Ideas for Lighting Automation

Nov 10, 2005 4 Replies
E

Hi,



I'm hoping to get some leads on the types of components that might work to create an automation system for common incandescent building lights. A set of Googleable keywords would be enough, but more details would be great.



What I'd like to do is put a relay on most of the lights in my home and control each relay from a low-cost computer running Linux. The other criteria is that the system be hard-wired (not be an X10 based system).



So the components I would need are:



Relays -- 100-500 watts, that have 0 or low draw when not energized, controllable via a hard wired interface, as inexpensive as possible, safe, meets NEC



IO interface -- control 20 relays or more, reasonably priced, isolated from relays (optically ?)



I see a lot of X10 systems that can do this, but since this is going to be part of a security system, I'd like the control interface to be more secure than X10 allows.


Edward Elhauge "One allows himself to be fooled once, to be fooled twice; but he who permits himself always to be fooled remains a fool." -- Rudolf Rocker
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F

These people rule:

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T

Konnex (KNX), LonWorks, INSTEON. Keyword is domotics.

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M

2 ways to reduce relay power draw, if you want:

  1. reduce coil current to 60-70% after contacts closed.

  2. use bistable relay.

NT

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S

Hello,

I have a design problem regarding a system with RS485 bus in it. Ones in a while, some parts of the system needs to get physically disconnected from the RS485 line. This can be done using something simple like a relay that will disconnect the signal.

Now here comes the problem, RS485 is a differential balanced signal, with known impedance, and should have low levels of noise.

Can a coil based relay handle those requirements? Will the coil introduce noise? What about impedance? Is there a simpler way - like solid-state switch?

Regards, Edo

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