Room Control project
Room Control is a Java desktop application that I've wanted to do for a long time. The essence of the project is to sense to environment via analog sensors and interact upon those values using logic and relays, i.e. controlling a heater using temperature sensor(s).
Download: Soon
Computer
Everything is connected to and controlled via a Mac Mini.
Controllers
Controllers are use to manage the different inputs and outputs. The applications talks to the USB controllers via an API (Application Programming Interface), or JAR-class in Java.
Each controller has 8 analog inputs, 8 analog outputs, and 8 digital inputs. The digital inputs provides 5v power.
The sensors are connected to the digital inputs and the relays to the analog output.
Relays
Relays are used to control the power supply to external devices and essentially acts as a remote switch. A relay can do two operations, either open circuit or close circuit.
Two sockets:
Single socket:
LCD Text Panel
The LCD panel is just a cool addition to the project. It can display 2 rows and 20 characters per row. The panel is mounted on the back of a controller but appears as a individual unit when programming to it.
Each time the light brightness or temperature changes, the display is updated.
Sensors
These sensors are pretty precise and accurate. There are numerous sensors available, but only the light, temperature, and touch sensors are currently being used in this project.
References
- Phidgets - The devices are made by Phidgets and also provides excellent documentation for programming
