Hello everybody!

I'm searching for a monitoring/controlling device I could use for my project. I' an absolute beginner and I'm turning to you guys, with much more experience inn this area.

What I want to do is to be able to measure and display different physical quantities (temperature, moisture, lightness,...) in my house and respond to this signals: turn on/off lights, turn on/off heater,... I know , a smart house concept. However, here are the requirements I'd like to satisfy:

* based on existing LAN infrastructure, both programming phase and working state
* a simple way to plug in new sensors and actuators
* option for remote monitoring / control through web interface

Is there any such device available, I've found Maxim's tiny Internet interface (TINI), what do you think? Are there any products based on TINI ready for production? Or should I look for some PLCs? I really hhave no idea where to start, please help.

Thanks!

 

Long a go I used the Tini. It was great, but i think completely obsolete, check the activity on the mail lists etc.

 

... not to mention expensive. Digikey sells them for 21USD a pop, and you need an external phy chip. PLC is nice and you can get capable ones that will fulfill your requirements. However, they are also expensive, bulky and consume more power.

If you are up to designing and making the device yourself, then there are other options to network microcontroller, such as ethernet capable PIC (http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2670), which integrate microcontroller, MAC and phy in one chip, and reasonably priced.

You do need to program them with a programmer. But it is possible to code your own ethernet bootloader, so subsequent programming and updates can be performed through ethernet.

 

you can use simple 8051 based 89S51 microcontroller
interface sensors using amplifiers and ADC
send data to computer using serial communication and MAX232
then use VB/Java programming on PC to send data over web


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Thanks,
Rushikesh
www.projectsof8051.com

 

Thanks for your interesting thoughts.

@russ_hensel : Why do you think TINI is obsolete, can you point me to some more up to date network uC

@n9352527 , @rushi53 : what PLC would you take into consideration and why, do you have any experiences with it? It think I'm able to do the SW part and would rather spend some extra $ to bypass soldering and wiring.

 

Thanks for your interesting thoughts.

@russ_hensel : Why do you think TINI is obsolete, can you point me to some more up to date network uC

.

It came out a long time ago and last time I checked the discussion groups were pretty much silent. I you can find significant recent activity let me, and the rest of us know. When was the last release of software?

 

Pick one according to your budget. Siemens' are nice. There other, like Allen Bradley and Mitsubishi. Most probably an overkill for this app. Or cheaper ones with suitable specs.