I have a vision.. and that vision is for a pi-controlled home automation system, controlled and monitored from any location using your mobile phone or a web browser. I'll skim over the gory details to keep the question focussed, but please feel free to pm me to ask any questions or if you would like to get involved
The system would involve a master device (this will be a pi) and multiple connected devices - these could be anything from light switches and power sockets to hifi's, thermostats, washing machines and fridges. You'll be able to control the devices using a web/mobile app (my background is in web development so I'm very comfortable with this part of the project) and trigger 'actions' on the devices, either to start instantly or on a schedule.
My plan is to open source the project code, provide code frameworks, and to encourage anyone and everyone to create their own devices - I'll provide the app to control and schedule, a standard for communication and some code to get you started - you can do the fun stuff! I'd love to build a community around this and get it into schools (my wife is a teacher, so who knows!) and Universities, but I'm not getting carried away just yet, one step a time...
So, my question:
The problem I'm currently facing is pinning down the best method to connect the devices together. Here's my very rough spec:
- simple connection between master and device. I want non-techies to be able to set this up, you shouldn't need to log in or enter passwords anywhere. My best guess right now is having a button (WPS perhaps?) to push-and-connect but I'm very interested in any ideas, so please do throw some out there! (even better if you can help me set them up )
- strong connection across the home. I think this rules out bluetooth as an option
- devices shouldn't be able to accidentally connect to the wrong network (i.e. your neighbours master device)
- the master should maintain a list of connected devices
- the master should be able to send commands to connected devices
Thanks
Gareth
