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Humble Beginnings My first HA system
was developed in a small apartment. I always had people
asking me what the point of all the automation was because if you stood in the
center of the room you could touch all four walls. But they were missing
the point. The automation wasn't just about being too lazy to stand up and flip a light
switch [see: The HA Paradox]. It was about
getting last minute weather information as you walk out the door. Or
setting up the entertainment system to watch a DVD with a single button
press.
Architecture
I originally tried to design the system with HomeVision at the absolute
center. HV would know about everything that happened, and nothing would
get done without HV doing it. This worked for a while, but my system soon
became too complex and I realized that I needed to spread the functions
around. HV is still basically in the center of my design but, where
practical, certain functions bypass HV.
I have a Visio diagram [still
a work in progress] of my entire system that does a fairly good job
of showing a high level view. It's fairly large, but sections of it are
scattered around this site with their respective sub-systems. The majority
of the system is centralized in a closet in the basement, but there are
two important exceptions. The HA server and the Slink-e are in the living
room tucked behind the entertainment center. This is partly a holdover
from the setup in my old apartment and partly for practical reasons.
There are five main subsystems in my HA setup. 1) HomeVision is my main
HA controller. It sits near the center and controls IR, X-10, make most
logic decisions, and displays information on the televisions. 2) Slink-e
is the interface between the system and the Sony components of my home
theater. 3) The alarm system is responsible for standard burglar and fire
alarm functions, but also tracks and reports occupancy to HV. 4) The HA
computers are responsible for tying all of the separate systems together
as well as providing a user interface and access to the internet. 5) And finally the network,
telephone and other infrastructure components.
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