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Even though it has been around for twenty years or more, X10 and Home Automation are terms you may not have come across yet – but ones you’ll be hearing a lot more about in the (near) future. And what is X10, anyway? J tomation equipment has been around for a while but by ust the other day, I was reading a newspaper article and large, it has certainly been the light hidden under the which said that home automation would never catch bushel. And it’s all been too mysterious, too hard. on in Australia because no-one could agree on a standard – sort of the old VHS vs Beta or Windows Vs Perhaps the writer had also never heard of X10 – the technology which has arguably already Mac thing again. I reckon the writer was half right – but become the de-facto standard, with a By ROSS TESTER for totally the wrong reason. Home Auwhole lot of equipment available right This diagram gives some idea of the applications you can put home automation to. The rest, as they say in the classics, are limited only by your imagination. (Courtesy of EON3). 12  Silicon Chip www.siliconchip.com.au now to automate your home as much (or as little) as you want. Sure, there are plenty of other “standards” being espoused by their various manufacturers. Some use variations of X10, others are orphans of their manufacturer’s making. But worldwide, the one that seems to have caught on is X10. X10 is actually a technical standard which specifies how digital control signals are superimposed onto your existing house (mains) wiring. Manufacturers and suppliers marketing equipment which operate to this standard simply call them X10 devices. Whatever operates from power (even via a plugpack) can be automated. This can be total automation, where your personal computer is programmed to feed those control signals you’re wanting into your power wiring, or it can be totally manual, using infrared or RF control units to link you, the user, to the X10 control system. Or it can be anything in between. And with 256 “addresses” available, you’re gonna run out of things to control long before the X10 system uses up its capabilities! For more information on X10, see the separate panel “So what is X10 all about anyway?”. X10 is not particularly new – it’s been around for more than twenty years and many manufacturers around the world have picked up on it. By and large, though, home automation products have been aimed at installers – sparkies, in particular – so that they can on-sell the systems AND install them, especially during new home construction or renovation. Perhaps that has been another reason why home automation hasn’t really caught on yet: there hasn’t been an extensive D-I-Y range available or mass-marketed (and before someone jumps down our throats for that remark, think about how many adverts you have seen for home automation products that you can install yourself). That is all about to change. We are specifically looking at the EON3 system, a true “end user” application that simply plugs in to existing wall outlets, so anyone can buy and install it. True, that makes it only applicable to plug-in appliances and devices – if you want to fit it to your permanent room lighting you’ll still need add-on devices intended for the purpose and an electrician. That aside, there are many, many devices in the home which are “plug in” and are ideal candidates for home automation. Such as? Heaters, lamps, many air cons, security sys- tems, kitchen appliances (eg, the kettle for the morning cuppa), entertainment systems . . . the list really does go on and on. Incidentally, the EON3 system is available through Dick Smith Electronics, who kindly arranged the bits and pieces for us to have a play (we understand that the system is set up in the DSE PowerHouse stores so you can have your own play!). Home automation? First, we perhaps should look at that term “home automation” and what it means – and more importantly, what it can do for you. And before I get accused of plagiarism, I’m unashamedly quoting almost verbatim from an EON3 brochure here – because they have obviously put a lot of thought, time and effort into the whole subject. (We’ll look at EON3 itself much more closely in a moment). Imagine... a remote control that operates your lights, the temperature inside your home, your front door lock, in fact all of your electrical appliances. Imagine... living in a fully automated home where the electrical devices respond to your voice. Imagine... being able to turn on your air conditioner while driving home from work, unlocking the security system as you round the corner, and having your favourite track of music playing as you step through the front door. Imagine no longer... Eon3 is here . It’s highly affordable, it’s simple to use and it’s fun... you can control your lights, security system and other appliances from a single remote control, through your home or office computer, even by voice. Lights and sound can be timed to operate as if someone is home, even while you’re on holiday. A video link to your work computer enables you to keep an eye on your home and children, when you’re miles away. The elderly and disabled will feel safer and more secure. A simple press on a pendant can turn on all the lights in the house and call a family member or neighbour. Eon3 will change the way you live, leaving you time and energy to enjoy all the good things of life. That’s if you can stop playing with the Eon3 system. I like that last comment, because it is true. We’ve had various Eon3 system components here for a couple of weeks now and I for one can’t stop playing with them! “ ” In a nutshell, the computer tells the appropriate appliances when to turn on or off, via code sent via the very power wiring to which that appliance is connected. The computer knows because YOU have told it when YOU want it to issue those commands. www.siliconchip.com.au August 2003  13 A selection of X10 Home Automation gear from EON3 (available at Dick Smith Electronics). At left is the Computer Kit (including CD-ROM) which allows your computer to control any X10 gear. Centre is the Lighting Kit, along with a goanywhere (no wiring) switch panel and a PIR module. At right is the Home Theatre automation kit with the lighting kit X10 lamp adaptor. And that comment about voice control is right – just say “dim living room lights to thirty percent” and the living room lights will dim to (surprise!!!) 30%. Hey, this is pretty nifty stuff! So home automation can be whatever you want it to be. It can be as large a system as you require (or your budget will allow) or it can be a single unit operating just one device. Incidentally, you’ve probably seen adverts for all sorts of home automation devices already available (and have been for some time): air conditioners that you can set by phoning them up, remotely controlled security systems, webcams that react to intruders and alert you at work – there are many examples. Not all operate on the X10 standard, though many do. Many still require separate (Cat 5?) data cabling to get the commands from point to point. Perhaps that’s what the newspaper article was alluding to about incompatibilities. Control anything The main feature of X10 is that it allows virtually anything to be controlled – and controlled in the way you want it to be. We’re not just talking on/off here: as the example above showed, we can be talking lights dimming to whatever levels you want. Heating/cooling systems setting the comfort levels you want. Music playing at whatever level you want. Blinds or shutters opening and closing to whatever position you want. Your home theatre or AV system running the program you want, at the volume level you want, at the time you want – even automatically muting if the phone rings. Want to switch TV channels? No problem. 14  Silicon Chip We could go on and on here: suffice to say that anything capable of being switched on/off or set to a specific level, is a candidate for home automation. I don’t think there is much that doesn’t fall into those categories! In the ultimate system, everything in your home could be automated. And indeed, one day (probably sooner rather than later) could well be. We’ve looked at a number of websites while preparing this feature. Already they are saying that homes without built-in automation are passe; that they’ll be harder to sell in the future. Over-enthusiastic copywriters? Perhaps. But they were saying the same things about ensuites twenty years ago! What if you don’t want something automated? What if you prefer to have it (whatever “it” is) operate totally under your control? Again, no problem: even if automated, you still retain total control. You can override what the computer is telling the device to do. (Of course, it’s only telling it to do it because you told the computer that’s what you wanted it to do in the first place . . .) Just how easy is it? For a start, you don’t need a computer (no, we are not contradicting what we just said. All will be revealed). All you need is an X10 device which is capable of sending the appropriate signals and a receiver which picks up those codes from the power line and activates . . . whatever. A good example is the EON3 Home Automation Lighting Kit. This is very much a “startup” kit, an easy and low www.siliconchip.com.au cost way to get into home automation if you like, which can be installed in – literally – a couple of seconds. It contains a 10-button credit-card sized RF remote control, a transceiver module (which translates the RF signals into powerline signals) and a socket module which plugs into any standard (bayonet cap) incandescent light socket with the bulb itself plugging back into the module. You simply plug the transceiver module into any wall socket; plug the socket module into the lamp socket, reinsert the bulb and turn power on to both. Pressing the appropriate on and off buttons on the remote control will now turn the lamp on and off. (This assumes they are on the same phase; in the vast majority of home installations they will be. If they are not, there are ways around the problem). As a bonus the transceiver module itself contains a 3-pin mains outlet and doubles as an appliance module, so you can control, say, a kettle, coffee maker, electric blanket, other (plug-in) lamps, TV set . . . whatever you want! It really is that simple. But it can be so much more. This kit can be the start of a complete home automation system, simply by adding the bits you need. For instance, there is a “Stick-A-Switch” remote wall switch which, as its name suggests, simply sticks to any wall surface using (supplied) self-adhesive pads. It is about the same size as a conventional wall plate switch but has three on/off switches and one bright/dim switch. It can switch the same light as fitted to the socket module or can switch other lights fitted with appropriate receivers. Just think of the wiring hassles that would solve! Another EON3 kit is the Home Automation Theatre Kit. Instead of the little remote, this one has an 8-in-1 universal remote control which can be used to control all of your audio/video equipment as well as lighting and other mains controlled appliances throughout your home. It contains a transceiver module (like the lighting kit) but instead of the socket module it has a lamp module which can be individually programmed and addressed. Again, though, installation should take no more than a few seconds – and this kit too can be added to just as much as you wish. Computer Control Now we’re talking (or controlling!) The Home Automation Computer Kit contains not just a lamp module and appliance module as detailed above but a computer module which is the interface between your computer and the power line (it can also work as an independent programmable controller). Most importantly, though, this kit contains (on CD-ROM) a program called “Activehome” which allows you to set up your own command schedules to do, well, whatever you want it to do. Once again, anything that can be switched on or off or have its level changed can be controlled. We’ve shown a couple of screen grabs of this Windows software which we found delightfully simple to use. One point to watch, though: the Computer Module links via an RS232 port. These days, that shouldn’t be a problem because most modern computers have spare RS232 ports (inbuilt modems and PS2 meeces have seen to that). Unfortunately, not the computer I first tried: it had an external modem and serial mouse so I had no ports www.siliconchip.com.au Screen grabs from the ActiveHome Home Automation software. They even give you step-by-step fitting instructions! available (yeah, I know, the computer is an old clunker which should have been pensioned off years ago!). Swapping over to a new PC cured that problem very easily – but it is something to keep in mind if you want to put an old PC into service. HAL We noticed in the EON3 brochure that the voice controlled software for the system is called HAL2000. The delicious symbolism of this name won’t be lost, I’m sure, on anyone who has seen Kubrick’s classic, “2001: A Space Odyssey”! Remember the astronauts talking to HAL, in plain English? Well, that’s exactly what you do here: “HAL, change the bedroom TV set to Channel Seven . . .” and HAL does it. We just hope that HAL doesn’t lock the front and back doors on you when you go to put out the rubbish bin . . . Add-ons Of course, HAL is but one of a myriad of add-ons available for the EON3 system. There are all sorts of modules designed to do all sorts of things: interfaces to the real world, telepone line interfaces, timers, security controllers, video cameras, video senders, remote control extenders . . . et cetera, et cetera. Many of these devices, however, are designed to operate fixed wiring devices in and outside the home (eg, room lighting, built-in air conditioners, ovens, pool/spa heaters and pumps, etc). That means, of course, that an electrician will be needed to wire these devices in, because it is illegal to do your own wiring in Australia. Having said that, we return to the statement we made at the opening: EON3 has more than enough plug-in bits and pieces to keep you amused for days – and you CAN install these yourself. Conclusion Home Automation has arrived in a big way. As we said before, EON3 isn’t the only system around. But it is here, it is now, and it is for the do-it-yourselfer. And it’s fun! Thanks to Dick Smith Electronics for the chance to play with the EON3 Home Automation gear! August 2003  15 So what is X10 all about, anyway? Believe it or not, X10 really does stand for “Experiment 10”. Back in the 1970s, a Scottish company, Pico Electronics Ltd, was developing ICs for the growing calculator market. Each time they launched a new project, they gave it a number, which they called “experiement”. Their shorthand was to call their experiments X-1, X-2, and so on, up to X-8. Then, around 1978, British Sound Reproduction (BSR) asked Pico to develop an IC to operate their programmable record changer (X-9). Then BSR wanted a wireless method of remote control – which Pico labelled X-10. This evolved, around the middle of 1979, into a system which sent control pulses through the mains wiring. X-10 was born – even though for some time it was known as BSR System X-10 and X-10 Powerhouse. Somewhere along the line the dash was dropped and it became X10. Zero-Crossing Sync X10 relies on a fairly simple data frame with a predetermined start code followed by two sets of data bits. That part, certainly, is not rocket science. What makes X10 work is the way it is synchronised with the zero-crossing point of the 50Hz mains AC waveform (in both positive and negative directions). As there is no “data” wiring between devices, each device has a zero-crossing detector so that it knows exactly when the waveform is at zero volts. Almost immediately after this moment, it examines the waveform to see if there is a high-frequency pulse, usually 120kHz, also present. As you know, one cycle of the 50Hz mains voltage is 20ms long. But the X10 device looks for just 0.6ms of this period. (The actual transmitted pulse should be 1ms long, allowing a margin for error). If a pulse is detected, it then looks at the next zero-crossing point for another pulse. A pulse followed by no pulse is taken to be a binary “1”, while no pulse followed by a pulse is taken to be binary level “0” The code But wait a minute: doesn’t that mean that a binary 1 could be confused with a binary 0? No, because X10 also looks for two other things: at least 6 zero-crossings without pulses (or 000000), followed by a start code sequence of pulse, pulse, pulse, no pulse (or 1110). Immediately after the start code, a letter code data is sent – 4 bits of either 1’s or 0’s which correspond to the letters A-P. Immediately following this, a number or function code is sent – 5 more bits which correspond to the numbers 1-16. Now if you multiply 16 by 16, you should come up with 16  Silicon Chip 256 – which (not) coincidentally is the number of addresses possible under the X10 system. This whole code sequence (start code, letter code, number code) is (or should be) sent twice for reliability. So the complete X10 data transmission will occupy 47 cycles, or the best part of one second. It is quite possible, even probable, that the X10 receiver will correctly receive the first half of the code and react in well under a second. But there is always some lag between the action of sending a code sequence and the receiver’s reaction. Before any new data is sent (eg, a different command), there must be at least six “empty” zero-crossings (three cycles). 50Hz vs 60Hz and 310MHz vs 433MHz In Australia and much of Europe, we use a mains frequency of 50Hz. North America, which has been (by far) the largest market and had the largest development of X10 devices, uses 60Hz. It also (generally) uses a mains of 110V compared to our 240V. So will US X10 devices work in Australia and vice versa? Umm – maybe. First of all, the X10 specification doesn’t care too much about supply voltages – so that shouldn’t be a drama. But the 50Hz vs 60Hz may be a problem. The reason is that mains is generated in three phases and X10 is theoretically supposed to work across phases. (Note that – theoretically!). Therefore, it is not just looking for a signal at the zero crossing point of an AC waveform – if it was, that would be fine. But it is also looking for a signals at specific points in the AC waveform which would correspond to the zero crossing points of the other two phases. And they are obviously different for 50Hz and 60Hz. What does all this mean? While US prices of X10 equipment are often significantly lower than Australian (it’s mostly to do with volumes and size of market), you would be better off buying X10 equipment designed for our 50Hz system.Yes, you can buy controllers which automatically detect frequency – but they cost more and are probably not worth the hassle. One final point: a lot of the wireless data equipment in the US operates on 310MHz (or thereabouts) whereas the Australian LIPD approved band is around 433MHz. Most 433MHz X10 equipment from various suppliers should be compatible; mixing 310MHz and 433MHz certainly will NOT be. Want more reading? Google X10 and you’ll be swamped (mainly by manufacturers or suppliers). You could try http://www.geocities.com/ido SC bartana/toc.htm – it’s a great place to start. www.siliconchip.com.au