Thread: Can it be done ?

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Posts
    18

    Can it be done ?

    Curiousity bumps to me this early morning. can we write a program that will can switch off and on the air-con and other electrical acccesories at home? First of all, where we put that program? On what kind of devices? Can it be done?
    hope to know.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    & the hat of GPL slaying Thantos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Posts
    5,681
    With the right hardware yes it could be done.

  3. #3
    Me -=SoKrA=-'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    448
    Yes, it's been avaliable for a few years now, but it's only started to pick up recently.
    Using the X10 protocol, your computer can send through the electrical instalation already in your home. This proto sends data when the voltage in the wire is zero, which happens ~50 times a second in this part of the world. The air-con would have to be enabled to understand this protocol, wich would come in quite expensive.
    SoKrA-BTS "Judge not the program I made, but the one I've yet to code"
    I say what I say, I mean what I mean.
    IDE: emacs + make + gcc and proud of it.

  4. #4
    'AlHamdulillah
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Posts
    790
    The air-con would have to be enabled to understand this protocol, wich would come in quite expensive.
    or one could be cheap and just have air conditioners with ethernet ports and then have a protocol based over that, it would only need a basic protocol to enable for air conditioning, on/off commands, and a tempurature dialing system(using a variable length encoding, the system would only have to interpret at max 8 bits, 1 bit to determine whether it is a on/off command or a tempurature, and the remaining 7 bits to select temp. between 0 -127.

    Air conditioning is a bad example though, as it is pretty trivial, what really gets tedious would be making a protocol for say.... an expensive coffee machine(that makes expressos,lattes,etc.), where you would have all these different commands, as well as a system of reporting when the water needs to be filled,etc.

    EDIT: just for a side-note, bill gate's house already has air conditioning controlled by computers.

  5. #5
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    MI
    Posts
    8,823
    Originally posted by EvBladeRunnervE
    EDIT: just for a side-note, bill gate's house already has air conditioning controlled by computers.
    He's not the only one.

  6. #6
    Senior Member joshdick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Phildelphia, PA
    Posts
    1,146
    We have the technology...
    FAQ

    "The computer programmer is a creator of universes for which he alone is responsible. Universes of virtually unlimited complexity can be created in the form of computer programs." -- Joseph Weizenbaum.

    "If you cannot grok the overall structure of a program while taking a shower, you are not ready to code it." -- Richard Pattis.

  7. #7
    l'Anziano DavidP's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Plano, Texas, United States
    Posts
    2,743
    I actually think this technology would work well with answering machines.

    For example, several of us use Instant Messaging clients, such as AIM, Yahoo, MSN, IRC, etc. Most of these programs give us the ability to put up an "away message" when we leave the computer temporarily.

    I think this would work well with telephone answering machines. We could network our answering machines and computers together, and then when you leave your house, you could select an "away message" that would be played when someone tries to call your house.
    My Website

    "Circular logic is good because it is."

  8. #8
    Its not rocket science vasanth's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Posts
    1,683

    Re: Can it be done ?

    Originally posted by Mitchell
    Curiousity bumps to me this early morning. can we write a program that will can switch off and on the air-con and other electrical acccesories at home? First of all, where we put that program? On what kind of devices? Can it be done?
    hope to know.

    Thanks!

    The cheapest option to do that is to have a device controlled through a PC which will control the power to the device...

  9. #9
    PC Fixer-Upper Waldo2k2's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    2,001
    There are C programmable controllor boards for under 100 bucks. You can wire their inputs and outputs to the ac units, then it's just sending signals to whatever connection...pretty straightforward.
    PHP and XML
    Let's talk about SAX

  10. #10
    Registered User goran's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Posts
    68
    can we write a program that will can switch off and on the air-con and other electrical acccesories at home?
    But why ? Why not use the normal switches provided for the very same purpose ?

  11. #11
    PC Fixer-Upper Waldo2k2's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    2,001
    Originally posted by goran
    But why ? Why not use the normal switches provided for the very same purpose ?
    so that you don't have to go and hit the switch yourself, so it can be done programatically on timers and at certain temperatures...we're programmers, if you don't like it get the hell out
    PHP and XML
    Let's talk about SAX

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    202
    another cool thing is if you have a business phone, like whats in a office, with the extra buttons on top. You also need a phone switching station. But with these devices you can turn on and off devices remotely. You can even open doors and close gates. Just a suggestion. Ive seen it done and its REALLY cool..
    "Christ died for our sins. Dare we make his martyrdom meaningless by not committing them?"

  13. #13
    Registered User Scourfish's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Posts
    387
    My air conditioner is already controlled by a computer; It's called a thermostat.
    -486SX-20
    -Some random Debian Distro
    -Some version of MS-Dos
    -Day of the Tentacle

  14. #14
    In The Light
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Posts
    598
    Howdy,
    Entire factories are controled by PLC's it's simply a matter of how many contacts and i/o's you need.
    A small PLC will only set you back a couple of hundred bucks... or you could reinvent the wheel set up an rs 232 network through your house to handle data colection and device controls, plumb that into your box and write the code to read the sensors.......

    M.R.
    I don't like you very much. Please post a lot less.
    Cheez
    *and then*
    No, I know you were joking. My point still stands.

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed