X10do-DS - a home automation controller

[zatelli]

X10do-DS - a home automation controller

DS remotely controlled lights

This app enables the DS to control lights and appliances from anywhere via wifi. The DS becomes the ultimate X10 home automation controller.

Virtually all the lights in my house can be controlled remotely via X10. I decided it would be nice to use the stylus to not only change the brightness of the DS Lite screen but also the house. The standard X10 controllers only work from within the house. I have used my DS to turn on my porch lights, while standing on my relatives porch, 100 miles away from my house.







The app can be tested without any X10 hardware. To actually control lights or appliances an X10 Firecracker interface, an X10 Transceiver, and X10 modules or switches for each light or appliance are required.

X10.com sells the FireCracker 4-Piece Home Control kit www.x10.com/automation/ck18a_s_ps32.html
Ebay stores have it for less with free shipping.

Included is a windows sever app which needs to run on a PC with an X10 Firecracker interface plugged into the serial port. The DS app communicates with the server app to broadcast X10 commands to the X10 modules.

Features:

• Use the DS stylus or the keypad to send commands to any of the 256 X10 addresses (16 houses codes x 16 unit codes)
  
• Send ON, OFF, DIM, BRIGHT, ALL LIGHTS ON/OFF, ALL UNITS ON/OFF
  
• Commands are echoed back to the DS for confirmation
  
• XML config file for the server app allows lights and unit codes to be labeled and to create macros which are uploaded to the DS.
  
• The port the server listens on is configurable via the command line
  
• The server address and port are saved in SRAM on the DS. (This will overwrite sram).
  
• The server app can be used from the command line to send commands directly to the Firecracker.
  I've tested it with a G6 Lite and an EZ-Flash II Powerstar.

X10doDS v1.0

 

[[M]artin]

Holy Fark! Looks awesome! When I first purchased my DS, never in a million years would I have imagined it would be doing things like this. Ah, the wonders of homebrew!

 

[N3CR0P57]

This is totally cool, I've got the DS talking to the server, responding back and forth.
I just can't get the server to send the commands to my firecracker. Must be doing something wrong.
Hmmm, back to it. Let me know if anyone gets this working.

 

[Verocity]

The DS has so many things that it can do. This is really cool but I dont have X10, but its awesome. We need to have a remote to control the TV, and other things like that.

 

[id242]

I have a few X10 Pyramids around the house that control the TiVO box (yeah, Windows MediaCenter is for poor people)... and a Lola in a box someplace... I I also have a few Firecracker "dongle-things" around the joint - not sure they are plugged into anything though. Never the less, I like the idea this DS homebrew toys with.

I believe the reason I don't currently use anything by X10 (except the Pyramids) in a real-life environment is because their cameras video quality are horrible. The wireless Lola kit is just bad - it picks up too much computer interference on it's video when used for PC -> TV via an ATI X1950... and if you take the computers out of the equation, the audio signal draws more static than its worth (also see CNET.com's X10 products reviews http://reviews.cnet.com/X10_Lola/4505-6470_7-21129465.html ).

Even after all this, I hadn't counted X10 out quite yet, and had purchased several of their Transceiver modules over the years... since they usually seem to short out after several months of automation usage (or at least as much as I had used).

Sorry if my review of the X10 toys are kind of harsh - but it is only one person's review and my experiences may be entirely different that other people's. Plus, I feel that these X10 products are no more than just TOYS - fun to mess around with and a filled with great basic-learning experiences worth having.

The first X10 module I picked up was a wireless mouse -> remote control dongle kit for Win98a... around 1998 sometime. It was a keen little toy, enough I never found much genuine practicality to it, especially since back then, there was not really much in the way of a "Media Center PC" on a 266/333 mhz PC.

This is nice homebrew though - it lets me re-live "the good old days of 10 years ago..."

 

[N3CR0P57]

Wow, that was a real head scratcher. I spent way too long getting this one to work. Seems it had a conflict with the "x10nets" service that was starting at boot time. Anyways, it's all working now, and is way too cool. I can confirm this boots from R4DS in slot 1 and also boots from my XGflash 256 in slot 2 with R4DS passme. Thanks to Phoneguy for such an innovative use for the NDS.

Edit: not my XGFlash 256, but my son's XGFlash 128, but I'm sure the 256 would work also though.

 

[N3CR0P57]

Sorry for double post, further testing proves that it doesn't work on my son's DSLite. Possibly compiled with oot of date Wifi libs?

 

[PhoneGuy]

Sorry for double post, further testing proves that it doesn't work on my son's DSLite. Possibly compiled with oot of date Wifi libs?

I developed it using my flashed DSLite.

 

[PhoneGuy]

Even after all this, I hadn't counted X10 out quite yet, and had purchased several of their Transceiver modules over the years... since they usually seem to short out after several months of automation usage (or at least as much as I had used).

Sorry if my review of the X10 toys are kind of harsh - but it is only one person's review and my experiences may be entirely different that other people's. Plus, I feel that these X10 products are no more than just TOYS - fun to mess around with and a filled with great basic-learning experiences worth having.

The first X10 module I picked up was a wireless mouse -> remote control dongle kit for Win98a... around 1998 sometime. It was a keen little toy, enough I never found much genuine practicality to it, especially since back then, there was not really much in the way of a "Media Center PC" on a 266/333 mhz PC.

Before X10 turned their focus to cameras I combined their free shipping on all orders with their endless stream of high discount promo codes to build up an inventory of their various controllers, switches and other automation gadgets. The transceivers all still work but I've had fix the antenna wire inside which comes loose after a sweeper or kids bash the box. The wall switches tended to break. The older ones had a spongy piece of metal inside for a the switch that would break after awhile. The newer ones use a micro switch which is more durable. I use x10 compatible switches from Smarthome which are higher quality for frequently used wall switches like the kitchen and bathroom. When I moved to a bigger house, I found x10 signal reponse seemed less reliable and seemed to be getting progressively worse. Last year I bought some X10 filters for "noisy" devices I tracked down like a PC, a printer power supply, and two TVs. This improved the signal reliability dramatically.

There is a app for the X10 wireless mouse that will work with XP that allows you to control Winamp, Windvd ect.
http://max10.sourceforge.net/

 

[id242]

PhoneGuy, thank you for the great application and the quick feedback - also, thanks for the link, I will check it out