OpenHAB Pi - my home automation center
I've got an idea that's easily divided into smaller parts for easier implementation. First part to be made is a center for home automation. To be exact, I'm automating my room. I've got light switches, power sockets and window blinds to be automated, and I want a security system for my room. Once I'm there, I can throw in more features! However, I'll skip the part about what I'm going to do and tell about how I'm going to do things.
The Pi Model B I'm using is scarred from all the experiments it's been in - which you can see from all the shoddy soldering, mods and lacking connectors. However, it's still alive, GPIOs haven't been damaged and therefore it's suitable for all of my home automation needs. Furthermore, it's going to be out of sight most of the time, so looks are even less important. I've bought the most crucial components for my implementation and that should be enough to get started.
First of all, I want to make a box for it. I think it should be made from acrylic, since I like the look and feel of layered acrylic boxes. It's going to have power, USB and input/output connections accessible on headers. If I ever need to remove/add things or change the connectors, I just plug/unplug the connectors and that's it. It will also be portable, as a result - though I can't imagine taking my home automation center somewhere =) My motto is "if it's not neat, it will not work reliably" and having an enclosure only helps the "neat" part.
What's in the box though?
Peripherals:
- A GPIO-connected 16x4 display - for pyLCI
- A keypad found in my hackerspace connected through I2C with a nice faceplate - for pyLCI
- An Arduino for monitoring voltages in the box, possibly notify about the blown fuses
- A USB hub for external USB ports
- A USB-to-RS485 dongle for connecting Arduinos over RS485 line
- A USB-Bluetooth dongle for iBeacon (to be exact, Eddystone Bluetooth beacon)
- A PiFace Digital 2 shield - 8 inputs, 8 outputs, for the most basic of tasks such as getting light switch state and controlling LED lamps
- A USB-UART adapter connected to Pi's serial console for debugging in the worst situations when everything, including pyLCI, has crashed and debugging is needed
- An external LED strip that's powered while the Pi is booting - to make sure there is at least some light in the room while OpenHAB is not running yet and lights are not yet controllable
- 12V 10A PSU for powering everything in the box, the distant Arduinos on RS485 and some random things on my workbench, such as a soldering iron, breadboard PSUs for prototyping and a USB charging station
- A DC-DC set to 5 volts for powering the Pi and other 5V peripherals
- 2 power rails (+12V and GND) for easier wiring of 12V rail inside the box
- Fuse box inside the enclosure to make sure externally accessible power connectors can't cut the power inside by accident and therefore disable the entire box
Possible additions:
- An emergency override board to switch to manual input/output control in case OpenHAB glitches out
- Some temperature sensors for measuring the PSU temperature to make sure nothing bad happens because of overheating
- A simple soundcard for playing emergency tones/notifications
- A UPS based on Li-ion batteries for cases when the power runs out
- A WiFi dongle for emergency automatic connections to an external WiFi
- A cheap phone or a GSM module to send notification SMS and, possibly, receive commands from me
- An IR receiver to control the basic functions from an IR remote
Hardware parts are put together. After a week, I'll assemble it and start installing the software.
