Ode to Housebot...

[Timoh]

After 10 years with HB, it's finally time to move on.
HB got me into home automation, for without it, I doubt my house would be littered with x10 switches or stick-on IR emitters.
I'll remember all the great times writing VB scripts and integrating to a myriad of "unsupported" serial devices.
Trying to drag HB kicking & screaming into the browser world with my HB webserver plugin rekindled my long lost love for programming.
Convincing HB to run on an Windows XP fanless & diskless embedded system was great and served me well over the years.

Thanks to all the HouseBot e-friends I've made via this board. And very big thanks to Scott for writing HB in the first place! It filled a great niche in the market, at the right price and on the right platform.

HB never recovered from a power outage about a month ago...
RIP HB install, you'll always have a special place in my home automation heart.

Tim

[Richard Naninck]

So what's next?

[Timoh]

For hardware, I was thinking of the Pi, but came to the conclusion it's a wee bit under powered. Instead I'm going with the BeagleBone Black. It run's faster, but more importantly has more IO pins than I know what to do with.

For s/w, I won't mention the competition on the HB board, but you can follow my musings over on Cocoontech.

Tim

[Richard Naninck]

Nothing wrong I guess with discussing other software. You never know where it might lead you. For one I had a brief moment thinking I could use OpenHab on top of HouseBot (so to speak) making the two interact together while having the benefit of other types of SWRemote control like IOS / Android devices..

I can see why it is rather silent (maybe even dead) around this board. HA can be done many different ways (these days) and it will always be lots of researching. Having an active forum is a must when new to the matter. For me however it is different. I guess I mastered HB a long time ago and leaned to writing all my own code to be independant of the so called bindings. Windows is what I prefer because of the active link I created between HA and Media. The only chance HB has IMO is creating extra bindings to new devices like KNX, ZWave, Plugwise etc etc AND to have a Software Remote tablet version for IOS / Android but (for me) most of all Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. That could leap it back to the future and actually attract newcomers.

My system became so huge over the years that switching to something else really is not an option anymore

Have fun on the other side!

[Timoh]

I think you nailed it when you said that HA can be done so many different ways these days... Take the RaspBerryPi with PiFace or RazBerry for z-wave, or BB Bone with all it's inputs and java script ease of use. There are plenty of economical DIY/tinkerer solutions out there. On the other end, stand alone controllers such as MiCasa Verde are much more flexible and accessable. You and I grew up in HA in an era of ADI Ocelot and very limitted controllers.

Everything, or just about everything, is web accessible these days! Heck, you don't even need a controller! Thermostats, dimmers, light bulbs, + + + are all wifi and come with an app... Oh how the times have changed.

Tim

[dlmorgan999]

My system became so huge over the years that switching to something else really is not an option anymore

The same is definitely true for me. Even though I just found (and posted about) a nice new Windows-based device for use as a software remote, it would be nice if there were also iOS / Android apps. Having said that, the lack of them is definitely not enough to move me to look for something else. Overall, I still find HB to be an amazing automation controller - even after almost 10 years of use!