Housebot

[Guy Lavoie]

An oldie but goodie alternative to the surface mount touchscreen would be the Fujitsu PT-510. I have a couple myself. These are essentially 100 mHz 486's running Win95 or Win98. They have a 10 inch touchscreen (800 x 600) and are only about 1 inch thick. They're a bit slow for running a browser but for a local VB app, they're ok. I have a Wifi card in it so the only connection to the screen is for power.

 

[upstatemike]

An oldie but goodie alternative to the surface mount touchscreen would be the Fujitsu PT-510. I have a couple myself. These are essentially 100 mHz 486's running Win95 or Win98. They have a 10 inch touchscreen (800 x 600) and are only about 1 inch thick. They're a bit slow for running a browser but for a local VB app, they're ok. I have a Wifi card in it so the only connection to the screen is for power.

Good suggestion but due to religious restrictions I don't use WiFi in my house.

 

[upstatemike]

...I was almost considering trying several of the ebay lilliput touchscreens, each connected through a custom single cable that carries video, touch, and power to multiple video cards installed in a "touchscreen server" with linux and multiple desktops using a custom front-end or firefox as the front end with advanced ajax/dhtml...

Your description is too complicated for me to even understand say nothing of actually doing it! I am a simple minded person who needs simplistic solutions.

 

[Guy Lavoie]

Good suggestion but due to religious restrictions I don't use WiFi in my house.

Huh?

The PT-510 also has a built-in DB-9 serial port mounted on the right side (same place where the power supply connects.

 

[roussell]

I am a simple minded person who needs simplistic solutions.

Aw, now USM. That doesn’t sound like the same man that's developing a new lighting control protocol while living in a pup tent surrounded by tesla coils.

 

[TonyNo]

I'm currently evaluating HB also, and so far, have come to the conclusion that it may be a better front-end than HA app (for my needs). Obviously, this may change as my eval progresses, but the weakness of the existing Winamp plugin is a big killer for me.

Comms from PH to HB are no problem using the supplied hb_control app; I found the hard way that HB's "windows messaging" is actually just a means to send keystrokes to application windows. There is an Execute Client Application function that I plan on using to talk to PH to get started, but I am having big troubles making it work (it's truncating the command line parameters that I am supplying).

More as it develops!

 

[roussell]

I am having big troubles making it work (it's truncating the command line parameters that I am supplying).

I had a similar problem, I had to put the actual command and parameters inside a batch file and launch the batch file from HB to get past the problem. Screwy, I know, but it worked and got me past the issue...

If you're looking for a low cost front-end, try Xlobby, it's free. I don't know if PH can speak xAP, but if it can you can use Xlobby without a problem. I am worknig toward full integration between Misterhouse and Xlobby using xAP.

Edit: Actually, dont know if they're using xAP yet, but someone has already integrated Xlobby and powerhome. Hmmm...
http://mannyman.googlepages.com/part12

 

[acheslow]

I just got the script from Richard last week but ended up also buying CQC so I haven't done anything with it since then.

Wow Alan, I'm surprised to see you going to CQC over Housebot. I really, really wanted CQC, just couldn't get the wife convinced in time for the discount... You're right though, Housebot is an awesome, less-expensive alternative to not only CQC but several of the other HA packages.

Is Richard Naninck on CT? He is a great resource for Housebot, I got a script to control my Pinnacle Showcenter from him.

Terry

Yeah, I struggled with that purchase decision right up until the last minute before the deadline. I obviously think HouseBot is a great package but CQC has a few things that I thought were worth paying a premium for. I asked Richard if he posted here and he said he didn't think there were too many HouseBot users here... perhaps bit of a catch-22 maybe. I'll point him to this thread so he can join in if he wants.

 

[dlmorgan999]

I pointed Richard to this site a few weeks ago so I know he at least knows about it. FYI - I wrote a HouseBot plugin for the HAI Omni controllers. It works both over ethernet (that's how I use it) and RS-232. I've been very busy the last few days with activities involving selling my current house. As such I haven't had much time to make a post but I should have more time tomorrow night.

For now I can briefly comment on the original question in this thread. I use AVCataloger for managing my DVDs. It uses an Access database for the back end and allows you to do exports. I keep my changer and slot IDs in AVCataloger (I have two 400-disc Sony DVD changers). Using the database and a set of VB scripts that I wrote I'm able to browse through my titles and then automatically load and play the title of my choice. I'll try to post more tomorrow night.

 

[dlmorgan999]

Here is a link to a post I made on the HouseBot site (it's the seventh entry) describing my configuration and some of the things I do with it. It's a fairly old post and there is a lot more that I am doing now (I suppose I should update it ).

 

[Richard Naninck]

Hi all, I am reading and even signed up to be a member.
Not much to add here though for now, but if anybody is interested in database connections with housebot or the ELK M1 integration, please check the housebot forum under the scripts section. I posted lots of examples there.

 

[lazyone]

Seems to be a problem with the Housebot Forum. I have signed up, but never received my confirmation email. The error messege says to contact the administrator, but you can't unless you are signed in to their forum. hmmmmm

I really want to try Elk <-> Housebot and can't download scripts unless you are signed in.

 

[roussell]

I really want to try Elk <-> Housebot and can't download scripts unless you are signed in.

Here ya go. I don't have an Elk, but I was logged into the HB forum so I grabbed the script for ya. Hope you don't mind Richard.

Terry

 

[electron]

I am really surprised at how different this script is from my.elk, eitherway, looks like 'lack of support for the M1' is no longer a valid excuse

 

[lazyone]

Thanks for the script. Looking forward to testing it.