Weeknight Hack #17 - Keeping a Pulse

No rocket science tonight.  Just some easy hacking.

I finally root caused the Z-wave device interview failure that I was facing.  The failure was due to a defective daughter board from zwave.me.  I finally got around to trying out the replacement board tonight.

I also resolved networking issues on my Raspberry Pi.  My home router (a very basic one that I've had since college) doesn't support port forwarding to DHCP clients.  I will need the port forwarding to control my HAN from outside the home.  The workaround was setup the Pi to use a static IP.  The router supports port forwarding to static IPs.

It is work in progress to schedule in a weeknight to work on off-the-clock projects.  I hope to resolve this soon (requires coordinating with the wife).  The other issue has been lack of air conditioning in my office (aka. uninsulated garage).

Wednesday Night Hack #14 (Part 1) - Home Automation Fail!

I recently purchased a Raspberry Pi and companion Razberry daughter board for the purposes of building up my home automation network (HAN).  The daughter board hosts a Sigma Designs ZM5202 Z-Wave transceiver module with custom (read: proprietary) firmware.  A well featured low-level software stack (middleware) is also provided.  This software provides different ways for users to access the devices on their HAN.  In addition to a web service, there is a C API and JSON API available.  The web service allows users to setup and debug their network without writing a single line of code.  Sample programs (and Android, IOS app) are also provided.

All in all, I am impressed.  I was not expecting this level of software support.  My one caveat is that the board's firmware appears to be closed source.  This would mean that any software written using the provided API would be bound to the vendor's product.  For the average hobbyist who is looking to get something done, quickly, I guess there is no harm.  I would think twice about using this platform to develop a commercial product.  Luckily, there appears to be a open source alternative.

Given that I do not have any commercial intentions, I'll continue on... or not..

I couldn't include the device on the network.  I tried for a good hour.  I'll be returning deadbolt I purchased and try again another time.  Next time, I will make sure to pair the device before installing the deadbolt on my front door, oops!

MITx course done, what's next ...

I am just about finished with the MITx course that I was taking.  Now that that monkey is off my bank, I can get back to my regular schedule of tinkering.

The 2nd RISC-V workshop has been announced.  I may or may not put together another poster.  I recently read Laszlo Bock's book and will certainly post a review of it.  In fact, I have a few other books that will be interesting to blurb about.

On the home front, the home automation effort has begun.  This will be exciting!  The wife is also excited!  A z-wave enabled door bolt is on the way, but I've yet to decide what type of controller to use.  All signs point to one from Mi Casa Verde, but I may hold off for a product with a more refined software ecosystem, or robust interface to script all triggers myself ;)

For hardware, it is time to dig into Chisel more. I may or may not be partnering with another group to work on a project in this area.