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I'd like to be able to control household appliances.

I don't know where to get started, does anyone have any tips?

Nifle
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user198729
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    You need to be a little more specific and give some more detail. What do you mean by "appliance" ? What do you want to control the "appliance" *with* ? Do you have a preference for OS, programming language etc ? – Paul R Feb 15 '10 at 17:44

4 Answers4

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If by any chance you mean household appliances, youll need to start with KNX And, word to the wise, their API is shockingly frustratingly not nice nor fun; or at least it was when we did a job a few years back.

Jammin
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  • Yes,I mean household appliances – user198729 Feb 15 '10 at 17:58
  • I wouldn't necessarily recommend KNX for beginners in home automation. Especially when you are looking forward to develop an application to control your household appliances. KNX is an open standard but it does not provide the KNX specifications (including the communication protocol) for free (afaik 1000 €). And as ljsg already pointed it out, a KNX System is too expensive just for a few experiments. –  Jan 29 '14 at 11:24
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1) Learn how to build an electronic circuit for the devices you want to control.
2) Find a microcontroller that can be able to fit your requirements.
3) Download the Microcontroller SDK from the manufacturer site
4) Learn how to program it
5) Test and deploy when done.

That's what we did with PIC18F4520 microcontrollers when we tried to control power usage from our homes.

Or, 6) Buy a product already done. (Microsoft perhaps!)

Buhake Sindi
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  • The main problem is how to carry out tests for appliances without danger?If it's pure software,we can run the programme for testing,but it's not the case for appliances. – user198729 Feb 15 '10 at 18:02
  • You have to get data from your appliance before hand and simulate the results during testing... – Buhake Sindi Feb 15 '10 at 19:12
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As Jammin suggests there is the possibility to use KNX. KNX is a communication protocol typically used for home/building automation. There are hundreds of KNX devices capable of controlling electrical equipment but the cost would be overkill just for controlling a few home appliances.

I agree that you should learn how to use a microcontroller, a great starting point would be using an Arduino board. They are cheap, very easy to use with a wealth of source code & tutorials available.

try a starter project such as getting the arduino to turn on a lamp. Try this tutorial

JustSomeDev
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Read the first capters of "The art of electronics" for a background on power transistors. Then learn about microcontrollers. I recommend AVRs, with the avrisp mkII programmer. It works with windows/linux/mac and gcc. AVRs can communicate over usb,serial,spi and given extra hardware, radio.

Chris H
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    I tried to experiment with the appliances yesterday,and something went wrong,so the electricity is off.So is there somehow we can test appliances safely? – user198729 Feb 15 '10 at 18:05