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Our controller for smart home



UPD : we took the video of Wiren Board Smart Home

Summary:


On the basis of our Wiren Board platform (a compact industrial computer with Linux and various interfaces), we made a fancy controller for Wiren Board Smart Home automation (ARM9 64MB RAM, GSM / GPRS, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, 2xRS-485 / Modbus, CAN, 2 relays, ASK / FSK radio module 433MHz, NRF24L01 +, etc.), to which you can connect a bunch of wired and wireless actuators and sensors from different systems and manufacturers. The device is ready and tested. For devices from the first large batch, we open an order with delivery up to the May holidays at a special price.

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Motivation


Even after our very first article, many enthusiasts wrote to us that they would like to use our single board computer as the basis of a smart home.

We worked through this issue and realized that on the basis of our Wiren Board platform, you can make a good home automation controller that allows you to control actuators and sensors in the medium, low-cost and ultra-cheap price category (see below).

In addition to the functionality that is in the usual Wiren Board, namely:

were added:




Inside are expansion connectors: two UEXT and USB-host.
As unnecessary, the NFC and GPS modules were removed.

This time we picked up a good standard case and designed a board for it. The choice fell on the case on the DIN rail D6MG from Gainta. It is not very compact (106x90x57.5 mm), but the DIN rail mounting allows you to safely place the controller in a standard cabinet with other equipment. In this case, the board is easily and securely fixed by the case parts without attachments to the racks. All connectors are derived from two sides of the case.


In addition, we have provided the possibility of using a Plexiglas case on the racks. Such a body is quite compact, looks good and fits well, if you expect a more “desktop” application.
It looks like this:

We have not yet received the cut sheets for the new case, but the similar case we ordered for the standard Wiren Board gives a rough idea of ​​how this case will look.


When designing, we focused on solutions such as Evik (yes, this is a very budget solution :)), Ninja Blocks and others.

So,

What can be connected to the controller directly?





433Mhz radio module



The killer feature of our controller is a transceiver for 433 Mhz . We use the advanced HopeRF RFM69H packet radio module with very good output power (+ 13 / + 20 dBm) and sensitivity (up to -120 dBm). The radio chip has a lot of settings, supports various modulation modes, can encrypt traffic by hardware, allows you to programmatically change the carrier frequency, bandwidth, bit rate, etc. Working with the chip occurs in batch mode - the code in user space just reads / writes bytes with data from the device.

What is all this magnificence for? Using this radio module, you can receive and send signals to the zoo for low-cost devices with proprietary radio protocols. Examples:


The radio module, of course, can be used for its intended purpose - to organize a communication channel and build its wireless networks.

In the following articles we will write in more detail about working with the radio module and show how to disassemble various proprietary protocols and connect interesting devices to our controller.

Radio module NRF24L01 +


The NRF24L01 + is a very popular in the DIY community and a very cheap radio chip for organizing wireless communications at 2.4GHz using the proprietary protocol from Nordic. The NRF24 module is available in our controller for home automation as an option, and can be useful if you are going to connect any home-made modules on arduinka / analogs.

And still




And more (extensions)


Although we tried, it is clear that we could not support all the diversity of wired and wireless interfaces for connecting devices for a smart home. However, we took care to add support for some systems was quite simple.

On the board, inside the case, we brought out one USB port. In it, you can connect and hide inside the case of USB-sticks, for example, for:


There are also two UEXT connectors on the board , to which you can connect different modules from Olimex .

The design of the selected housing allows you to place additional fees above the main one. In the future, we plan to release several such expansion cards.

Soft




The controller's hardware is supported by the mainline Linux kernel with our patch set (3.13). We use Debian GNU / Linux 7 Wheezy as the OS.
As a management software, we suggest using open projects, for example, AgoControl or NinjaBlocks . Both projects are lively and have a large user base. AgoControl is a classic offline system, the web server runs on the device.
In contrast, Ninja Blocks is an interesting cloud platform. Under her control, the controller loads data and receives commands from the cloud. Dashboard with viewing indications and management, scripting are available through the a.ninja.is web service.

All software for working with hardware, for example, for working with a radio module, is made independent of specific systems so that other software can be easily used.
We implement full controller support for the two systems mentioned, AgoControl and NinjaBlocks.

And pre-order


The development of the controller is completed, the first samples are collected and tested. To produce a large batch, we just need to purchase the components in the required quantity and send the order to the factory.

We announce the start of sales on pre-orders . We are talking about real pre-orders, i.e. purchase for real money (cards, interbank) in our online store with deferred delivery.
Collection of pre-orders will go until March 15.
Production and installation of boards will be in Russia. The process is already debugged by us, so we will meet in a fairly short time. We plan to ship controllers before the May holidays.
We will inform about the production process on our website .

Why is there such a complicated procedure? The cost of the device is highly dependent on the batch size. If ordered in small batches, then selling at an affordable price, unfortunately, will not work. Virtual pre-orders, without payment, as our experience has shown, give highly overestimated figures in comparison with real sales. We decided not to get involved in Russian crowdfunding sites, because they charge a large commission, without attracting customers themselves.

Prices



The design of our controller is modular, so the price depends on the specific configuration that you can choose in the store .

Prices start at 3900r in the minimum configuration. For example, the standard configuration: everything except CAN and NRF24, on pre-order will cost 5,000 rubles, and the same, but without GSM, - for another 500 rubles. cheaper.
UPD (2014-03-10): It turned out that incomplete configurations are practically not in demand. They left only the full configuration (LAN, USB, 2 RS-485 ports, Wi-Fi, GSM / GPRS modem and radio module at 433MHz, radio NRF24L01 +, CAN port) for 5300 rubles.

Conclusion


We are waiting for your comments and suggestions (for example, about expansion modules) here in the comments, or on our forum . We will be happy to answer any questions!

-
Best wishes,
wiren board command

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/213243/

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