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Misterhouse - a Home Driven by Perl Scripts

Posted by michael on from the driven-mad,-that-is dept.

An anonymous submitter copies from the website: "MisterHouse is an open source home automation program. It's fun, it's free, and it's entirely geeky. Written in Perl, it fires events based on time, web, socket, voice, and serial data. It currently runs on Windows 95/98/NT/2k/XP and on most Unix based platforms, including Linux and Mac OSX. It can talk, it can check your messages, control the lights, program your VCR, and what is best - it understands spoken commands. It can even track your car by interfacing to a TNC. And there are 600 users and 209 authors contributing to this project. Cool, eh?"

12 of 264 comments (clear)

  1. Site ./ - Yahoo groups messages by implex · · Score: 3, Informative

    This may be of value for more information as the site is ./d
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MisterHouse/messages

  2. Re:Seems to be using X10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just to clarify: X10 is a standard. It's not inherently evil. It only seems that way because of the company that is also called X10 (the one that does the pop-ups, etc.).

  3. Re:Hardware by codezion · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hardware List (taken from FAQ:

    (Google Cache)

    6.8 What sort of hardware do you have in your house?

    This is what is currently (04/2001) in Bruce's house (see mh/docs/mh.* 'List of supported hardware interfaces' for more info):

    - Mh running on a dual 600 PIII Win 2K box great for quick mh debugging :)

    - SB Live Value sound card (supports simultaneous sound sources)

    - PCI ByteRunner 8 port serial card

    - PCI phone modem for callerid logging and announcements

    - Linux box for hosting misterhouse.net

    - 5 other networked computers for mp3 client/servers, shoutcast server, games, writing, and work from home

    - Radio Shack PA amp with a PA speaker in each room

    - Wiring closet with 3 DIO weeder cards and 2 analog cards

    - 16 relay card from jameco for PA speaker switch

    - Home brew motor/relays for up/down control of 9 Window quilt curtains

    - RF sensor in the mailbox across the steet

    - WX200 weather station from Radio Shack

    - Relays controling garage door and furnace heat and fan

    - Digital input sensors on doors and garage door

    - A few iButtons for testing

    - X10 IR commander and CM17 for sending IR signals

    - X10 CM11 with X10 consoles in each room for control

    - X10 motion sensors, light, and appliance modules

    - Matrix-orbital LCD keypad for local output and control

    - WAP cell phone for remote queries and control

    - A ham radio TNC for tracking 2 GPS APRS equipped cars

    - NetGear router with mh monitored SYSLOG data for tracking internet traffic

    - MSVoice VR via a Andrea Desktop Array microphone

  4. Use a Mirror by /dev/trash · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/misterhouse
    or
    h ttp://www.misterhouse.net:81/

  5. sourceforge.net by Lilferret · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://misterhouse.sourceforge.net/ I've been following this site for a while now. The components used are x10 .. no not the camera http://www.smarthome.com/ You can get all the automated living stuff you want from sites like this. Lowes stores also cary a limited number of x10 lights and usually a thermostat or two.

    1. Re:sourceforge.net by Balthisar · · Score: 5, Informative

      At the smarthome link, there are lots of third-party X10 compatible stuff. My favorite's the IR receiver that works with any programmable IR remote. Eliminates the need for the transceiver, but still works on one "phase" (in the USA there are two leads that are 240V to each other, but 120 to ground, but they're not really separate phases, otherwise you'd have about 210V to each other). Okay, the solution is a bridging capacitor, also available at Smarthome. Throw in across the "phases" in the circuit breaker box, and the X10 signal traverses them both. No need for a second anything.

      --
      --Jim (me)
  6. Re:Hardware by kawika · · Score: 3, Informative

    For basic control, you can get X-10 powerline control stuff at x10.com, or worthdist.com, or even your local Radio Shack. The computer-to-powerline interfaces run $10-$50, the most common one is the CM11a. There are also computer-to-wireless interfaces like the MR26 that let you receive keypad presses. The wireless keypads can also control devices directly.

    There are plug-in modules to control lamps and appliances, they generally run $5-$15 each. You can also buy wire-in switches and outlets that can be controlled by X-10 signals, cost is $10-$70 each. So you probably don't want to replace every switch in your house.

    There's a lot of activity on the comp.home.automation group if you want to learn more.

  7. Misterhouse, my specs ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Someone asked what it can run on, I'm using it on my RH Linux 7.3 box on an AMD 400MHz with 256M RAM and a 30G drive (30% used). I've got 12 serial port in use (caller ID, weather station, CM11a, HCS II, dallas one wire network, etc. ). I need to put some more work into it but in a couple of weeks I'll be moving one of my Audrey's into the living room so we have a touch screen interface to MH from there. MH may not be a simple DIY project but it is extremely powerful. I have it turning things on and off as needed (such as printers attached to print servers, uses X10 to turn on and off the printer). I've got more than X10 but we don't want this message to get too long. Linux Home Automation
    http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ncherry/
    http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/
    http://hcs.sourceforge.net/

  8. Re:240 V Network, e.g. Europe? by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Informative

    MisterHouse seems to use controllers using the X10 protocol, which is widely available in 220V. Here for example.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  9. Re:here comes the inevitable by scalis · · Score: 3, Informative

    imagine a beowulf cluster...

    That would be a suburb with one master key going to all the locks and random neigbours crashing in your house all the time...
    Sounds like a blast!

    --

    True ravers don't need drugs
  10. Misterhouse and alternatives by peel · · Score: 5, Informative

    MisterHouse has been around for a while now and mainly relies on X10 modules. It works fairly well but as one other poster noted it really does need a dedicated box with a bit of muscle or it's a bit slow and frustrating to use. I came across it while looking for X10 software for linux, which it runs on as well as OSX and most versions of Windows. There are many similar products out there for Windows, Mac and even a few simple ones for linux. The most popular/commercial product was a piece of software for the ActiveHome module that came as part of IBM's Home Director kit (I can't remember what the old version was now it comes with HomeVoice). In all my years of using X10 I'd still have to say XTension for the Mac was one of the coolest products out there as it let you create a floorplan pretty easily and it ran well on an old 75Mhz PPC. Lately I've just been using Heyu which is a simple command line interface for linux that supports macros. Anything I want to do I can set a cron job to do automagically or start an ssh session and do from work or wherever. Sure there's no voice control, but personally I always felt a little weird even using speech recognition on the Mac, it could never quite understand "Who's your daddy?" -peel

  11. Re:/.'d already... by kfhickel · · Score: 3, Informative

    You just need to get higher quality modules, and do a little background work. I've got more than 40 devices with no problems, although I haven't gone the heating/cooling control route (yet).