@Moshe-Livne Yes, I agree. But then this could be applied to a numerous electrical appliances across your home. Almost, all the devices have a unique power signature down to different operating modes.

@mvdarend hey I just stumbled across this post. I would like to draw your attention to something called as Power signature analysis.
There are some automation systems using it, such as neurio.io
I am still intrigued by it. Any electrical engineers here?

@barduino Hey thanks for the links.
I already checked out the serial API which led me to ask this ques.
Btw what are the basic functions of a controller?

• To assign IDs to new nodes
• Get data and set actuators based on user
• Get status of nodes

Anything that I might be missing here?

Thanks again

I checked out many controllers, also the Home-assistant written in python, but due to my requirements I wish to write my own controller in PHP. I wish to write a core api that'll parse nodes, sensors and readings for MySensors. Anybody in future can use it develop their own controllers with a suitable frontend.
I am having trouble in understanding the serial API of mysensors library, its not documented quite well.

2;0;1;0;1;37.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=0,c=1,t=1,pt=7,l=5:38.0
2;0;1;0;1;38.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=0,c=1,t=1,pt=7,l=5:37.0
2;0;1;0;1;37.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=0,c=1,t=1,pt=7,l=5:38.0
2;0;1;0;1;38.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=0,c=1,t=1,pt=7,l=5:37.0
2;0;1;0;1;37.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=0,c=1,t=1,pt=7,l=5:38.0
2;0;1;0;1;38.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 1-1-0 s=1,c=1,t=13,pt=2,l=2:6
1;1;1;0;13;6
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=0,c=1,t=1,pt=7,l=5:37.0
2;0;1;0;1;37.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=2,c=1,t=16,pt=0,l=1:0
2;2;1;0;16;0

I still need to understand the serial API. Also, can anybody explain what does

0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=0,c=1,t=1,pt=7,l=5:38.0

Also, what exactly is the way to design a controller.
Eg Presentation->Assign IDs-> etc
Thanks.

@Chester I understand that my question is pretty vague but I want to thank you for still answering my queries.
Yes, I very much agree that a Pi could be used as a mirroring device which could send Serial/MQTT data to the VPS and vice versa..

No, I don't plan to add zwave, due to cost constraints.

I want to add ESP so that I don't have wires dangling from the gateway.

At this point, I have decided the following:

• To have RPi+NRF24L01+ESP8266 as a gateway device
• RPi+NRF24L01 handle all the sensors, routing
• ESP8266 is used to send MQTT/Serial data to the cloud controller like openHAB using WiFi
• User always has an option to use wired connection as RPi has a ethernet port built in
• In case of internet outages, gateway device can make a stack of incoming data from sensors, would send them to the cloud once internet is back.

Please have a look at this and let me know, if I am on the right track.

Also, do you know of any resource which talks about having gateway and controller as a single device?

Thanks once again.

@FotoFieber Okay. Can we not use a WiFI chip like ESP8266 to send data to a MQTT Broker Service and make our VPS hosted controller listen to MQTT Broker Service?

@Chester I wish to host the controller online, so that the user will only need to install a gateway device at premises. Which would in turn send all the commands to the controller just like a normal gateway but in this case the controller would be in the cloud.

@FotoFieber can you please elaborate? I am pretty new to MQTT.
I understand that MQTT uses ethernet port but MQTT is different from HTTP(The one we normally use to send requests to a webserver.)
Eg Scenario: I have openHAB setup on a VPS. How can I use it as a controller through MQTT?

Would it be something like this?
MQTT Broker->MQTT Service->MQTT based server(VPS)

Thanks for replying.
Could you point me towards some tutorials that I could follow? For building my own controller.
I am trying to host my controller(openHAB or Pidome) on a VPS, how to make it communicate with my gateway.

I want to build a system where my gateway could directly send messages to controller, and my controller is over the internet(not local).
Can this be done? If yes, can anyone guide me?
Thanks

It might sound a noob question but I have been trying to figure it out.
What I am trying to do?

• I am trying to build a NRF24L01 based sensor network around my house.

My doubts:

• Will my SerialGateway automatically start receiving information from all the sensor nodes?

• How do I know when to place a repeaterNode?

• Can I build my own controller(hardware+cloud), what would be the best way to start it?

• In what format does SerialGateway send information to controller?

• Can controller and gateway be built as one device? If not, then why?

I am more of Web Dev/Software background, so please help me out. Thanks.