Specifications



signalsendfromthePLCtotheInsteonnodesandwereconnectedtopoweroutlets.Allthecircuits

werefedtoasingleplugdesignedforastandardhomereceptacle(110VAC).

UserInterface

Thepreviousteamdesignedthewebinterfaceinasimpleanduserfriendlymanner.Theinterfacewas

designedsothattheusercancontroleachInsteonnodeormultiplenodesallatonceaswellasthe

thermostat.ThewebinterfaceispasswordprotectedandcanbeaccessedfromanyPCwithaninternet

connectionaslongasthehomecontrolserverisrunning.

First,theuserwillhavetoconnecttheInsteonnodestothecontrolserver.Thisisasimpleregistration

processsothattheservercanidentifyeachnodeandwhichroomit’sin.Inordertodothis,theuserwill

havetoenterthe6digithexadecimaladdressofeachnewnodeintothe“Registr ation”menu.After

registrationiscomplete,an“Appliance”tabwillappearonthecontrolinterface.Each“Appliance”is

thenassociatedwitha“Room”.Theuserwillthengettochoosewhethertoselectaparticular

appliance,asetofappliancesorapplianceslistedinaspecificroom.

Foreach“Appliance”thereisacontrolpanelinterfacelink.Thisallowstheusertoturnon,turnoff,

brighten,dim,pingandrefreshtheapplianceconnectedtothenodes.Allofthesesixcommandsare

availablefortheSwitchLincandLampLinc.FortheApplianceLinc,onlyonandoffcommandsare

available.Iftheuserchoosesanyothercommandsandexceptionwindowwillpopupandstatesthat

thecommandisunavailable. 

Oneoftheadvantagesabouttheuserinterfaceisthat,iftheuserwouldliketorelocateanodeto

anotherplaceinthehouse,theuserwon’thavetodeletethe“Appliance”fromtheuserinterfaceand

recognizeandfindthenodeevenifitisrelocatedtoanotherlocationaslongasitiswithinrangeofthe

RFand110VACline.Theuserwillonlyhavetoupdatethecurrent“Room”associatedtotherelocated

node.

ProjectFocus:NetworkManagedThermostat

Aspreviouslymentioned,ourprojectwill focus on thenetwork‐managedthermostat.Theprevious

teamcustomdesignedathermostatandactuallyshowedittakingcommandsfromtheserverand

keypad.However,thefunctionalitywasonlydemonstratedbysettingtheappropriatepinshigh.We

plantoexpandonthisbybuildinganinterfacecircuitthatactuallyusesthelastteam'slogictocontrola

realHVAC.Inaddition,wehavefoundseveralcommerciallyavailablecommunicatingthermostats.We

willpickoneandintegrateitintothehomecontrolsystem.Inordertoendupwiththebestpossible

result,wewilldevelopboththeexistingdesignandthecommercialsolutioninparallel.

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