HomeWireless.org
Setup of the Insteon Portion of the AutoHome Software
I’m assuming you did the hardware setup so you have your ControlLinc at a virtual serial port…
Run the AutoHome.exe program and:
1. Set up the Insteon Ports Click the Setup Protocols and Ports button. Click the Use Insteon checkbox on. Pick the correct [...]
AutoHome – Home Automation Software Setup
I’ve had a request to hand out my home automation software so here’s preliminary setup doc. This currently works with Insteon and CentraLite light switches and stock XBee analysis pods (see my earlier posts). I’m happy to discuss enhancements.
When you’re done [...]
Funnel Redux
I had an earlier post where I gave up on the funnel. Given the pretty bad failure of Insteon I’m considering reverting to an earlier plan based on Xbees and custom software/hardware. This will almost certainly require more oomph than just an Xbee though so I thought [...]
It’s becoming clear that knowing the number of hops to each of my insteon devices is critical. This seems like the best way to boost reliability. As far as I can tell the PLM (Insteon Modem) will retry up to five times, increasing the number of hops on each try, but that’s an after the [...]
So, to start controlling Insteon I first bought an Insteon SmartLinc controller (version 2.0).
Here’s the SmartLinc controller next to the PLM (PowerLinc modem).
Packaging
With the SmartLinc controller you get a little getting started guide and an ethernet patch cable. The controller plugs into the wall and ethernet cord in [...]
I’ve now been working on increasing the reliability of my insteon commands and result stuff.
I start up the app by scanning through my lamp configuration database and sending all the known lamps a status request. Asynchronously when a lamp config result comes in (since they come from all over) I update the lamp values [...]
After some looking I found the insteon command table. Insteon has three long pdf documents and you need them all – but at least they provide them.
Communicating with lights on/off was pretty simple once I deciphered the handshaking and formatting. The packets are variable length and the length is dependent on the message (send [...]
I’m pretty jazzed. It’s all working together well. I’m still having Insteon issues (see the last post) but otherwise the software is pretty solid and the UI is coming along. Here’s a view of the lamp control. This is about as idiot-proof as I can get since it’s designed for my family… the [...]
