[maemo-developers] N800 as a home automation/monitoring remote

[From: Jussi Kukkonen]

Mike Ferguson wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> I think I'd like to try to use my N800 as a remote terminal for home
> automation/monitoring and would like some advice about whether I'm
> thinking along the right lines.
...
> My initial questions are:
>
> First off, does this whole idea seem OK? Any general thoughts or
> advice?

 Hi Mike,

Have you considered Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)? Using a defined
protocol and a nice library should simplify the implementation details
quite a bit: someone else has already figured out how to deal with
signals, multiple clients, etc... As an additional bonus anything you
write would be compatible with other UPnP products and software, at
least if your plans match any of the existing UPnP device/service
standards: "Lighting Controls", "Security Camera" and "HVAC" should be
interesting device categories to you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play
http://www.upnp.org/standardizeddcps/default.asp


If UPnP as an idea sounds good, take a look at GUPnP: It's an
object-oriented open source framework for creating UPnP devices and
control points. The server tutorial actually implements a UPnP
controlled light, so should be interesting to you:

http://gupnp.org/
http://gupnp.org/docs/gupnp/


Oh, and if C feels unpleasant: I'm just about to release Vala bindings
to GUPnP, so you might be able to skip the unpleasantness (Vala is still
evolving though, so don't jump in head first).

http://live.gnome.org/Vala/


If any of the above made sense to you, join the gupnp mailing list and
send your ideas, I'm sure you'll get feedback.

 - Jussi


-- 
Jussi Kukkonen <jku at o-hand.com>
OpenedHand Ltd <http://o-hand.com>