Home automation / smart homes used to be something only the rich and famous could afford. Today...

...even the average 'joe' has access to resources on par with James Bond.

You're probably thinking, "it's expensive." Not really - we're not talking about a plethora of X10 devices or anything like that. All we need are a few simple components and the depth of the dive is up to you. Ready?

When I started putting the pieces together for this post - I originally thought that I'd have to get really heavy into the electronics and hardware side of things. Not so much... why? I quickly found that pretty much everything that I wanted to control fits into just three categories:

• a switch (e.g. on or off)
• a button (e.g. momentary contact)
• a range (i.e. thermostat)

Open and close your garage door? That would be a button... expensive electronics? Nope, just jack into the garage door opener you already have or buy a used (sacrificial) one off eBay for $5. Lights? That's easy... a servo can be used as a mechanical bridge to your wall-switches. Climate control? ...a simple temperature sensor with a servo can make you all warm and cozy. See what I mean?

For starters, I'm going to use the Netduino as the 'nervous system' in this project. Next, a means for debugging might be nice (it's optional); I'm using an inexpensive serial controlled LCD.

So... my ultimate design has some dependency on occupancy - a PIR sensor you say? That's exactly what I was thinking. Let's complete the design to that point for this first article - we'll save voice controlled toasters for another day.

Flash, Flex, and AIR will be used for the UI... which is rock-bottom basic right now - but I can assure you that the final product will be so sweet that it will make your teeth hurt.

In my next post, I'll 'modularize' the control system, add temperature monitoring, and introduce you to the Apple-Franken-Remote.

[ source: FlexTASTIC - VS.NET Project ]

[ source: FlexTASTIC - Flash Builder 4 Project ]