[ALEXIS_DH]

am quite the diy kinda person. (did all the audio/web/cable wiring for my tv-room, bedroom, living room and i like to build gadgets, like my arcade control, my racing-sim seat/wheel and stuff like that. i work on my my cars too, heck if i need bolts for my bike, i make them myself!).
i enjoy building something more than the joy i get from actually using it for its purpose.

i´ve been tinkering with the lego interface lately.

but i just got the 1337est idea/project of them all on my mind. to control all the lighting in my tv-room and the garden behind it thru my pc.

but am quite clueless at this point. where to start? what to look for in the internet? what kind of interface/output?

at the top of my head, i think i´d need to control a few solenoids, control the voltage for a few relays and i think i could tinker from there the mechanics around.

i´ve been using a hacked driver for my parallel port, where i hooked up an arcade joystick made by me, with good, reliable results. i believe i can use it to produce the outputs i need for the potentiometers i need for the dimmers, and a few other things. but i want, like toshi would say, an elegant solution.

something reliable, sharp and clean to control the lightining would be neat.
just a variable resistance and a on/off switch (both sofware controlled) to control a relay would suffice.

if i could be upgradable to control my house alarm, and my video intercom thru my pc later, that´d be awesome too. but not much of a necesity at this point of learning. but i want to do it the DIY way, that would kick so much ass.

now, where to begin with?

pointers? software? hardware interface?

i want something more elegant than hacking a lego mindstorm set.
even tough at this point, it seems it could it be the most elegant available solution in one package?

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

hmmm...

am gonna start using this thread as a blog...

usb powered, fully dmx compatible. software already written for.


http://www.enttec.com/opendmxusb.php

seems a good place to start.

no need to write/hack stuff for parallel, and reduced risk of frying my mobo in the process.

 

[stevew]

Have you ever heard of the Clapper?

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Have you ever heard of the Clapper?

thats pretty gay.

 

[Connundrum1]

reverse engineer an x10 system. i got one for almost free and it has a serial port wireless plug that allows me to control the lights on the x10 systems. they used to send the most annoying spam but they have some good stuff.

 

[Pau11y]

I 2nd the X10 idea. They do have some good stuff for home automation.

 

[Kornphlake]

It sounds like what you need is a PLC with an ethernet interface and a few dozen relays. You'll need to build a box to house it all in because it isn't the prettiest stuff in the world, while you're at it put your PC in the same box and add a touch screen so that you have something that looks like an industrial control console. That's the elegant solution, but you could probabally get away with some kind of USB or parallel automation controller for a lot less money.

I've had good results with Omega engineering products (omega.com) and Labview software. If you can find a copy of Labview send me a PM and I'll email you a few tutorials I found that really helped me get started. I'm guessing that you want to do more than just turn switches on and off, you'll want timers, dimmers and whatnot to sequence how the lights turn on and off. If you are just trying to turn lights on and off remotely you can do that with a few relays.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

It sounds like what you need is a PLC with an ethernet interface and a few dozen relays. You'll need to build a box to house it all in because it isn't the prettiest stuff in the world, while you're at it put your PC in the same box and add a touch screen so that you have something that looks like an industrial control console. That's the elegant solution, but you could probabally get away with some kind of USB or parallel automation controller for a lot less money.

I've had good results with Omega engineering products (omega.com) and Labview software. If you can find a copy of Labview send me a PM and I'll email you a few tutorials I found that really helped me get started. I'm guessing that you want to do more than just turn switches on and off, you'll want timers, dimmers and whatnot to sequence how the lights turn on and off. If you are just trying to turn lights on and off remotely you can do that with a few relays.

@ omega.com, thats a candy store.

i´ve considered a plc.
its definately an elegant solution. but am not very familiar with them. i have no idea how user friendly can they be, so i´ll learn more about them.
a touch screen would kick ass, that´d be the 1337est solution. i think i must have some old usb touch screens from the casino laying around somewhere. i´d have to check in to plcs to check for compatibility.

escalability and upgrade-friendlyness would be great. but at this point, where am basically learning its not high on the priority list.
right now, (besides the far fetched idea of a plc) my idea goes around a buffer circuit built around the parallel port of a cheap ass pci card. i can work my way around a parallel port, i´ve worked them before.
usb and plc are whole new beasts to me.

it now it bites me in the ass dropping out of mechanical engineering school before taking controls and instrumentation. :mumble:
when i was a freshman i wondered what those classes were for.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

pricewise, i´ve seen basic home automation interface package for 300-400 bucks FOB.

if i can do something comparable, under that mark, i would consider it my 4 touchdowns in one game.

though the software part seems to be impossible to match. :hot:

 

[Kornphlake]

For what it's worth I've never designed my own circuits or software for USB but from what I've heared from people who have it's relatively simple. Of course the people who told me this were EE's with 10-15 years experiance. If you enjoy learning, the challenge of figuring out USB may be worht while, I understand it is a more capable interface.