My home automation project, I d’like to tell you a little bit on how it all started (the short version).
I started using Raspberry Pi about 2 years ago but at the time there was not a lot of software available for home automation.
I first used Myscada which was nice it had a designer program to create the layout you wanted but at the end this involved a lot of programming to let the layout work with the hardware so I gave up on myscada.
About a year ago that’s when I discovered webiopi, I finally had something that worked out of the box as a matter of speaking.
I could now operate a relay true a webpage how cool was that, but the layout was not very userfriendly so I started doing some research on how to create a webpage that could do the same as the webiopi page but then in the layout I had in mind.
Something more like they use in a proffesional automation systems.
There is a lot of material to find on the net but at the end you have to do it yourself.
After following a refresh course of Java programming language online I finally created my own (simple) webpage and I have to say that this was working fine the response time was incredible fast absolutely no delay when pushing the button and verry stable ran for 6 months without any restart.
The only downturn was that whenever I wanted to add a sensor I had to start programming again and since I’m not a proffesional programmer it was every time a challenge.
Untill I discoverd Cayenne, I’m telling you this was a gift from heaven this program can literally do everything I wanted and still wan’t to do.
No difficulties when adding sensors (or other hardware) just connect and ready.
I’m telling you a gift from heaven.
And now some pictures because I could tell a lot more about my project but pictures say so much more then words.
My first setup:
Only 2 relays and 1 optocoupler relay I use these 3 to turn on the lights in the garden and to turn on the amplifier of the music system.
The board between the pi and the relays contains a diode, transistor and a resistor for each gpio ouput so I can operate the relays using an external power source which you can see on the right side next to the pi.
This was the very first relay I used to test the system (own build):
When we did some changes in our house I build in a touch screen in one off the walls this one is used to operate the system this is also the screen I use for my camera’s around the house (another hobby):
This is the webpage I created in java (it’s in dutch):
I’m now building a new smaller more powerfull system, it contains an optocoupler board with 8 channels and an opto-isolated relay board with 4 channels so I have enough channels to connect all my hardware which will be 4 x DS18B20 temp sensors, 1 PIR motion sensor and 1 light sensor, the 8 channel optocoupler board will be used to control a multicolour led that indicates the outside temperature the opto-isolated board will be used for the lights in the house and for the music system as it was before:
I’ll post more pictures next time when everything is connected.
Rgrds,
Mike