Home Automation

Home automation has been one of my hobbies for more than twenty-five years. In the early days it was mostly lighting control using X10 technology. There was a PC program written by a researcher at IBM's Almaden Research Center that calculated the precise time of the daily sunset and at that time signal went across the electrical wiring of the house and turned on some exterior lighting. At midnight the lights would turn off. Since that time I have learned a lot about home automation and after Year 2000, when I began to think about e-tirement from IBM, I also started planning a new "smart home". It became home at the end of March 2002.

I have not written about my home up to this point, somewhat out of modesty but also not sure how many people are interested in home automation. I ran into Steve Hamm from BusinessWeek last April in Rome at the Business Leadership Forum and he convinced me to open up about the subject. Steve visited in September and I was confident he would write something thoughtful. There was a follow-on visit by BusinessWeek TV and Greg Clarkin. Their filming ended up on BusinessWeek Weekend (carried by ABC-TV) on the Sunday after Christmas. The story ran in the January 22, 2007 issue, pages 82-83. Here are links to the story and video.

Ultimate Wired Home: A look at a computer-controlled home
King Of His Digital Castle

Not so sure about "master" and I certainly don't think of my home as a "castle" but now that the cat is out of the bag, I have decided to write a series of stories to share the details about the home automation system in the hope that it will be useful to others. I will include what went into the planning, what technology choices I made, the design choices, and what I have learned. Stay tuned.

Home Automation - Introduction
Home Automation - Planning
Other patrickWeb stories about home automation

Upcoming stories on home automation:
System design
Security
Lighting control
Audio distribution
Video distribution
Universal remotes
Home theatre
Appliance control
Spa control
Sensors
Project management
Changes and upgrades

Home Automation January 21, 2007 11:14 AM