Dev Journal: December 22nd 2018 pt2 - It LIVES!
Not 100% done. But, as far as I'm likely to get for the next couple of days.
I now have multiple rooms. They are hard coded in the JavaScript... but really, that isn't tons different than some things I've seen. I also had to modify openHab after the fact so that my service could talk to it. I have a bunch of different components. Time, Date, Weather, Light Switches, Labels, Layout Controls and so forth. I have the major rooms in my house. And it all works. And it all looks... good. Not great. But, far enough along that I think the momentum could keep up.
I'm currently using openHab as a bit of a crutch. But, then I'm very much OK with that. For the short term, I certainly feel no need to reinvent the wheel. Especially since I can get that up in running in Docker. Honestly, I may be fine with that even in the long run. There is a pretty wide array of things it supports. And anything it supports I should be able to tie into as long as I can get it running in openHab. And that REALLY cranks up the possibilities.
I can readily admit that it wasn't my original goal. In this design, openHab ends up being a major hub of data and control for my components. But, at the same time, I had intended it to be extensible, and so working with something like openHab was certainly never out of the question.
Things I still need to do on the UI front... Sliders, or at least "scenes" for lights. Right now, it is on or off. And don't get me wrong... that is more functional than Magic Mirror was even in a single room.
And I also want grouped controls for lights. One thing with Smart Lights has been that most sensibly priced smart switches have simple interfaces and thus end up treating all lights in the group as all or nothing. And while most of the time that is fine, I have rooms in my house with 2 or more lights in separate fixtures. And sometimes I want just one or the other on. I can't use the supplied remote, I need to dig into the app. And Ikea switches are worse, they toggle all lights in the group. So, if one is off and one is on and I hit the power buttons, they simply swap states rather than both going to on or off. The Hue switches are much better at this. But, they are also much more expensive.
The next objective will be finding good displays. On main floors of the house, an always on screen like a laptop or tablet is fine. In a bedroom, even the back light on an all black screen may not go over well.
Also, one of the biggest annoyances to solve is the stairwell. I need two remotes linked to the same set of lights. One at the top and one at the bottom. And the ability to control lights on both floors independently. But, while I don't need to worry about lighting there, unsightly wiring becomes a problem.
Some of these problems may never get solved. Right now, I'm just happy to say that the project is already a success.
I now have multiple rooms. They are hard coded in the JavaScript... but really, that isn't tons different than some things I've seen. I also had to modify openHab after the fact so that my service could talk to it. I have a bunch of different components. Time, Date, Weather, Light Switches, Labels, Layout Controls and so forth. I have the major rooms in my house. And it all works. And it all looks... good. Not great. But, far enough along that I think the momentum could keep up.
I'm currently using openHab as a bit of a crutch. But, then I'm very much OK with that. For the short term, I certainly feel no need to reinvent the wheel. Especially since I can get that up in running in Docker. Honestly, I may be fine with that even in the long run. There is a pretty wide array of things it supports. And anything it supports I should be able to tie into as long as I can get it running in openHab. And that REALLY cranks up the possibilities.
I can readily admit that it wasn't my original goal. In this design, openHab ends up being a major hub of data and control for my components. But, at the same time, I had intended it to be extensible, and so working with something like openHab was certainly never out of the question.
Things I still need to do on the UI front... Sliders, or at least "scenes" for lights. Right now, it is on or off. And don't get me wrong... that is more functional than Magic Mirror was even in a single room.
And I also want grouped controls for lights. One thing with Smart Lights has been that most sensibly priced smart switches have simple interfaces and thus end up treating all lights in the group as all or nothing. And while most of the time that is fine, I have rooms in my house with 2 or more lights in separate fixtures. And sometimes I want just one or the other on. I can't use the supplied remote, I need to dig into the app. And Ikea switches are worse, they toggle all lights in the group. So, if one is off and one is on and I hit the power buttons, they simply swap states rather than both going to on or off. The Hue switches are much better at this. But, they are also much more expensive.
The next objective will be finding good displays. On main floors of the house, an always on screen like a laptop or tablet is fine. In a bedroom, even the back light on an all black screen may not go over well.
Also, one of the biggest annoyances to solve is the stairwell. I need two remotes linked to the same set of lights. One at the top and one at the bottom. And the ability to control lights on both floors independently. But, while I don't need to worry about lighting there, unsightly wiring becomes a problem.
Some of these problems may never get solved. Right now, I'm just happy to say that the project is already a success.
Comments
Post a Comment