Using mysensors for alarm build?

[bp_968]

I've been digging and digging for a way to setup a DIY alarm with wireless sensors. It seems that of the options out there I either have to hack together something not intended to be an alarm (openHAB, etc), or use something i'm not totally comfortable with (privateeyepi, which is free but requires internet access so it can "call home"... why does it need to do that?!).

My problem is any of the off the shelf solutions (even the more DIY focused ones) end up costing 30-50$ per sensor even for window sensors and I have 14+ windows/doors to protect!

I haven't seen any projects or info about using a wireless/wired bridge setup but am wondering if anyone has done that and if it would be workable? Basically what I'm thinking is you could use the NRF24 (or whatever) sensor builds from mysensors.org and have them talk to a "master" arduino near the alarm hub/console/etc. Then just run direct connections from the pinouts on the arduino to the alarm. Then as far as the alarm is concerned the sensors are directly connected to it. Of course the problem with the idea is at the moment I can barely write a loop to flicker an LED! Guess re-learning C is the priority at the moment (I took it in school 20 years ago).

Maybe I'm using the wrong search terms?

I'm open to other radios then the NRF24 series, I just happen to have 4-5 of them already. I also have a handful of the ESP8266 modules and two of the Particle boards (Spark Core and one of the newer Particle models).

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

bp

[RJ_Make]

@bp_968 Just my opinion, but you really need to re-consider building your own security system. If you are truly trying to "protect" your property, you should think about using professional equipment. From my understanding DSC security systems are very reliable and affordable.

[ahhk]

Protecting your "home" starts first at the boundary. An alarm-system is the absolutly last option - the bad guy is already "in da house" then. Think about

• fences
• hedges
• lockable windows (dont let the keys in the locks)
• good neighborhood
• motion-sensors and bright lights...
• sticker on the windows (e.g. "house is protected")
• a dog (?), too.
• dont post on FB that you are on holiday

If you do a lot of those things, the internal alarm system can be very simple: Just put some movable motion-sensors in the corridor and important rooms in the ground floor and connect them to a very loud siren outside, to the smoke-detectors inside and to all the lights, rolling shutter you have....just let the house go crazy :D. There is really no need for a "professional" alarm-system for a private (single-family) house in my opinion.
greetings

Andreas

[Yveaux]

@bp_968 Have a look at this post. Regarding door/window sensors it might be close to what you're looking for.

[TD22057]

I think it's a great idea. Who cares whether it's the perfect security or not - it's a useful and fun project to build.

I'm planning on something like this in the long term (tons of other projects first and I already have an Ademco alarm w/ hardwired sensors everywhere). There are lots of ways you could build an alarm system. You could have an Arduino serial gateway passing sensor messages to a Raspberry Pi and then code up the alarm logic in any language you like on the pi (Python is much easier than C). Since the pi has internet access, it can send emails and run a web server to show alarm status. Or for hardwired alarms without MySensors, a pro-mini and a few input shift registers is probably enough to run a complete alarm system. Or for a MySensors (wireless sensors) build, you could buy an Arduino Mega and put the alarm code in that.

Remote keypads could either be wireless w/ MySensors messages (ok) or wired with serial or I2C communication (better). I'd love to have a Mega with one of the Itead Nextion touch screens for my alarm keypads. Maybe with a motion sensor that only turns on the display when you're near it. Then the keypad could double as a weather display, general my sensors controller (lights, etc) as well as an alarm keypad.

[bp_968]

@ahhk said:

Protecting your "home" starts first at the boundary. An alarm-system is the absolutly last option - the bad guy is already "in da house" then. Think about

• fences
• hedges
• lockable windows (dont let the keys in the locks)
• good neighborhood
• motion-sensors and bright lights...
• sticker on the windows (e.g. "house is protected")
• a dog (?), too.
• dont post on FB that you are on holiday

If you do a lot of those things, the internal alarm system can be very simple: Just put some movable motion-sensors in the corridor and important rooms in the ground floor and connect them to a very loud siren outside, to the smoke-detectors inside and to all the lights, rolling shutter you have....just let the house go crazy :D. There is really no need for a "professional" alarm-system for a private (single-family) house in my opinion.
greetings

Andreas

@ahhk said:

Protecting your "home" starts first at the boundary. An alarm-system is the absolutly last option - the bad guy is already "in da house" then. Think about

• fences
• hedges
• lockable windows (dont let the keys in the locks)
• good neighborhood
• motion-sensors and bright lights...
• sticker on the windows (e.g. "house is protected")
• a dog (?), too.
• dont post on FB that you are on holiday

If you do a lot of those things, the internal alarm system can be very simple: Just put some movable motion-sensors in the corridor and important rooms in the ground floor and connect them to a very loud siren outside, to the smoke-detectors inside and to all the lights, rolling shutter you have....just let the house go crazy :D. There is really no need for a "professional" alarm-system for a private (single-family) house in my opinion.
greetings

Andreas

Done, done, done, done(lots of police in the neighborhood too), done, not done, don't have one, don't ever post stuff like that on FB. I strongly suspect I have something else you didn't list (because you can't sadly) based on your use of the words "hedges" and "holiday". That's actually the main point behind wanting the alarm, to wake me up if someone breaks in while we are asleep. As long as an alarm goes off and wakes me up then anyone stepping foot in the bedroom is getting shot. Such things are exceedingly rare around here thankfully, of the three I've read about in the past 5 years 2 of them ended very badly for the home invader and one ended badly for the (unarmed) homeowner.

Anyway, the nerd factor of being able to see the status of all the windows and doors, the temp and humidity and if lights are on in each room, etc all also play a factor in my wanting to build something like this. It sounds fun ;). I've already built a security camera around a PI and that is pretty cool and useful to see who's at the door.

The problem with motion sensors is the cats and the house is a ranch so "ground floor" is just outside our bedroom and also a high traffic area (even at night, say to use the john without waking the spouse). A dog would be fun just to piss off the cats. Though it's unfortunate you can't really have say a panther or leopard instead. A dog would bark but the big cat would just hide and wait for the free meal.. ;). (The problem being that at some point it's not unlikely the cat would look at you the same way, as a free meal..)

[sundberg84]

Hi!

I have set up my home-security system where MySensors is included.
I run two raspberry Pi - one with Domoticz + MySensors GW and one as FTP server.

• In domoticz i use the security panel which is controlled with our cell-phones (location services)
• I have motion detectors from MySensors reporting movement.
• If my house is armed Domoticz and motion is detected i get a notification, siren on and so forth...
• Siren and lights are MySensored.
• I also run three IP cams reportion motion and adding pics/video to my ftp.
• I hope these can be used to detect motion in Domoticz in the future.

Its a fun project - but not so safe as a pro system.
For example i dont have battery backup if power fails.

[lvidal07]

@sundberg84 What did hoh use to set up your siren? I'm working on my own home security project as well.

[sundberg84]

@lvidal07 At the moment (5 months later) im using RFLink and 433mhz firealarms.
They go both ways - fire => update on Domoticz and push notise. IntruderAlarm => starts firealarm.

But at that point I worked on something like this from petewill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNsar_e8IsI&index=9&list=PLGzVpwPAKnPZ6F4fY8AevfVmcHdJFpKma

[lvidal07]

@sundberg84 Thanks for the info. Any reason for the switch?

[sundberg84]

@lvidal07 I extended my HA to both MySensors and RFLink/433mhz. There is a manufacturer of firealarms which are good and cheap using 433mhz,

[fets]

@sundberg84 said:

There is a manufacturer of firealarms which are good and cheap using 433mhz,

Care to give a link ? :innocent:

[sundberg84]

www.nexa.se

[BartE]

Hi, i also did build a rflink to MySensors gateway on which all interesting 433Mhz message are translated to MySensors message.

e.g. my RFLINK<->MYS presents my weather station (LaCross WS2300) data, klik-aan-klik-uit RC and my Flamingo firealarms

[fets]

thanks both of you

[sundberg84]

@BartE Haha, that flamingo alarm looks exactly like my Nexa alarm... :)

[lvidal07]

Thanks as well. I decided to go with this alarm, http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/252094388277?dest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F252094388277, probably more than I needed to pay, but I liked the idea of a strobe alarm.