes have their special utilizes as well as displays. As it’s based on Arduino, the sketch can be updated by USB later.
“Thing” settings (i.e. exactly how many lights in a room, the name of a light in the room, the name of a scene for a provided room) should be queried from a server as well as downloaded to volatile memory at startup. These things are not kept in the unit.
We should be able to press an “update” button to pick-up the latest settings. house automation installers as well as individuals modification their minds all the time!
Interface
“WAF” is an offensive phrase utilized in #homeautomation talk. It means “wife adoption factor”. perhaps “GAF” – grandparent adoption factor? No – that’s swapping one prejudice for another. “HAF” will do well – human adoption factor. The controller must be the perfect balance between powerful as well as usable. I don’t mean “powerful for the geek, usable for the granny”. I mean “equally powerful as well as usable for both”.
This means: consistency of screen as well as instant gain access to to main functions. No menus, no prompts! placement of buttons should be intuitive.
All light should cease when it hasn’t been touched for a while. No lights in the middle of the night!
The solution I’ve settled for is a “mode cycle” one. like old digital watches. Themode button is set apart from other buttons as well as put near the icon showing the present mode. All other physical controls depend upon the mode in question, as well as their function is intuitive provided the placement. Consistency comes from the unit defaulting back to a “primary” mode after x seconds of not being touched. The screen dims appropriately.
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Dispatched in strong cardboard packaging
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Here’s Mat’s previous video from August 2014…
Here’s the latest demo of the development so far from this month…
Reproduced from original publish by kind permission of mat Smith. comply with along on Mat’s on-going diy house automation journey at hazymat.co.uk
hazymat.co.uk : MQTT.org : openHAB.org
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Last update on 2021-10-04 / affiliate links / pictures from Amazon product marketing API