Items Tagged With hardware

In the second of our new "My Automated Home" series, Richard Farthing takes us on a tour of his Green Open Source House.  On a budget of less than £600 the Linux setup looks after property whilst keeping an eye on the carbon footprint too.  Read on for the free software recommendations, the Joggler photos, tips, the what he'd do differently next time and the what's coming next...

Why the Home Automation Hub?  I’ve always been keen on the notion of Home Automation, but two factors put me off getting started.  One, the cost of a decent HA controller (and I don’t mean a 24x7 PC).  Two, She Who Must Be Obeyed hates wires running around the place.  So, I worked with a friend to develop a low entry cost HA controller which we call the ‘Home Automation Hub’ (or HAH). We are now nearly two years into the project; it has taken a lot of effort (esp. on the software side) but has been great fun.  Best of all it’s based on a re-purposed WiFi router that can usually be purchased on eBay for around £10...

In the first of our new 'My Automated Home' series,  Soitjes Soit talks us through the idea behind his home brew Digital Home Server.  Created using an inexpensive Mimo USB monitor and a mini-ITX PC, the system provides a variety of functions around the home...

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just glance at your doors and tell if they were locked or unlocked. This Automated Home reader has done just that and can tell the status of each door from the colour of the LED.  Read on for the photos and the circuit details...

Automated Home reader Kevin Warner has been building a comprehensive home automation system based on a HomeSeer backend controlled from touch screens using Cinemars MainLobby system.  Check out the photos of his beautiful installation along with his opinions on what works best and his thoughts on future additions...