This morning I woke up to find an email informing me that I was chosen to receive a basic package for Forget Me Not challenge.
I'm excited for a multitude of reasons. Firstly I get a reason to play with the EnOcean energy harvesting sensors. They have been available for a number of years and I've been aware of them for a long time, but I've yet to play with them. There's still something magical about sensors that are self-powered.
This challenge is also providing me with some motivation to explore an idea I've been chewing over, namely a modern security system.
When you are away from your home for any length of time, you want to be sure that your belongings are protected. A typical home security system uses a number of PIR sensors linked to a control panel, and a siren which is triggered upon intruder detection. Usually installation of the system and associated cabling requires an electrician. Programming the system also requires professional expertise. Monitoring of the system by an alarm company is available but incurs an ongoing cost. Even once the system is installed, it is only useful if the residents remember to arm it when they go out.
A modern security system should be affordable, easy to install, flexible, and provide instant feedback to the home owner if suspicious activity is detected. I believe the Raspberry Pi along with EnoceanPi and OpenHAB provide an excellent platform to build such a system and I plan to use this challenge to prove it.
Here are some of the features of my proposed system:
- Self-powered wireless sensors - you never need to change batteries, and no cabling is required!
- The main controller is a Raspberry Pi - this keeps costs down
- Alarms via email - get notified of events wherever you are
- Web user interface - accessible from any browser
- OpenHAB will be used for the control logic and user interface.
There's more to come, I'm choosing not to disclose details of all my ideas and plans just yet - this is a contest after all :-)
The system is really about offering peace of mind to the home owner while they are away. Most of the time it should be unobtrusive, only sending notifications if action is required.
By the way, I need a catchy name for my project. If you have any ideas, leave a comment below. Perhaps EyesPi?