SMRT Home

[vaxocentric]

As most of you know, I'm a giant nerd and geek. I love engineering of any kind. I'm designing an incredibly extensible home automation and security system, currently referred to as SMRT Home ("I am so smart! S-M-R-T!"). I'll occasionally blog about it as I reach milestones or want feedback

Comments

Yikes

[farrisgoldstein]

We've discussed this a little in the past, and I've done a little of it myself. I've always wanted to do something similar.

But... I don't think I'd be willing to go wireless. Not for anything involving security.

Re: Yikes

[vaxocentric]

I want to be able to deploy Nodes in either configuration. You want all wired? No problem. All wireless because you're just using it for home automation and no security? No problem. It's possible to implement a secure hybrid network.

For wireless, I'll need to implement some sort of encryption, which shouldn't be that big of a deal. I've done CRC calculations before so this should only be a little more complex. Plus, with Zigbee, it's not nearly as ubiquitous as Bluetooth/WiFi, so I think that can discourage hacking. Bottom line though, anyone can break in to anything. Someone can always unlock my window with a rock and get in, which is a hell of a lot simpler than hacking an encrypted wireless network!

Re: Yikes

[b_phil]

Which is why you need a fallback security solution involving a scary dog or a tiger.

Re: Yikes

[vaxocentric]

The purpose of the system is not to prevent people from breaking in. That's inevitable. Rather, I want to know about it immediately if there are any unauthorized entries.

Re: Yikes

[b_phil]

Right, so the tiger would be part of a separate system, designed for security.