I would like to start this post by thanking element14 and the sponsors for selecting my proposal for this design challenge. Thank you!

Introduction

There are two rooms which we, and probably most people, are in when at home: the living room and the bedroom. That is why I would like to build two control units which will blend in those rooms, yet provide full control of all IoT devices connected to the network.

The first control unit, for the living room, will consist of a Raspberry Pi with 7” touch screen. It can provide a visual representation of the status of the home and connected devices.

The second control unit, for the bedroom, will consist of a Raspberry Pi and smaller display (7-segment, 8x8 matrix, ...), in the form of an alarm clock.

Both control units will run the same software and configuration and should be in sync at all times. If the user introduces a new device or adapts the configuration on one unit, it should automatically be applied to the second. This provides a form of redundancy, ensuring the user  maintains control of his home or space at all times.

Let’s dive in the details of what I would like to achieve.

Control Units

The first unit will be based on the IoT Alarm Clock I built two years ago. It was created as a proof of concept, but was not as performant as expected. Using the Pi 3’s power and the knowledge acquired these past years, a new and improved version should be achievable. The components involved in the build would be packaged in a good looking alarm clock. I have in mind a combination of wood and white plexiglass.

The second unit would be mounted on the wall or resting on a cabinet or shelf in the living room.

Using the same type of wood as the alarm clock, a frame would be created to house the components and create a good looking unit.

Software

The software to visualise and control the different IoT devices in the house would be OpenHab. OpenHab is a user friendly tool with support for a very wide variety of protocols and devices. It also provides a customisable web interface with plenty of different widgets. OpenHab requires a lot of resources though. That is where the power of the Pi 3 comes in. With multiple cores, the overall performance should improve drastically.

The user may not always want to interface via touch, or in the case of the alarm clock, this wouldn’t even be possible. That is why, in addition, voice control is foreseen to allow an easy and natural ay of interfacing with the control units. Voice control can be achieved in different ways. I have experimented with Jasper in the past, and recently with Amazon Echo. An alternative to be considered and looking interesting is Wit.Ai.

As mentioned earlier, it is also important to have both control units in sync at all times. The configuration files should be automatically updated on both units. I’m thinking in using an application like Puppet to distribute and enforce the configuration. By having a periodic Puppet run, a server hosting the master files pushes them to the control units. This has two advantages: files cannot be tampered with, as they will periodically be enforced and the administrator only needs to make a change once to update all involved devices. This could be used to easily recreate a device in case of complete crash or corruption of the SD card.

IoT Devices

Over the past few years, our home has become more intelligent with plenty of IoT devices. Homemade or bought. The devices we currently have in our home and which would benefit from this control unit are:

• Cat Feeder
• EnOcean sensors
• Tower Light
• Philips Hue lights
• Domotics

Did you spot the pet feeder in the Pi IoT: Challenge Overview Video? (hint: around 0:41) I built it as part of element14's Forget Me Not Design Challenge. This device can be updated to have the data sent to the new control unit created in this challenge, gathering all information centrally, avoiding the use of a separate user interface.

The EnOcean sensors have the huge advantage of being self-powered. They have been running since the Forget Me Not challenge in 2014 and haven’t required intervention since! The different sensors provide the state on doors and windows (closed or not), temperature and humidity and a master switch capable of switching on or off anything.

The Tower Light is one of my recent IoT projects. It is an internet connected light which is installed in the garage, as this is where I spend most of my time. If my wife needs me for whatever reason, the light starts flashing to draw my attention. It supports different animations, which could mean different things like “dinner”, “visitor” or “emergency” for example.

Philips has a varied range of remote controlled lights. It is possible to group them, define presets, change brightness or color. This can be used to turn the lights off when going to bed, but also to create a certain atmosphere.

Finally, my wife and I bought a new house and are moving the first week of July. The house was built in 2010 and has a variety of domotic appliances. I would like to experiment and try to control these from the same control unit, creating a true unified interface for all IoT and automation devices in our new home. I don't have information on the system yet, meaning I'll only be able to start working on this aspect of the project once we actually move.

Security

The IoT may be fun, but it is also dangerous. I would like to focus on some security aspects for this project, as gathering all information in a single location facilitates usage, but makes your home or space more vulnerable as all information and controls are available in a single location. Research will be done in order to apply security measures and avoid (as best as possible) abuse of the system.

Conclusion

As you can see, I have a clear vision for this challenge, which I intend to realise, as I have done in the past with previous design challenges. The Raspberry Pi is probably my favourite SBC, and I hope this shows in the projects I create.

Looking forward to your feedback and an exciting challenge alongside the other finalists!

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