Looking to switch automation controller software
-
Hi @dbemowsk , welcome to MySensors.
I don't think anything is currently written for the RS485 in regards to thermostat control. A quick Google did reveal there are modules available for Arduino that make the RS485 communication possible, so i'm sure writing a MySensors sketch/Node would be more that possible. Check out this link for an example.
As for Controller software. I suggest shopping around. The easiest to start with would be Domoticz as most of the configuration (if not all) is GUI based via the Web Interface. A very close second would be Home-Assistant as they literally support almost all popular sensors/hardware/home components. It's a little bit more programming based, having configuration files written with YAML, but can be more rewarding.
-
Thanks @drock1985 . It has been a number of years since I created my thermostat plugin for Open Source Automation. I will have to see if I still have my code around somewhere for that. Maybe I can adapt it to the arduino. The hard part in it may be how I would adapt it to MySensors code.
RS485 modules for arduino are cheap:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/First-rate-MAX485-RS-485-Module-TTL-to-RS-485-module-for-Arduino-Raspberry-EFC-/291731314046?hash=item43ec8a957e:g:KegAAOSwnDxUp7o9 -
Hi @dbemowsk
I don't think it would be too hard to adapt the code over to MySensors. Check out the Library and Serial API pages to get an idea of how the messages can be constructed.
As for making them talk to each other, there may already be someone doing this, or has done it in the past with an Arduino. it would be worth Googling for things like "Arduino thermostat (insert your brand/model here)" and see what comes up. If not, backwards engineering should be ok too (serial read maybe?)
In any event good luck and have fun! If you ever get stuck, post in the forums and if you are new to Arduino in general, there are a lot of great tutorials on the internet/YouTube or my personal favourite, a course from a place like Udemy can be useful.
My Projects
2 Door Chime Sensor
Washing Machine Monitor -
Hi @dbemowsk
I don't think it would be too hard to adapt the code over to MySensors. Check out the Library and Serial API pages to get an idea of how the messages can be constructed.
As for making them talk to each other, there may already be someone doing this, or has done it in the past with an Arduino. it would be worth Googling for things like "Arduino thermostat (insert your brand/model here)" and see what comes up. If not, backwards engineering should be ok too (serial read maybe?)
In any event good luck and have fun! If you ever get stuck, post in the forums and if you are new to Arduino in general, there are a lot of great tutorials on the internet/YouTube or my personal favourite, a course from a place like Udemy can be useful.
-
@dbemowsk did you mean setup like this? controller <- usb -> GW <- rf -> "gateway node" <- rs485 -> thermostat network. If so, I have done it with my heat pump. I have "gateway node" that translates modbus to mysensors to/from my heat pump.
-
@pjr that is exactly what I am talking about. The only thing on my RS485 network is my thermostat. As I mentioned before, I had written a plugin for a project called Open Source Automation that I worked on a few years back and will be trying to find that code. Can't remember if I did that one in Visual Basic or C#. If I did it in VB, it may take a bit to port it to arduino, but if I did it in C#, porting it shouldn't be that hard at all. I just need to bridge that gap.
-
-
@pjr that is exactly what I am talking about. The only thing on my RS485 network is my thermostat. As I mentioned before, I had written a plugin for a project called Open Source Automation that I worked on a few years back and will be trying to find that code. Can't remember if I did that one in Visual Basic or C#. If I did it in VB, it may take a bit to port it to arduino, but if I did it in C#, porting it shouldn't be that hard at all. I just need to bridge that gap.
-
@mfalkvidd I can see that being nice for the logic side, but what I was asking about when I mentioned a web interface was some nice easy way of looking up the status of devices from something like a floorplan or list view, and a way to control those devices manually if I see the need.
-
@mfalkvidd I can see that being nice for the logic side, but what I was asking about when I mentioned a web interface was some nice easy way of looking up the status of devices from something like a floorplan or list view, and a way to control those devices manually if I see the need.
-
@mfalkvidd I can see that being nice for the logic side, but what I was asking about when I mentioned a web interface was some nice easy way of looking up the status of devices from something like a floorplan or list view, and a way to control those devices manually if I see the need.
@dbemowsk I think, that for example Domoticz does not understood your RS485 thermostat. So you can recieve its message by serial node in NODE RED,
decode message and send it via HTTP to the Domnoticz. Or you are not happy with Domoticz graph style end limitation only 7 days for detail teperature storage. So you can first recieve data from sensor by NODE RED, store them to the file or database and then send them to the Domoticz. I wrote that NODE RED is good for cooperation with other sw controllers, witch do visualisation measured data. -
Read this for a Nodered userinterface
http://tech.scargill.net/node-red-ui/
http://tech.scargill.net/more-node-red-ui/ -
I don´t have noticed that.
Here is the github link -
So in the interest of keeping my current HA setup running while I get this set up and tested, I figured that this might be a place to use a new controller I got a while back. The controller is an Orange Pi. When a guy from work said he could get me one for $18 US, I couldn't say no. I have had it sitting around for a couple months now waiting to find a use for it. I think I found my use.
The unit that I have is an Orange Pi PC which has a 1.6GHz quad coreprocessor with 1GB ram. A lot of choices for OS. Need to find me an 8GB class 10 MicroSD card (Might have one laying around). Then I want to find an automation software that is easy to install and use with this computer. Has anyone in here used an Orange Pi, and if so, what automation software have you used with it?
