6 replies to this topic

[amavadia]

I am looking to start a new project around home automation. I would like to create a standalone hardware console, and write an application that will run on it and will be able to output different voltages to control various lights.

I am familiar with PHP and have very basic outline knowledge of java so this will be a huge learning experience for me.

My question here is whether anyone is aware of appropriate hardware touchscreen panels that may be available and already have a basic operating system on it which I could develop an application to run on top of. I do not want to go down to assembly language but at the same time do not want to have to use a full PC just to have enough processing power to run the app. Also if anyone does know of any such hardware, please can you suggest what language would be best for the software development.

Thanks in advance! :thumbup:

[Ancient Dragon]

Touch screens are readily available for PCs. for example the HP TouchSmart and others With that you can use any PC and programming language of your choice. I wrote a touch screen application some 20+ years ago with MS-DOS 6.X, so I know they have been improved greatly since then.

[amavadia]

I was looking for small hand held devices that would maybe able to run a stripped down version of either linux or windows rather than a full PC.

I have been emailing a few sellers of players like these:
8G 4.3'' MP3 MP4 MP5 Player Touch E-Reader FM Photo PMP on eBay (end time 30-Mar-10 18:33:45 BST)

I was hoping they would be capable of running linux but so far ive had no luck. Some sellers are purely just sellers and dont have the information about them, and I found one manufacturer but I could not make total sense of the reply I got.

Also looked at the Nokia 770 which apparently can run linux which is another possibility, but if those players are capable they would be ideal!

[Ancient Dragon]

How are you going to hook up all the wires to whatever devices you want to control with the touch screen if you use some hand-held computer? Will you have some sort of wireless interface between the controller and the lights or other devices? I have done something similar using RS232 serial port to control devices and robots on factory assembly lines. The problem with Nokia 770 is that it's internet based. How in the world would you control lights in your house (or any other building) with that?

[amavadia]

When starting off im hoping to just develop it internally with variables acting as outputs which change as options are selected etc. The next step would then be to create a device that can actually do things like close curtains with motors for example or switch a light switch on or off (I have a decent electronics background). Then third would be to connect the two together. Maybe using a bluetooth API? Most of these devices have a USB port so I could use a USB bluetooth adaptor.

What device did you use for your project?

[Ancient Dragon]

For hardware that just needed on/off signals I used a PLC. The devices were connected to the PLC and the PLC was connected to the computer's serial port. The program controled the PLC by turning on and off certain pins on the serial cable.

[amavadia]

After some quite lengthy research im now considering using one of these kinds of footprint devices:

5.0" BLUETOOTH GPS/MP3 Player/built-in 2GB/128MB SDRAM on eBay (end time 25-Apr-10 00:01:20 BST)

They are quite cheap and run Windows Embedded so would be good to .NET development.

Is it possible to control a signal coming from a USB port does anyone know?