Note: This is the same msg I posted in comp.sys.mac.apps as
<071220031303543195%sshears[at]theWorld.com> - Sorry to anyone who sees
it twice...

I'm looking for hardware and software to connect to sensors and control
real world devices in the home.

The application is home control. I would like:
- Temperature sensors... Measure temperature of air in room, radiant
heat floor, surface of a water pipe, etc.
- other sensors... Switches/contacts like a home security system
- I'm measuring things that change over seconds or minutes (door
opening, light on, temperature of floor), not micro-seconds.
- data capture
- graphic presentation of data in time-series
- logic rules, events, data transformation (e.g. to calibrate a
temperature sensor), math functions, rules, logging
- control real world devices from the logic rules (e.g., simulate a
thermostat control input to the heating system, control normal 110v AC
household devices; perhaps send IR signals to HiFi??)
- send email notifications, run scripts, maybe a web interface
- a dedicated Mac for this application (I have old ADB, old ethernet,
and modern airport/USB macs that I could use; could be OS 9 but prefer
OS X)
- I can connect the sensors with wiring, ethernet, or could use the
household AC wiring (temperature sensors report by X10??). How about
802.11 Airport to connect things?

So... Is anyone connecting a Mac to sensors and controling things? I
would hate to have to use a Windoz box to do this!

-- Sally

P.S. Here's a brief summary of what I've found so far:
- http://www.smarthome.com -- Indigo Mac OS X application for X10
control. PowerLinc USB connects the Mac to the X10 signaling. Can
Indigo/PowerLinc read temperature sensors? There is mention of TempLinc
which seems to jury-rig temperature sensor into an X10 system by taking
over an entire "house" of X10 codes. Can I run six of these in a home?
- http://www.pasco.com -- All the sensors you can imagine, USB
interfaces, for teaching science. Data capture and graphics software.
Could the Pasco devices be used for my sensors, and Indigo for control?
- http://www.resconsys.com/products/stats/x10.htm -- an X10
thermostat... Works as a conventional thermostat, but can be directed
by X10 commands. Can my mac learn the temperature from this device?
- http://www.measure.com/products-compsys.html -- the ADC-1 is a $900
serial hardware device which has analog inputs and relay outputs;
EnviroMac software for data capture, logic, and control of the relay
outputs. The last update seems to have been 1999; this is OS 9
software. Looks expensive.
- http://www.appdig.com -- Oscelot X10 controller, serial interface,
add SECU16/SECU16I for analog inputs. No mention of Mac software... or
are the interfaces to X10 controllers standard?

--
Sally Shears (a.k.a. "Molly")
sshears[at]theWorld.com -or- Sally[at]Shears.org
http://theWorld.com/~sshears

Here is one hardware supplier that I haven't tried but looked good and
it is in Canada. <http://www.ontrak.net/>.

As for software, I use LabView which could do all you ask but might be
overkill. The Student Edition is a book/CD combo and comes with a Mac
version.
<http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130325503/701-4580734-9265905>

My stuff is all via a Mac in a lab and uses GPIB and serial interfaces
mostly.

Erik.


In article <141220031250122206%sshears[at]theWorld.com>,
Sally Shears <sshears[at]theWorld.com> wrote:

> Note: This is the same msg I posted in comp.sys.mac.apps as
> <071220031303543195%sshears[at]theWorld.com> - Sorry to anyone who sees
> it twice...
>
> I'm looking for hardware and software to connect to sensors and control
> real world devices in the home.
>
> The application is home control. I would like:
> - Temperature sensors... Measure temperature of air in room, radiant
> heat floor, surface of a water pipe, etc.
> - other sensors... Switches/contacts like a home security system
> - I'm measuring things that change over seconds or minutes (door
> opening, light on, temperature of floor), not micro-seconds.
> - data capture
> - graphic presentation of data in time-series
> - logic rules, events, data transformation (e.g. to calibrate a
> temperature sensor), math functions, rules, logging
> - control real world devices from the logic rules (e.g., simulate a
> thermostat control input to the heating system, control normal 110v AC
> household devices; perhaps send IR signals to HiFi??)
> - send email notifications, run scripts, maybe a web interface
> - a dedicated Mac for this application (I have old ADB, old ethernet,
> and modern airport/USB macs that I could use; could be OS 9 but prefer
> OS X)
> - I can connect the sensors with wiring, ethernet, or could use the
> household AC wiring (temperature sensors report by X10??). How about
> 802.11 Airport to connect things?
>
> So... Is anyone connecting a Mac to sensors and controling things? I
> would hate to have to use a Windoz box to do this!
>
> -- Sally

In article <141220031250122206%sshears[at]theWorld.com>, Sally Shears
<sshears[at]theWorld.com> wrote:

> Note: This is the same msg I posted in comp.sys.mac.apps as
> <071220031303543195%sshears[at]theWorld.com> - Sorry to anyone who sees
> it twice...
>
> I'm looking for hardware and software to connect to sensors and control
> real world devices in the home.
>
> The application is home control. I would like:
> - Temperature sensors... Measure temperature of air in room, radiant
> heat floor, surface of a water pipe, etc.
> - other sensors... Switches/contacts like a home security system

.... snip

> P.S. Here's a brief summary of what I've found so far:

....snip...

Following up my own post...

- http://www.sensatronics.com/TempTrax/index.html and
http://www.weathershop.com/temptrax-E.htm -- TempTrax remote
temperature interface, connects by ethernet, captures 4, 8 or 16
inputs, inputs can be temperature probe or a switch. Cost $250 for
4-port version. Unit includes a tiny web server to report values.
Weathershop offers TempElert software to monitor TempTrax, send email
notifications. TempTrax also comes in a serial port version. Promoted
for monitoring computer room. TempTrax returns a simple data stream on
interrogation; how to interface this with home-control software?

- http://www.nagios.org/ -- Nagios, open-source software for
monitoring a computer network, including temperatures with TempTrax.

--
Sally Shears (a.k.a. "Molly")
sshears[at]theWorld.com -or- Sally[at]Shears.org
http://theWorld.com/~sshears

In article <141220031250122206%sshears[at]theWorld.com>, Sally Shears
<sshears[at]theWorld.com> wrote:

> Note: This is the same msg I posted in comp.sys.mac.apps as
> <071220031303543195%sshears[at]theWorld.com> - Sorry to anyone who sees
> it twice...
>
> I'm looking for hardware and software to connect to sensors and control
> real world devices in the home.
>
> The application is home control. I would like:
> - Temperature sensors... Measure temperature of air in room, radiant
> heat floor, surface of a water pipe, etc.
> - other sensors... Switches/contacts like a home security system

.... snip

> P.S. Here's a brief summary of what I've found so far:

....snip...

Following up my own post...

- MisterHouse -- http://misterhouse.net -- GPL'd Perl program for
home control. Interfaces to various sensors. Win, Linux, and Mac OS X.
A survey of hardware devices is at

http://misterhouse.net/mh.html#list%20of%20supported%20hardware%20interf
aces

--
Sally Shears (a.k.a. "Molly")
sshears[at]theWorld.com -or- Sally[at]Shears.org
http://theWorld.com/~sshears

In article <030120041707059035%sshears[at]theWorld.com>,
Sally Shears <sshears[at]theWorld.com> wrote:

> In article <141220031250122206%sshears[at]theWorld.com>, Sally Shears
> <sshears[at]theWorld.com> wrote:
>
> > Note: This is the same msg I posted in comp.sys.mac.apps as
> > <071220031303543195%sshears[at]theWorld.com> - Sorry to anyone who sees
> > it twice...
> >
> > I'm looking for hardware and software to connect to sensors and control
> > real world devices in the home.
> >
> > The application is home control. I would like:
> > - Temperature sensors... Measure temperature of air in room, radiant
> > heat floor, surface of a water pipe, etc.
> > - other sensors... Switches/contacts like a home security system
>
> ... snip
>
> > P.S. Here's a brief summary of what I've found so far:
>
> ...snip...
>
> Following up my own post...
>
> - MisterHouse -- http://misterhouse.net -- GPL'd Perl program for
> home control. Interfaces to various sensors. Win, Linux, and Mac OS X.
> A survey of hardware devices is at
>
> http://misterhouse.net/mh.html#list%20of%20supported%20hardware%20interf
> aces

Here's another reference for you:

http://www.x10.com/automation/product_modules_switches.htm Switches that
respond to commands.

and here:

http://www.smarthome.com/mac.html Indigo SW package looks good.

and here:

http://WWW.SMARTHOME.COM/1132U.HTML USB device to act as controller.

X10 is a protocol for controlling your home lighting and appliances.

HTH,

Don

--
Donald S. Hall, Ph.D.
Apps & More Software Design, Inc.
www.appsandmore.com
don at appsandmore dot com
"Schedule your AppleScripts with Script Timer"