Team members:
- Joe Chmura
- Garrett Earnshaw
- Mieszko Krugen
- Yoni Mekuria
Imagine sitting with your laptop in your home. From the convenience of your couch you can control the stereo, turn on the lights, and start the coffee maker all with minimum effort and info-structure. This will be the control center of your entire smart house or peripheral device network. We propose to create a black box control unit that will be remotely controlled through direct communication from a computer. The controller will be connected to a network of modules that can control a number of devices in a home, office, or other work environment.
A computer with an RS232 connection will initially control the black box module. The paradigm of the black box is simple: control everything else with a Controller Area Network (CAN). On the other side of the CAN network will be controller modules that can be customized per application. Half of the controller board will be universally designed to communicate with the CAN network. The other half of the controller could be a sensor or controller of power, other communication protocols or simple one-way controllers such as infrared. Doing so reduces cabling and complexity of the network by issuing simple 8 bit commands to individual controller modules. In essence, making a controller theoretically infinitely expandable and incredibly versatile.