My propsal for the Pi IoT Design Challenge was not good enough to be sponsored which probably means this project is not a contender to win anything, but putting the effort into the proposal and dreaming up the possibilities got me enthusiastic enough to proceed anyway.
I have been dabbling in home automation for a few years, but the various projects are scattered all over the house, so this is a great opportunity to set up a central control room that starts to leverage the synergies available. I have noticed that home automation can seem a little mundane and not too exciting, so I would like to infuse this project with a pop culture motif to increase interest level.
I like the clean design of Star Trek technology and I think it would lend itself well to the home automation command center theme. I have a large alcove that could be converted to a Start Trek style bridge décor with appropriate control consoles.
My continuing mission is to explore the strange new world of Internet of Things and seek out new technologies and opportunities.
I have approval from the Admiral at Star Fleet HQ to dress up the alcove with Star Trek décor and I might even convince her to supply the Ship's Computer voice, because what is the point of having a space ship if you can't video a couple of skits to explain and demonstrate its features.
Another reason for proceeding with the project is once the Admiral has made a ruling, it is not cool to pull out.
Here are some of my home automation technologies and ideas on how they can be related to the Star Trek motif:
- I have designed and built the ultimate smart thermostat – called Henrietta. In the Start Trek theme this would become “Life Support” and would be an interactive wall-mounted display. It is also controlled via Bluetooth, so one of the Trek consoles would be able to bring up a Henrietta interface. The Henrietta user interface haspersonality traits, with winking eyes to acknowledge commands. This can be explained because the life support system was recently serviced by some Binars who tend to infuse intelligent personalities into computer systems.
- I have designed and built some BLE lighting systems. One of these could be passed off as a Ferengi Thought Maker artifact. The iphone control “console” for the BLE LEDs could look like a Star Trek LCARS display.
- I am building a Bluetooth automated solar powered snow removal system called Clear Walk which has motorized mirrors to redirect sunshine and a solar panel to charge the battery. The mirrors correspond to a Star Trek main deflector and the solar cells correspond to Bussard collectors.
- I have a network of EnOcean sensors monitoring doors and windows and house functions. These will be aliased to a Star Trek space ship – portals for windows and airlocks or hatches for doors. The bay window will be the observation deck. The garage will be the shuttle bay and the van will be a shuttle. The project kit will allow this network to expand and maybe switch from a PC to a Raspberry Pi as the EnOcean host. The status screen will be a Star Trek Security Station.
- I have Raspberry Pi and PiCam, monitoring the planet's surface, that can be piped to the “main viewer” (HDTV).
- My Cel Robox 3D printer will become a Star Trek replicator. It has already made some communicators and aphaser.
- The Star Trek Science Station will have some of my electronics instrumentation. My Keysight multimeter will become a Tricorder.
- The science station display can monitor deep space with long range sensors – my back yard solar powered Bluetooth weather station.
This project involves tablet computers, smart phones, PCs, Raspberry Pi's and EnOcean sensors - and maybe even 7 of 9.
I have a number of other projects that I might find time to include, such as a robot I built called BorgBot and a weather station I had proposed, housed in an AVRO Arrow. No promises though, as outfitting the IoT alcove with 6 or more Star Trek panel displays with corresponding networked computers all integrated into appropriate décor is aready making for a very tight schedule. However this project plays out, it should provide a place to showcase my future projects and a platform for further IoT exploration.
Links to the Pi IoT Design Challenge site:
Pi IoT - Smarter Spaces with Raspberry Pi 3: About This Challenge
Links to blogs about the Star Trek IoT Alcove project:
Pi IoT - Star Trek IoT Alcove - Blog 1
element14 and the photon torpedo - Pi IoT Blog 2
How many tablets to use? Pi IoT Blog 3
The Starship Enocean Voyager - Pi IoT Blog 4
LCARS (Library Computer Access Retrieval System){Star Trek} - Pi IoT Blog 5
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