Home Hacking Projects for Geeks

19

Chapter 2, Automate Your Porch Light

Table 2-1. Suggested X10 addresses for the lights

Device Address

Porch light B1

Floodlights B2

Inside entry light B3

WARNING

You must use X10 switches designed for the type of light they will be controlling.

High-wattage lights and florescent lights require nonstandard switches.

For detailed instructions on installing X10 light switches, refer to

Chapter 1.

Motion Detection

The light switch is an admirable user interface. It’s simple, requiring only

the flick of a finger, and everyone knows how to use it. But motion detectors

are even simpler, because they provide an entirely passive user interface. To

control something via a motion detector, all you have to do is be present.

In this phase of the project, you’ll install a motion detector that connects to

your X10 power network.

1. Install and configure the motion detector

As described in Chapter 1, X10 wireless motion detectors will be used for

this phase. The difference in this case is that the motion detector will be

positioned to detect motion outside of the house.

We'll use C9 as the motion detector's primary address. This is the address

the motion detector will transmit an ON signal to when motion is detected,

and an OFF signal to when no motion has been detected for the time-out

period. The motion detectors in this project can communicate when several

different events occur, includi ...