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| EMagazine Volume 5 Issue 6 Dec 2000 / Jan 2001 |
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Toys Article - December 2000 - [HTI Home Page] |
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For a controller or device to have the ability to communicate, two properties must exist:
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One of the most powerful characteristics of an automation controller is the ability to communicate with other controllers and devices. Many companies that specialize in a specific control (i.e. lighting control, touchscreens, pool control, etc.) may not have the experience or desire to delve into the arena of whole house automation. But if their product could only, in some fashion, communicate with an integrated whole house automation controller, wouldn't an automated home be a wonderful place to live.
Imagine, if your pool pump controller could talk to your automation system, then you would be able to control the pump and set the water temperature by phone on your way home from work. It can be programmed to automatically turn off when you leave home.
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If you had an infrared controller, wouldn't you want to have the flexibility to adjust the temperature of the den right from your recliner using your remote control; the same remote that you used to set the lighting scene, arm the security system, and order up your favourite movie.
Wouldn't it be cool to be able to monitor and control your entire home from a touchscreen? With a touch of a button – security, lighting, temperature, audio/video…the list goes on and on. The touchscreen could pull up a floor plan of your home and alert you when the front door opens or a motion detector is tripped.
What about monitoring and controlling your home via Internet? It should be as easy as a simple mouse click within your favourite browser from your office, your laptop while on vacation, or from any computer with Internet access.
The really good news is that these products are on the market today and HAI controllers have assumed the role of being the defacto connectivity automation controller.
For a controller or device to have the ability to communicate, two properties must exist:
1) Serial interface: A point of contact between dissimilar environments (between the HAI controller and other controller or device) allowing a method of communication that transfers data across a medium. Think of this as a "door" in which information travels in and out (sometimes referred to as I/O port).
2) Protocol: A standard procedure for regulating data transmission between devices.
The OmniLT, Omni, and OmniPro all use the standard HAI Omni-Link Serial Protocol. This protocol allows an external device to communicate with a HAI automation controller through an RS-232 or RS-485 serial interface. Omni-Link allows the external device to monitor the status of the HAI controller and to control its operation. The current status of the security system and of each security zone, control unit, temperature sensor, thermostat, and displayed text messages may be obtained. Commands may be sent to control security, units, temperature setpoints, and thermostat operation. Additionally, the controller display names may be uploaded from and downloaded to the HAI controller and the event log may be uploaded from the HAI controller.
The Omni-Link protocol is a binary protocol. Data is transmitted asynchronously using standard nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) format (one start bit, eight data bits, and a single stop bit) at up to 9600 baud. A CRC-16 error detection algorithm is used to provide a robust error detection capability in the Omni-Link protocol.
Well, you say, what if the connected device isn't intelligent enough to handle that level of communications?
Well then, consider the OmniPro. The OmniPro can also use, in addition Omni-Link, an ASCII protocol called Pro-Link. So even if the connected device only has a basic set of commands, in plain text (ASCII), it would be able to communicate with OmniPro.
Pro-Link is a programmable protocol whose messages can be programmed into the controller. Using Pro-Link, an HAI controller can send commands to and interpret commands from systems that are not programmable, such as lighting, infrared, and pool controls.
For instance, if you want to set the water temperature to 89 degrees, just send the pool controller a text command "Set Pool 89". If you want to turn lights off when you leave home, just send the lighting control system a text string "lights off" and voila! When you use the lighting control keypad to execute a lighting scene, the lighting control can, in turn, send a text string to the HAI controller to adjust the temperature setting, open or close a damper, open or close the mini blinds, turn on your favourite CD, display a reminder message on the LCD console, and (use your imagination – you get the point).
Some of the products that customers have connected to their HAI systems include: Crestron, AMX, Phast, Hometouch, Lutron (Homeworks, RadioRA, GraphicEye), LiteTouch, Central Lite, TouchPlate, Applied Digital (CPU-XA, Ocelot, Leopard), Smartlinc, HAL 2000, HomeVoice, Jandy Aqua Link, California Economizer, Duro Zone, EWC Ultrazone, Research Products, Trol-A-Temp, Waterfurnace Intellizone, HAI Web-Link, and many more…
