Homeautomation

Summary

In 2006 we installed the EIB/KNX Bus in our new house.
Some friends sad, we did you do that?

We had to decide between a conventional installation and a more flexible installation.
We've already done before a KNX installation so the decision was not to difficult.

And, i would do it again.

After a couple of years living with the comfort of the KNX System we had some new requirements.

Automatic lights of if we close the balcony door
Close the blinds on a defined time
Notify open windows

So we started to look how we can implement these features.

Buying a ready-to-go solutions are to easy.

First step was to bring the KNX Bus to our network.
That was not to difficult because the hardware is available.
So we ordered the Arduino Mega and the Freebus Module. We heat up our soldering iron and put everything together.
At this point we had a web interface for controlling the lights and blinds.

We started to implement the automatic features.

Open/Close the blinds on a defined time
Extend with calendar entries
Extend with sunrise/sunset

The configuration is done only on the web server, if you would change the settings you have to change it directly on the web server.

We started to implement an application for mobile phone.

iHomeControl was born.

Every parameter could be changed by iHomeControl.

Everything worked so far. Oh, not everything. Notifications.

First we tried Prowl for the notification system. Worked, but not smart enough.
We started to setup a own notification server for sending notification to iHomeControl.

Next, another new requirement. Heating glitch.

We made some wireless sensors for measurement the temperature.

If the heating system is on and the temperature goes below a defined value we get a notification.

We placed the other sensors in each room to get the temperature.

Next comfort feature, open window state.

On each window we have an enocean sensor. The sensors are powered only with solar, so no need to change the batteries.
Each sensor sends its state if it changes or every 15 minute.

Next, notification status if leaving the house.

We implement this feature in iHomeControl. At this time only geofencing was possible.
Geofencing worked, but was to inaccurately.

After iBeacon becomes available, we changed from geofencing to iBeacons.

Latest feature, activating the alarm system.

KNX is so flexible, we didn't need a new alarm system.
We have several KNX motion sensor installed.
We changed the application of these sensors to send messages over the bus if a motion is detected.
But, only if we have left home.

Cheers Frank

Hardware:

Arduino Mega2560 & Ethernet Shield as WebServer (www.arduino.cc)

Freebus RS232 Module for connecting the KNX/EIB bus (www.freebus.org)

RFM12b <-> WebServer Bridge based on FunkyV2 (Wiki)
RFM12b <-> Enocean Bridge based on FunkyV2 (Wiki) and TCM 120

Software:

Appcelerator Titanium for App development (www.appcelerator.com)

TiBeacon Module for Appcelerator (https://github.com/jbeuckm/TiBeacons)
NAppSlideMenu Module for Appcelerator (https://github.com/viezel/NappSlideMenu)
LocalNotify Module for Appcelerator (https://github.com/benbahrenburg/LocalNotify)

Arduino IDE (http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software)

Sensors:

Enocean Wireless magnet contact (Hardware details)
FunkyV1 (Wiki) and FunkyV2 (Wiki) for temperature and light measurement
iBeacons (www.BlueSenseNetworks.com) for activating the alarm system

Screenshots iHomeControl