Anyone interested in discussing building DIY Home Automation software and hardware?

[BobS0327]

I'm using Windows 10 Home version that was installed for free by MS about 6 months ago.  I checked the properties of InetMgr and the product version is 10.0.10586.0
 
I went into solution explorer and clicked on 'set as start page page' for HaClient.  This resolved my initial problem where the web page was not fully loading. i.e stuck on "Starting Home Automation Client'.
 
Now, when I try to use the designer, I get the following error for each widget..
 

ERROR - widget Weather Trend.html is corrupt and won't be usable

 
I get the same error message for all the widgets.

 

[deandob]

Bob, if you didn't change anything in the javascript and just ran it from Visual Studio and the designer is now working but it didn't when you initially ran via the URL http://<your_server_name>/HAClient.html that doesn't make much sense. Does it still not work when running via URL?
 
Also, make sure you are running the client in Internet Explorer not the new Edge browser, or Chrome as you will get the widget corrupt message if it isn't IE. I have some work to do to adjust the JavaScript to be better compatible with Edge and Chrome (Visual Studio nicely integrates Internet Explorer for web development but not Chrome or Edge - as the client has a lot of functionality to build, test, debug it was easier to use IE but now I will adjust the code to bet more compatible with better browsers).

 

[BobS0327]

if you didn't change anything in the javascript and just ran it from Visual Studio and the designer is now working but it didn't when you initially ran via the URL http://<your_server_name>/HAClient.html that doesn't make much sense. Does it still not work when running via URL?

 
 
Nope. Didn't change anything in the javascript.  I only set it as start page which resolved the problem. I've attached an image of where I'm at.  The designer doesn't work for me.  I get errors such as ERROR -  widget weather trend.html is corrupt and won't be usable or  ERROR Widget HTML incorrectly setup can't drag widget. This latter error occurs when the widgets such as BoM Radar etc are displayed on left and I try to drag them to the screen.
 
 

 

[deandob]

Hi Bob, the designer is working but I noticed you are using Firefox from the image attached. Switch to Internet Explorer and you should find it working. I use IE and Edge as my preferred browsers and the client was developed in Internet Explorer so there are a couple of issues with Chrome & Edge compatibility that I haven't got to yet and I haven't even tried it with Firefox (cross browser testing hasn't been high on my agenda but I do intend to support Chrome / Edge soon, and I assume if Chrome works then Firefox should as well).
 
[edit] I downloaded the latest version of firefox - same issues as Chrome (adding objects dynamically to a page is a little different to IE). Will look into it but use IE for the meantime.

 

[BobS0327]

I changed my default browser to Internet Explorer and get the following designer error...
 
 

 

[deandob]

Bob, that isn't a fatal error, it is from a widget I haven't finished developing, the designer will still work (the intercom widget will be disabled as the message says). You can delete intercom.html from the widgets directory if you want to remove the warning.
 
However I have been doing some work on better HTML5 support for Firefox, Chrome and Edge. I have updated the HAClient github with the latest changes - there are still some formatting anomolies with non Internet Explorer browsers but the main functionality should be working now.
 
Do try in both IE and Firefox and let me know how you go.
 
Thank you for persevering with all the errors, having someone not familiar with the code and with a different setup has helped me work through a number of bugs that never showed up on my system and got me to re-think a couple of things, improving the quality of the codebase, install instructions and will make it easier for the next person who wants to use the solution to install & use with fewer problems.

 

[BobS0327]

I changed my default browser to IE and everything works great.  All issues have been resolved. Thanx for sharing this project.  I'm an old school C/C++ code jockey.  So, your project has provided me with an excellent opportunity to become familiar with more current technologies. I'm absolutely positive that I will greatly benefit by learning from your  extensive work on this project.
 
Thanx again for posted this project.

 

[deandob]

Thanks Bob, glad to see it finally working.
 
Do post back what you end up using it for and if you have any further questions do let me know, even better if you have made any fixes / improvements (which there are many to do), do share them back.

 

[JonW]

I am very much looking forward to downloading this and setting it up.  Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of selling my business, so time is sparse at the moment.  Once all the dust settles though, I'll have some time to poke around and see what I can do with it.
 
Thanks for sharing it deandob.

 

[deandob]

No problems,
 
I'm happy to share - I do think the solution offers benefits not found in similar software HA packages, but it does need more work to be more robust and built out (especially more plug-ins). I'll also see what the intial feedback is, I may do a proper job open-sourcing it so that it becomes an alternative to software like OpenHAB, HomeSeer and Domoticz (ie. launch it with a proper web site, forum, build a community etc.).

 

[NeverDie]

I do think the solution offers benefits not found in similar software HA packages

 
TL-DR; what would those be?
 
I've been in the hunt for a good software platform, and they all seem to have their pluss's and minus's.  For me, finding one that automatically graphs and archives every piece of data received (it makes debugging easier if you can see at a glance what has transpired, and for sensor data you can see trendlines over time), and is generally simple to use and setup without a steep learning curve, seems essential.  

 

[deandob]

Neverdie, have a read of the blog post at hackaday.io where I outline the some of the problems with home automation and how to address them in software
 
This software isn't perfect and hasn't addressed all the topics for home automation / IoT (eg. needs more work on security) but it does represent my view on following:
- Use of open and popular standards for the UI and plugins (HTML5, JavaScript, browser / node.js)
- Simple to use yet powerful front end designer that allows for any combination of screens to be built by a non technical end user (drag & drop widgets layout like a drawing package, few constraints on the look and feel of the UI).
- Treating the front end as a portal so that you can integrate information from the cloud (eg. weather) with sensor information easily.
- Archive / history is built in. You want to see the timeline series of any of the 'channels' you simply drag a graph widget onto the page, associate a channel and you get history with data scroll and zoom in/out.
- The transformation function seems to be unique - the ability to create higher level abstractions from the raw data through end user editable rules that turn the data into useful information that can be used like a virtual sensor (eg. graph, used in a trigger etc) has been a very powerful feature. In the blog I give the example of being able to graph the money I make from the utility company by sending power back to the grid from my solar array by cascading a series of these transformation rules.
- Flexible architecture that scales well and can be enhanced (eg. message based, widget based front end, plugin based back end)
 
Some of the above are not unique anymore (they were when I first developed the software) however I still think there is enough of a differentiation that it warrants further exploration to open source it (the HTML5 front end, use of Node.JS and transformation engine are the key differentiators) if there is interest. Now that I have it working for multiple browsers (thanks Bob for pushing me to get the system installable more easily) I'm thinking of putting up a demo site so people can play with it.
 
For now if you are interested read the blog as I give examples of widgets and plugins, overview of the architecture and implementation as well as a number of screenshots.

 

[deandob]

All, has anyone played with this kickstarter project "Move"? Seems like a nice solution for automating blinds / curtains and price is reasonable with good connectivity options (BT and Z-Wave) and solar for recharging.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/789589988/movemotorize-blinds-and-shades/description
 
I have automated curtains in my home theater using a drapery motor that bit the dust a while back and I didn't want to shell out another $100 for $2 worth of parts (basically a 12v DC motor with step down gears in a case - a rip off for the price...).

 

[LarrylLix]

Awesome! Too bad it is Bluetooth. Hard to integrate into existing or new HA systems.

 

[deandob]

Larry, why is that? Apparently you can send it commands via serial over the microusb power connector (eg. connect a ESP8266 to it). Also the API for the smartphone app is planed to be open then you can issue commands over a BT connection. Z-Wave support is also planned. Inbuilt solar recharging is also a good idea and more HA hardware solutions should include solar as a feature (eg. weather monitoring kits)
 
Anyway I thought it was a cool idea for the price. What are others here using to automate drapes (or anything else that requires rotary actuation)?