PiBox » Iron Man

voice control interface to infrastructure¶

• mobile
• Jarvis
  • MyCroft - open source AI project
  • Google Cloud Speech API - this may be an extension of what Jarvis already uses.
• home UIs - NEST-like
• Follow-Me architecture - voice control follows you around the home.

futuristic media display system¶

• display on glass w/
  • static opaqueness
  • variable opaqueness
• Heads up
• Motion capture

system control¶

• thermostat and vent
  • Flair Smart Vent and references to other products in this space
  • DIY Zoning Dampers
  • Econet Z-Wave controller air vent
  • Home Climate Controlled - a Linux-based project that's a little old
  • Temperature controlled air register
  • SDP-SI - online store for gears, etc. that connect to small motors.
  • Simple thermostat control is an example of how the server would control power to the heater/AC.
  • ServoCity has arms and horns that connect to motor shafts, allowing connection to a physical device.
  • Tutorials
    • Web Enabled Home Thermostat and Home Automation Hub

• windows/shades/blinds
  • Automated Solar Powered Blinds
• garden
• Motor control tutorials
  • How-To: Motors @ Instructables
  • Control a DC Motor with an Arduino @ All About Circuits
  • DC Motors @ Adafruit
  • Stepper Motors @ Adafruit
  • Stepper Motor Quickstart Guide
  • Animatronic Tail - shows use of ATTiny85 (aka Adafruit Trinket) with servo and AAA batteries. Might be perfect for proof of concept, if I can attach ESP8266.
• Stepper Motors
  • BYJ48 Stepper Motor @ Instructables
    • 5v 28YBJ-48 driver board
    • Motor from Adafruit
    • Sparkfun stepper motor driver alternative driver board
    • This means: 5v Arduino Pro Mini or Nano with driver board and 28YBJ-48 Stepper Motor driven by 5-12v power
    • Would require additional esp8266 or other comm board
  • $1 motor driver circuit
  • Wifi Controlled Motors using ESP8266 and ATtiny85 - effectively exactly what we're trying to do with the proof of concept.

robotic assistance¶

controlled access: doors, windows, garage¶

security cameras¶

controllable power: outlets, lights¶

resource management:¶

• what do you need (toilet paper, eggs)

Monitoring: utilities¶

• location: humans, pets, visitors

MediaDevices¶

• DLNA - Digital Living Network Alliance
  • DLNA Open Source Projects @ Wikipedia
• Libraries
  • libdlna - Reference DLNA open-source implementation for Linux, both servers and players
  • pupnp - aka libupnp, Portable C SDK for UPnP devices
  • Platinum UPnP - C++ SDK to make it easy to build DLNA compliant devices
  • GUPnP - similar to libupnp but with more abstraction to hide internals
• Servers
  • uShare - A free UPnP A/V & DLNA Media Server for Linux
  • ReadyMedia - aka minidlna
    • ArchLinux guide

home data center¶

• See "Media Devices":#MediaDevices and DLNA

Device node¶

Concept of a module unit so each new application doesn't need a new device.

• esp8266 for IoT
  • Nurdspace references
  • WikiPedia entry
• CHiP / RPi Zero for subnodes
• RPi 2 Model B quad-core for master nodes
• No Intel - Only ARM or related
• Want a reusable minimal component

Server node¶

Essentially a Raspberry Pi 2 (quad core) with a touch screen display.

• Adafruit tablet is perfect for this.

Products¶

• server box - master @ home, could have multiple, distributed in a single home
• subnode - manages a collection of devices, reports to master
• nodes - IoT, media servers - any "thing" that is an endpoint

Problems¶

• Margins: 80-100% initially, %30 sustained
• Cost: $80 per outlet would not be reasonable
• wired network (wireline electrical)?
• wifi problems?
  • g - interference
  • n - faster, still interference?
  • ac - best? not in esp8266?
  • could we use non-wifi comm?
• Comm security
• power IoT - must last a long time
  • power harvesting
  • minimal power for comm - save most for control of device
• Mechanical experience
• Data band vs Control band
  • wifi for data
  • bluetooth or other RF for control
• No cloud - network comm is private, not to 3rd party
  • Add on: we manage a server

What is the MVP?¶

• Proof of Concept: defined by Feb 20th
• 1st product: definition by end of April
• Danny - Jasper project working code - integrate with Jarvis?
• Mike - PiBox, builds and infrastructure, UI maybe

How do we divvy the work?¶

• Electrical: Danny, Mike
• Software: Mike, Danny

What's already out there?¶

• what niches are not being filled?
• what niches are we competing against?

Things to look at?¶

• Wink - home automation/IoT company
  • app-celerator - write Javascript, compile into mobile-specific apps
• Blynk - home automation mobile dev tool
• Some tips for building IoT devices from Sparkfun.