Monday, June 13, 2011

Code Moved To GitHub

Tonight I finished moving all of the source code for homenet over to git hub where things are much easier manage.

You can find all of the code at https://github.com/HomeNet. Go fork it and add something new!

For those interested in following my daily progress, You can find my forks at https://github.com/ArchiCroc

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

New HomeNet App is Coming Soon

The Processing app I wrote to connect the nodes to the internet was a bit clunky and buggy. I've spent the last 3 weeks rewriting it using Java and the Netbeans GUI builder.

It now has many new features: a easy setup wizard, UPnP port forwarding, auto reconnect and more



I'm testing it some more this week but look for a release soon.

If you impatient and can work with java, the source is available on github

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Presentation

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Why HomeNet is Different

HomeNet has many goals and features that I think are fundamentally different from existing systems.

The primary goal of HomeNet is to unify all of the current and future simple communication systems into a single network.

Currently the electronic systems in the home are an afterthought, a mess of wires running through walls back to a central computer. I propose that by using modular/prefab construction, a microcontroller, a cheap single chip computer, can be integrated into every piece of building and joined together during assembly on site to create a distributed computer network that wraps around the building. This network will consolidate existing control systems like security systems and thermostat controls into a single unified system that creates a foundation for a whole new generation of integrated devices. This way, inputs like light switches and security sensors are programmed rather than hard wired to outputs like lights, shades, locks and other actuators, creating a very flexible environment.

In my early research, I looked at existing systems and everything seemed like they were just bolted on to the house to make it "smart" rather than looking at how the technology could be integrated directly into the home and physically change how we construct buildings.

Lower Cost:

One of the problems that I identified at the beginning of the project is that the high cost current "Home Automation" systems prohibit their wide spread use. If I want to be able to integrate HomeNet directly into the home, cost becomes a huge factor. It has to be affordable. HomeNet tries to minimize costs by using hardware only as advance as needed. A lot of the professional equipment is more powerful than they need to be, it doesn't take much computing power to read a simple sensor or to turn on a relay.

There have been several "Internet of Things" projects that have been focused on trying to bring TCP/IP to every device in the home. In a network with thousands of devices it is waste of resources to bring TCP/IP to everyone of them, when simpler protocol would work.

HomeNet takes a different apporach. HomeNet clusters nearby devices into nodes. For example, a node integrated into a smart power outlet could also have a smart light switch and other devices connected to it. Then only a few nodes need to be powerful enough to directly connect to the internet and can act as a gateway for other, cheaper nodes nearby.

Open Source

HomeNet is based around creating open standards that anyone can pick up and use. It eliminates the barriers commonly found in other projects.

There are lots of proprietary "Smart Home Systems" on the market. While some use open protocols, I found them too ridged for large scale use. Often they required proprietary hardware or licensing that limits true competition and innovation.

HomeNet operates on the notion that the hardware platform and communication methods don't really matter, just that the nodes speak a common language, the HomeNet Packet Protocol.

There is growing movement of Open Source Hardware, like the Arduino project (http://arduino.cc) which aims to bring the power of AVR microcontrollers to the masses. HomeNet currently uses hardware based on the Arduino project for the HomeNet Nodes. Without any prior knowledge in electronics, I was able to use Arduino to create working prototypes.

Other companies like http://sparkfun.com, http://adafruit.com, http;//jeelabs.org and http://liquidware.com and others provide further support for open source hardware by making devices that are compatible with the Arduino platform.

Any sort of "Smart House" system needs to leverage the power of the community.

Initially for HomeNet to gain steam, there has to be a way for consumers to give the technology a try now, so that one day it can grow to the scale of being integrated into the home.

Currently I am focused on building a working prototype of HomeNet that the community can try out and experiment with.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

New Devices Coming

I worked this weekend on getting some new devices added to HomeNet

IMG_4761

RGB Led based on the JeeLabs Dimmer Plug
Mood Light based on the RGB Led
TMP421 i2c Temperature Sensor
SHT21 i2c Humidity and Temperature Sensor
BMP085 Pressure Sensor (Jeelabs Plug)
Servo Open Close

I also got a low power mode working. Better battery life is just around the corner.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Forum

I'm starting to think it might be good idea to open up some sort of forum for you to post questions and get help using HomeNet.

One day I want to directly integrate it into HomeNet.me but I don't have time to work on it right now.

For the time being I set up a Google Group to house the discussion. Head over there and get posting!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Planned Features

Here is what is currently being worked:

Near future
-Adding new Subdevices.
-Adding new Device presets.
-Implement privacy settings so you can limit what you share
-Create Event/Action System to monitor and reacted to changing subdevice data. 
-Subdevice Groups- Compare similar devices on the same graph, control groups of subdevices with one action.
-Customize Background images with photos of your own home.

Long term Plans
-More AJAX, like drag and drop to reorder items on the page.
-Rewrite the HomeNetApp and use an actual Java GUI. (processing only goes so far)..
-Fully integrate it into Facebook/Twitter
-Create API access to allow custom apps be created and integrated into HomeNet
-Support Arduino with Ethernet Shield

General Website work
-Create Blog Module
-Create Static Pages
-Add proper Contact Form
-SSL (https) Support

Breaking down the Parts of HomeNet.me

Nodes
These are devices that can send and receive commands

Here are the ones that currently exist:

HomeNet.me (default port 4095)
Proccessing HomeNetApp (default port 255)
Base Station Node (default port 1)
Wireless nodes (currently limited to 2-32)

Each one can have 15 devices attached to it.

Devices
These are input/output devices connected to a node
There are 2 types Hardware Devices and Software devices

Hardware devices
These are sets of Subdevices. Simple devices may have only have 1 subdevices or they could have 10+.   Subdevices came about because a lot of sensors have the ability to measure multiple things like the SHT21 which measures temperature and humidity and needed to be graphed individually.

Software devices
Think of these as plugins for the HomeNet software programs.  They allow other nodes/devices in the network to get information like gathering weather forecasts from the internet. 

Subdevices
Every sensor/switch/actuator gets mapped to a subdevice in HomeNet.me. These are the objects that show up on each room page. Each one can be graphed and controlled individually.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Supported Devices

Right now I've only added a couple of devices to the HomeNet Interface

Devices:
TMP37 (Need to add the ability to convert C to F)
LDR
Simple LED (Just supports on and off)

Stubs:
SimpleInt
SimpleByte
SimpleFloat

In Progress
SHT21 i2c temp/humidity
TMP421 i2c temp
Switch (interrupt based)
JeeLabs Pressure Plug
Moodlamp based on JeeLabs Dimmer Plug
Servo open/close
Relay on/off

Launching HomeNet.me

It's crazy how much I've accomplished over the last month. The HomeNet.me is Up and it seems to be working pretty well so far. There is still a lot more to do to secure the website and scale the site up but I think it's ready for the first testers to give it a try. If you're interested in testing it out, let me know.

I working on getting a live public demo up but I have some more work to do on the user permission system which won't happen until after my presentation next week.

The Virtual Home

Everything these days is being virtualized so that we can interact with them through our electronic devices. We have virtualized the art of letter writing into email and opening an encyclopedia into searching Wikipedia. We have virtualized ourselves on Facebook, creating a digital representation of ourselves on the internet. We post what we like and dislike about our lives. We list our attributes, what we do, where we live and where we go to school. It's a database of our friends and a history of our lives. In video games we create 3d Avatars that represent our selves as we interact in the virtual world.

It's only logical to think that one day architecture is going to be virtualized into an electronic form. What will this look like? How do we interact with our home virtually? Who is going to design it?

These are questions I've been trying to answer over the last few weeks as I start working on building the user interface for HomeNet. Currently, I'm taking the Facebook approach, building a website that allows you to create a virtual profile of your home. The HomeNet website will allow you to create a detailed profile of your home listing all of it's rooms and properties and allow you to view and control all of the smart HomeNet devices you have. You will be able to personalize each page with photos of your house creating a unique personal link to your home.

I think that the future architect needs to not only design how one physically interacts with the building but also how one interacts with all the electronics and technology the future home will contain. The virtual world is currently dominated by Engineers and Graphic Designers. I think that architects need to get involved so that people have the same quality experience in the virtual building as the do in the physical building. I'm not sure if it's the architects role to design the virtual building but I think that the architect needs to represent the owners interests in it's construction the same way an architect works with a contractor to build a physical building.

Master's Project Abstract

HomeNet started with the Ideas I first wrote about a year ago when I was writing the first draft of my Thesis abstract:

Enabling Walls to Talk

Today, computers can be found in items we use everyday like our cars, coffee maker and toys but we have yet to truly integrate them into the buildings we create. Currently, the systems we use are an afterthought, a mess of wires running through walls back to a central computer. I propose that by using modular/prefab construction, a micro controller, a cheap single chip computer, can be integrated into every piece of building and joined together during assembly on site to create a distributed computer network that wraps around the building. This network will consolidate existing control systems like security systems and thermostat controls into a single unified system that creates a foundation for a whole new generation of integrated devices. This way, inputs like light switches and security sensors are programmed rather than hard wired to outputs like lights, shades, locks and other actuators, creating a very flexible environment.

I will build a prototype of such a system with the goal of patenting it and study how our interaction with our built environment changes. I will look at what happens when our buildings can interact with us with the same tools we use everyday like the internet, email, Facebook and Twitter. Users will be able to gain finite control over their surroundings and be better informed about their environmental impact.

Will being aware of what going inside our walls make us change the way live for the better?

Welcome to the HomeNet Blog

I working on moving everything over from my old blog to this new official blog of HomeNet.