HouseBot

HI I wish to setup a watering system.

allot of the device you mention X10 are not available in new zealand

So wish to build my own interface ideally I would like to use the parallel port but i see that is no an option ???

So i believe my only choice is the serial port

Kelvin,



There are several different ways that you can control relays with HouseBot. You can...

1. Use the Global Cache GC-100 (separate download) plugin to control the GC-100 unit relays.
2. Use an ADI Ocelot with an SECU-16 module to control relays.
3. Use any existing RS232 attached relay control hardware with the Generic Serial Hardware Interface Plugin. You will need to know the RS232 protocol for controlling the device for this option.
4. Write your own Hardware Interface plugin for HouseBot using the Hardware Interface SDK from the web site. Although this requires the most effort, you can write the plugin to match your exact specifications. If you want to use the parallel port, you can certainly write a Hardware Interface to do that.

kelvin_sudlow wrote:HI I wish to setup a watering system.
allot of the device you mention X10 are not available in new zealand
So wish to build my own interface ideally I would like to use the parallel port but i see that is no an option ???
So i believe my only choice is the serial port

Use a BasicStamp or ATOM http://www.basicmicro.com and build the interface using RS232 and then you can control it via the generic serial plugin as Scott suggested.



Using an ATOM you could build the hardware interface in an evening and get it all working in a couple of evenings for the programming.



This could be done via the parallel port but depending on the OS you are running it might be much more difficult to write the interface.



There are lots of other benefits to using Serial over Parallel as well. Using an ATOM you can control a huge number of devices and it's safer for your PC as well. Parallel tinkering is a quick way to kill a motherboard fast. It will also require more system resources overall.



If you are determined to use Parallel I would recommend that you install an add-on parallel port card for $15-20 US which will protect your system if something happens during your hardware interfacing. It's a cheap insurance policy and much less trouble than replacing your motherboard.



I speak from experience in this particular area.

Thanks

I will look at these options