xAP, Squeezebox and Idratek

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  • Kevin
    Moderator
    • Jan 2004
    • 558

    #16
    Paul - sorry been on hols and missed this post. Are you sorted re this or do you still need some pointers ?

    A xAP controller is needed to act upon the trigger and send a resulting message - something like the free xAP Floorplan for example. Alternatively leave the sensing of the below temp within Cortex and when it goes below value you can get Cortex to send the message directly to the SqueezeBox (Cortex can construct and send almost any xAp schema/message).



    Kevin

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    • Paul_B
      Automated Home Legend
      • Jul 2006
      • 608

      #17
      Kevin,

      I'm slowly getting the hang of xAP. You may have seen me posting in the xAP forum as well as I have been playing with Blue 0.2. It is slowly making sense and becoming more powerful.

      On the server that runs Cortex I now have Blue 0.2, xFx Hub by Ed and the xfX viewer by Ed as well. With a bit of help from James I have been able to act upon my mobile phone showing up on Bluetooth and then sending a message to the Squeezebox. All simply stuff so far.

      Now I am getting to grasps with the xAP schema and interface I think the next step is to turn my attention to Cortex and use it as the controller and logic provider.

      BTW I sent you a message concerning your efforts with iViewer and how you were getting on?

      Paul

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      • Kevin
        Moderator
        • Jan 2004
        • 558

        #18
        I'm sure if you invest the time you will find xAP useful.

        One of our great difficulties is conveying the concept of xAP - without burdening ourselves with the task of writing xAP applications for every purpose. xAP could be likened to IP (TCP/IP) - it makes things possible eg the internet but we can't create the mail, web and server clients. We just hope others will jump on board.

        Those that 'get' it love it - but we're not doing the best of jobs at making it accessible to everyone. But we're trying ..

        Kevin




        For those that might want to know more....

        One of the great things about xAP is that it is a distributed system - no device is tied to another and all devices can interact freely with one another over Ethernet. This means that you can implement a single controller based system - for example using Cortex as your engine or even use multiple controllers - your choice. You could even create a fancy fall over /redundant scenario. You can also set up switches for example to control lights directly or lights to listen to switches ie a controller less scenario . It is very flexible and very similar to to IDRAnet and it's Reflex features.

        For those using Cortex/IDRANet as their main engine this is of passing interest - and mainly offers prospects of interaction with many more devices and applications, particularly richer data sources possibly of an internet derivation or with existing hardware. It is also for example fairly easy to write a xAP conduit allowing integration of an existing ACME alarm system into Cortex. This makes writing a custom device Cortex 'add in' possible by using xAP - and xAP is an easy protocol to understand and code.

        For those with more difficult integration issues what xAP does is provide a methodology to allow you to freely design and expand your system without absolutely committing yourself to a specific vendor. For example you might chose an XYZ mp3 player and then swap to the ABC version - if they both had xAP support the change should be transparent.

        xAP devices are all intrinsically network enabled and not owned by a particular application. ie independent. Additionally if you use a xAP aware software application then it's inbuilt devices (or those supported by plugins) are usually xAP exposed. This creates a rapidly expanding library of 'xAP enabled' devices that you could add to Cortex if you find an application (often free) that supports them

        xAP is a protocol - we're not in the business of making hardware - or selling software (in fact we're not commercial at all) - our charter is just to make it easier to build a HA system that supports what you already own..and the future. No vendor provides a total solution, and even if they did it would likely have compromises or be not affordable.

        Cortex is an unusually powerful piece of software, perhaps one of the most visionary I have come across. This coupled with a nicely affordable range of hardware provides a great platform to build a HA system. If xAP can help integrate that with your existing legacy systems or more complex sensors/devices not available within the IDRAnet offerings , or perhaps a richer internet data source .. or your home AV system for example then great.... mission accomplished :-)

        K

        PS Sorry if I'm a bit effervescent tonight - just returned from South Africa with some great duty free and reliving the great time I had there :-)
        Last edited by Kevin; 5 December 2008, 02:11 AM.

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        • chris_j_hunter
          Automated Home Legend
          • Dec 2007
          • 1713

          #19
          see there's a replacement for the Current Cost (mentioned by Kevin in his first post of 26 Sep'08) on its way :

          Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 29 December 2008, 11:29 PM.
          Our self-build - going further with HA...

          Comment

          • chris_j_hunter
            Automated Home Legend
            • Dec 2007
            • 1713

            #20
            draft details here :



            seems to be faster, and able to deal with ten sensors, as well as being better-looking (maybe) ...
            Last edited by chris_j_hunter; 29 December 2008, 11:33 PM.
            Our self-build - going further with HA...

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            • spellinn
              Automated Home Sr Member
              • Dec 2007
              • 53

              #21
              Originally posted by Kevin View Post
              It looks like the other Kevin also has a near finished xAP connector for the Current Cost devices (just entering beta) that has nice web based graphing and RSS feeds - here's a snippet from his post to the xAP Automation list that shows the featurelist.
              Does anyone have this? Emails to Kevin are bouncing, and there is now download on his site still for xAPPower.

              I have a new CurrentCost device, and his xAp connector looks perfect for integration with Cortex.

              Cheers

              Neil

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              • Kevin
                Moderator
                • Jan 2004
                • 558

                #22
                There are two Kevins... Myself (KevinH - UKUSA/xAPAutomation) and KevinT - NetCompSys. xAPower was my CurrentCost xAP conduit but I withdrew it when KevinT announced his xAPCurrentCost



                I will try and contact KevinT and see what the state of play is - I assume it is emails to his (Netcompsys) address that are bouncing .. and not mine ?

                Cheers Kevin (H)

                Comment

                • spellinn
                  Automated Home Sr Member
                  • Dec 2007
                  • 53

                  #23
                  Originally posted by Kevin View Post
                  I will try and contact KevinT and see what the state of play is - I assume it is emails to his (Netcompsys) address that are bouncing .. and not mine ?

                  Cheers Kevin (H)
                  Yes, it was KevinT who I emailed and received a bounce. Would be good if you could reach him and find out where his is with his project.

                  Cheers


                  Neil

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                  • Kevin
                    Moderator
                    • Jan 2004
                    • 558

                    #24
                    I have managed to get in touch with KevinT - he's been away for a couple of weeks. He's not aware of any email issues. Do try again too.

                    I have yet to get an update on his Current Cost application - although I do know that currently it doesn't support the pulse emulation that might make it more useful to Cortex. I'll post further info shortly.

                    K

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                    • spellinn
                      Automated Home Sr Member
                      • Dec 2007
                      • 53

                      #25
                      I still get bounces when trying his address:

                      SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<kevin_curly at netcompsys.co.uk>:
                      host mail.uk2.net [83.170.81.160]: 550 Unrouteable address

                      (above address tweaked from its native format to prevent harvesting)

                      Cheers

                      Neil

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                      • Kevin
                        Moderator
                        • Jan 2004
                        • 558

                        #26
                        Delete the "_curly" bit ... not sure where that came from ?

                        K

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                        • Kevin
                          Moderator
                          • Jan 2004
                          • 558

                          #27
                          I just noticed in this weekends update notes for Cortex that you can now accept xAP sourced trigger pulses for counters - which I'm thinking could interface to the electricity graphing :-)

                          I need to look a bit closer at how this is done when I get a moment but if KevinT's Current Cost xAP app were to add a pulse output then I guess the Current Costs could be sensor inputs to Cortex... or if not I could adapt my (unreleased) app or at least push out a CC to pulse output one...

                          K

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                          • Viv
                            Automated Home Ninja
                            • Dec 2004
                            • 284

                            #28
                            [QUOTE=Kevin;9554]I just noticed in this weekends update notes for Cortex that you can now accept xAP sourced trigger pulses for counters - which I'm thinking could interface to the electricity graphing :-)

                            Not strictly true Kevin. The pulse input count on an Idratek module is from a meter that represents KWh i.e. Energy.

                            The "alternative reading source" is a Power input e.g. 1.2KW. Perhaps it should be described better.
                            From the frequency of the updated reading we calculate the power (and the equivalent pulses). Note for very frequent updates e.g. every 5 seconds the meter should be specified as say 100000 pulses per KWh.

                            We could provide an alternative energy source if this is desirable.

                            Viv

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                            • JonS
                              Automated Home Guru
                              • Dec 2007
                              • 202

                              #29
                              I’ve been toying with the idea of buying into the Squeeze box / Boom Box products for a while as they seem to integrate well with Cortex & XAP. As there is a special offer on can someone answer my remaining questions please?

                              Can the alarm function on the Boombox be integrated with Cortex –i.e. only set alarm time in Cortex and let it start the boombox via macro?
                              Can you display Cortex and or xAP data on the Boombox display? – is this a cost option? Two options or just one!?
                              How have people integrated it with Cortex or xAP?


                              Thanks
                              JonS

                              Comment

                              • Kevin
                                Moderator
                                • Jan 2004
                                • 558

                                #30
                                Originally posted by JonS View Post
                                As there is a special offer on can someone answer my remaining questions please?
                                Indeed- it enticed my credit card out too :-) but I already have some SB/Duet players. I haven't used the inbuilt (option) SqueezeBox support for Cortex - so my answers are from a xAP perspective only. Hopefully IDRATEK can add the detail on their option.

                                SqueezeCentre has a very complete xAP plugin downloadable via SlimDevices site - or from here.

                                Once installed, and using the latest SqueezeCentre it becomes part of the auto update mechanism. Full control and eventing is available for all music functions eg 'Now Playing' info etc plus the IR control signals. On screen message display is provided.
                                Originally posted by JonS View Post
                                Can the alarm function on the Boombox be integrated with Cortex –i.e. only set alarm time in Cortex and let it start the boombox via macro?
                                You can set it playing via a xAP command so yes... You can't set the BB's internal alarm times though.
                                Originally posted by JonS View Post
                                Can you display Cortex and or xAP data on the Boombox display? – is this a cost option? Two options or just one!?
                                Yes, a very thorough onscreen message display function is also provided with addressable players, timed message durations and priorities. Higher priority messages replace lower priority ones that would then become queued for later display for the remainder of their duration. This allows say weather info to be displayed that can be overwritten by alerts eg from an incoming telephone call providing name, location and number (XAP Switchboard has SC message origination inbuilt). I use xAP originated messages extensivley here ... from Cortex you have to originate appropriate xAP messages with the 'text' that you wish to display on the BB of course. BTW these display messages even show on the SB Duet wireless two way LCD colour remotes
                                Implementation via xAP requires just the (one) xAP option
                                Originally posted by JonS View Post
                                How have people integrated it with Cortex or xAP?
                                I haven't played extensively yet with fancy message display from Cortex onto the SqueezeBox displays... just haven't got around to it. I do have some simple predefined onscreen messages that I have sent to the SC displays from Cortex eg Alarm Set - external PIR movements etc. Also I do have the reverse - track info displayed on the LCD multifunction display - plus transport control (play|stop|pause etc). I need to investigate variable text strings in the (optional) script object in Cortex and then getting that sent as the text= parameter in the xAP message. I believe this should work - maybe Vivian can comment ?

                                There's a way to try it all though before you buy the BB hardware :-) You can install SqueezeCentre (free download) and use SoftSqueeze/SqueezePlayer to emulate the BoomBox (SoftSqueeze/SqueezePlay) . These are PC based applications that support both music and the message display functions so you can experiment... you would need the xAP option in Cortex though.

                                K
                                Last edited by Kevin; 17 March 2009, 12:36 PM.

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