A Little Home Tech - Home Automation

In the personal project arena I have been known to overdo things on occasion, to jump in with both feet and go full bore into the task at hand. Some might see it as obsessive, but I prefer to view it as doing things right. I imagine it is a fine line between the two, a line that blurs into the reality that are Andrew Maxim projects. Few other home projects could provide a better example of this than my home automation system; it wasn't just feet first, it was head first through dry wall and electrical wiring and fiberglass insulation.

I had known about home automation only in the vaguest of senses; computer based answering machines, X-10 lighting and whole house audio systems. What I knew really did not interest me much. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, it was my PVR system, SageTV that eventually sparked the interest. In going through the user created add-ons for Sage, I came across one that integrated with a home automation system known as HAL, and the things I read on it I found intriguing.

HAL stands for Home Automated Living and is one of the many companies involved in the home automation "revolution", as well as the name of their software product line. It was their website that first began showing me what this field had become since the days I had first heard about and dismissed the concept as "not being ready". Once my eyes were open, however, I began my usual research phase, looking into all sorts of products from high-end hardware devices to open source software products to user's personal web pages. The more I read, the more I decided this was something I was going to implement in my home.

Primarily as a result of two different people's personal websites, I eventually I narrowed my search down to two competing base products, the previously mentioned HAL system and HomeSeer. Controlling your house through a computer or touch panel is a pretty neat concept and is something almost all the packages out there offer, but controlling your house with your voice is just plain cool and was what narrowed things down to these two products. Paul Koslowsky (using HomeSeer) and Jim Lipsit (using HAL) both had accomplished home automation voice control and provided terrific documentation on the subject matter, as well as a plethora of additional information and abilities of their respective systems. Not to say that other people had not integrated voice control with their systems, but the knowledge shared by these two deserves a definite nod of appreciation.

Both systems had their own quirks and abilities, different ways of handling the same things, different equipment supported, and even different levels of user activity. HomeSeer users are far more vocal on their message forums, which is something I find very appealing in a product that makes use of user customizations. The decision between the two systems finally came down to pricing. The base packages for each were priced about the same, but where as HAL includes all features of a product in that product, HomeSeer charges for a majority of plug-ins to encompass the features which HAL includes.

I wound up purchasing the HAL2000 system from Home Automated Living, actually I purchased HALdeluxe and upgraded to HAL2000. For the electrical control system I went with a UPB based system for the reliability, making use of both HAI and Simply Automated switches and devices, dependent on what they were for and current pricing. A combination of the ClearOne XAP 800, the Russound CAA66, several Crown PZM and MB microphones, and a dozen generic ceiling mount speakers make up the home audio portion of the project. Lastly an Applied Digital Ocelot provides control over sensors and audio equipment.

The system is far from complete, as I not only have several light switches and outlets left to replace, but also am patiently waiting on a few things to happen in the industry. Aside from things like the need for a UPB based ceiling fan control, I am anxiously awaiting the release of HAL version 4 in order to finish off the long standing project of complete audio control. Not that the new version includes this functionality, but rather the HALi interface for version 4, which allows programmers to write additional plug-ins, is rumored to contain the features needed for me to continue forward with my own plug-in entitled HAZ (Home Audio Zoning). Even once that is complete, it will be an ongoing project with my Home Automation system that will likely always be a work in progress, but it’s just plain cool to have.