[HH] home automation news

[Tom Metro]

On a prior episode of the news program linked to below, a viewer
commented that the thing he saw missing from the current consumer home
automation market was systems that could handle multiple protocols. He
said that business building automation systems could do this for a long
time, and what was needed was for someone to come along and scale these
down for home use.

In response to that, another viewer commented:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI-KO-VEXFc#t=1304 (offset 22:41)

saying that the reason why we don't see such systems is the cost, citing
expensive controllers, and Z-Wave light switches that run $50 each. He
goes on to say there are some options, such as the Vera controller (not
open enough, last time I looked), and Smart Things (which I haven't
investigate yet; see below for video), both of which work with multiple
protocols.


Some interesting stuff happening in home automation lately, but I'm
still left pretty skeptical as to the openness. The companies getting
into this space are largely trying to make solutions that have some
utility to low tech-skill consumers. The objective is to deliver
something that's a turn-key appliance, that doesn't require a home
automation consultant to design and install, and isn't something that
can only be pieced together by hobbyists, as was largely the case with
X-10.

I can't blame them for wanting to do this, but often such efforts come
at the expense of openness and interoperability. One place where we see
ease of use taking precedent over openness is when it comes to reliance
on cloud services. Most consumer friendly connected devices rely on some
cloud service, because it makes the product setup easier.

The down side is that it usually means your data is going to the
manufacturer's site, and is either not available to you or available in
a more limited form. Integration with other devices and controllers may
not be feasible. Privacy is a problem. And if the manufacturer goes out
of business, the device is likely useless.

One of the most interesting projects in this space is the Home
Automation Server project:
http://homeautomationserver.com/

which is attempting to build a fully open home automation controller
platform (using wither Arduino or Raspberry Pi hardware), and provides a
free cloud service, to facilitate mobile control. (Presumably the cloud
service can be swapped out for a local server.)

Here's a tutorial illustrating an example project where you can light up
a few LEDs and control a few servos and a web cam:
http://randomnerdtutorials.com/home-automation-server-project-example-tutorial/

I've only skimmed the info on this project. So far I'm not seeing some
critical bits, like interfaces to control existing home automation
protocols, like Z-Wave. It also needs some controller software that
allows creating home automations rules via web browser or similar.
Without those parts, this is just a fancy way to remotely talk to an
Arduino.


I'm still working through the CES coverage of home automation devices.
Here's Engadget's coverage of "The Smart Things House":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DQfhdK5qMw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 -Tom