Home Automation and Security with HOUSE/290

HOUSE/290 is OS/2 based control software for the CP290 home control interface sold by X-10.

What is X-10?

X-10 is a system of modules and controllers that communicate through the power line to activate lights or appliances. Installing this system requires no extra wiring to automate lights and appliances. Simply plug in a module into a receptacle, plug in a lamp into the module, connect a controller anywhere in your home into a receptacle and you can control the lamp from your controller.

There are a number of modules available to control lamps and appliances. Wall switch replacements are also available to automate your built-in lights. These wall switches replace your existing light switches and in this case some wiring is necessary but it is limited to disconnecting your existing switch and reconnecting the new wall switch using the same wires. Using the wall switches you then have the capability of controlling the lights at the wall switch or remotely through a controller. These wall switches will also give you the capability of dimming the lights, although only through the controller.

Controllers are also available in different versions, ranging from manual on/off style to programmable units by timers or through your home computer. The model CP290 is a popular controller which can be programmed by a PC, however, it is only one-directional as it cannot monitor X-10 commands and send them back to the PC. There are a at least two OS/2 programs available to control the CP290. The CM11A controller is one step up from the CP290 and can be used to monitor events from other controllers or modules as it reports the X-10 commands back to the computer. The CM11A can be purchased for under $50 which is a bargain for the feature it offers. HOUSE/2 currently supports the CM11A and is the first OS/2 based control software for this device. HOUSE/290 is based on HOUSE/2 and supports the CP290 interface. See a picture of the CP290 controller, an appliance module and a wall switch below.

Figure 1. The CP290 Home Control Interface and two Modules

What is HOUSE/290?

HOUSE/290 is OS/2 based control software that allows to program the CP290 home control interface. It is based on HOUSE/2 for the CM11A controller and most features of HOUSE/290 are identical to HOUSE/2 but are limited to the capabilities of the simpler CP290 controller.

HOUSE/2 is OS/2 based control software that allows to program a CM11A home control interface. The CM11A is manufactured by X-10 and available at a number of home electronics, hardware stores and mail order companies. Radio Shack sells this device separately under the name plug'n play and it is also bundled with the IBM Aptivas under the name HomeDirector.

Control software is available for the CM11A, but it is mostly limited to the Windows platforms. HOUSE/2 was written specifically for OS/2 Warp 3.0 and later. It supports speech navigation under Warp 4.0 allowing you to turn modules on and off with voice commands.

The CM11A interface connects to your computers serial port and HOUSE/2 allows to program macros and timer events that are stored in the interface. Once these events are programmed, you do not have to stay connected to the interface. Timer and macro events will execute within the interface automatically. To use logging and security features you must stay connected to the interface and HOUSE/2 must be running.

HOUSE/2 allows you to interactively control lights and appliances, which have X-10 modules, right from your desktop. Simply turn on a slider on the screen and HOUSE/2 will send out a command to turn on the corresponding module. Lamp modules also allow you to dim lights between 0 to 100%.

Physically, X-10 can only handle 256 unique addresses for modules. HOUSE/2 organizes the modules into groups of 18 with 16 groups available per configuration. Each configuration (*.SET files) therefore can contain up to 288 modules. The number of configurations is limited only to the hard disk size. This keeps organization of the modules simple and easy.

HOUSE/2 allows to read and set the CM11A interface time, check battery status and keep track of date battery was changed. It also allows to clear the CM11A interface memory and program timers and macros events into the interface. HOUSE/2 was designed to keep operation and configuration of the CM11A interface easy.

Once the interface is programmed, it is not necessary to stay connected to the CM11A and tie up the serial port. The CM11A can be disconnected from the serial port or the PC can be turned off as the CM11A will run the macros and timers on it's own. If you stay connected to the interface, HOUSE/2 will record and log every X-10 event that appears on the power line. This allows HOUSE/2 to be used as a security system as you can program responses to these events. For example, you could turn on a series of lights in response to an event that occurred at a certain input device. An input device can be connected to a contact closure from a vibration switch, window, or door sensor. An input command can also originate from a motion detector or thermostat.

A number of X-10 compatible devices are available not just from X-10 but also Radio Shack, Stanley, RCA etc. To get more information on these home control devices, you can visit any of the sites listed under Internet Links for Home Automation.