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Hackaday · Home automationCurated

Free home automation with MisterHouse

Summary

Hackaday presents MisterHouse as Perl-based home automation with a web interface, speech recognition and support for numerous devices. MisterHouse is free software. Among other things, the project supports X10.

Ideas

  • MisterHouse connects different automation devices through shared rules.
  • Perl scripts describe events and actions.
  • A web interface allows control from the home network.
  • Add-on modules integrate speech, caller ID and position data.

Insights

  • Open automation software decouples rules from individual device makers.
  • Long-lived home technology needs local interfaces and an editable configuration.
  • Extensibility becomes more important as soon as many device generations work together.

Facts

  • The core was written entirely in Perl.

Recommendations

  • Separate the automation network and normal clients with a firewall.
  • Keep rules and device configuration under version control.

References

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