Adaptive Home Logic - What can it do?

Adaptive Home Logic™ v2.0

What can it do?

Make Life Easier

Adaptive Home Logic is a 32-bit Windows based application that can monitor and control electrical equipment interfaced to the computer. It can automatically control lights, equipment and appliances throughout a property, either at certain times or automatically when specified conditions take place.

Save a small fortune on your utility bills by scheduling your heavy appliances to run during off peak hours.

Save time by automating everyday tasks. The program can easily activate electric curtains and window shutters automatically, as well as your security and courtesy lighting during the hours of darkness, making coming home a brighter & safer experience.

The program accurately calculates the Sun Rise / Set times for your location each day, making a light sensor unnecessary.

Control your home by Speech!

With the program’s two-way speech capability, you can instruct the program to “turn bedroom light on” or you could ask “is bedroom light on”, the program can then confirm / reply by speech.

Initiate a phone call by voice command, for example “call office”

Stay in Control

When away, you can access your home remotely and securely, by accessing the program via any internet connected computer in the world or independently with an APRS equipped amateur radio.

Communication

Relax; while the program monitors your property, if there are any problems a message will be sent by e-mail (relayed to your mobile phone) and / or independently through the amateur radio APRS network.

Security

Proximity Alert – be alerted to a visitor as they approach the front door; activating the porch lighting when they press the doorbell, as well as recording a video clip and switching the TV to the front door camera. Video clips can generally be viewed from remote locations.

In addition to continually monitoring the different areas and systems throughout your property, reacting automatically to any changes, and alerting you to any problems by sound, voice or message, and or by flashing the lights, the program can also take different actions to limit a problem’s effect, according to severity.

Monitor the output of your smoke, gas, CO2, freezer temperature, and water level alarms to provide a more centralised and effective alert / control system, automatically activating motorised shut-off valves, etc. and to turn all the lights on if your smoke detector goes off.

Occupancy Simulation - deter potential thieves by letting them believe you’re in when you’re out, by automatically turning different lights on and off, TV, etc. at appropriate times and or by playing a growling dog sound if the property is approached.

Some security alarm systems can also be controlled / monitored via computer, making it possible to control an independent alarm system using voice commands, and or allowing the program to monitor its sensors.

Use a finger print scanner for access control, the computer can then send a message letting you know that a family member has arrived home safely.

Be alerted by message and receive regular position reports if your yacht is not where you left it, when connected to a GPS.

The program can also protect itself, by instantly instigating the screen saver. This can prevent unauthorised access, when the computer has been password protected. Some computers can also reboot after a power interruption, allowing the program to automatically resume its work.

Peace of mind

Do you worry that you may have forgotten to turn off some of those potentially dangerous appliances? Worry no more, with one instruction and / or automatically the program can disengage their power, reducing fire risk, energy demands, and other problems.

Notifications

The program can issue subtle / discreet or voice reminders on a regular schedule, or automatically when the front door been left open, for example.

It can announce by speech when a regular TV programme is about to begin and / or start a recording device.

The program can easily control any audio / video equipment that supports IR (Infra Red) communications, when used in conjunction with an appropriate interface. This could be used to mute the TV audio or pause music playback, when the phone ring, etc.

The program itself can also instigate other (intrinsic) programs to play any audio / video media files or even a DVD. Audio playback could also be routed to a particular speaker system. So you could issue a voice command like “play song name in the kitchen”.

A sequence of events could be setup to gentle awaken your family in the morning, by gradually increasing the light level, announcing the time at regular intervals, enabling the bedroom radio, playing different wave files and eventually opening the curtains, in addition to activating the hot water boiler along with the coffee machine!

You can also query the system, using it natural language interface, or by voice commands, concerning the status of equipment / appliances around the home, or be notified automatically when the status of equipment changes, and / or log equipment usage.

Comfort

Create an environmentally friendly house, by linking your heating & air conditioning systems to the computer. By monitoring the inside and outside air temperature, the program can make decisions to ensure your home is at an optimum comfort level in time for your arrival and / or control remotely, so as not to use energy unnecessarily. At other times the program can operate heating systems just enough to prevent moisture, pipes from freezing, etc.

Mood

You decide to throw a party or wish to create a romantic mood! No problem, you can change the mood (light level, temperature, background music, etc.) of the entire house, with just one (direct, verbal or remote) instruction; also impressing your friends.

Or create a lighting scene that's just perfect for watching movies, etc.

Entertainment

Have fun! Play a wave file when a door is opened and another when it shut, or a stair creak sound when someone walks up the stairs.

Ask the program to tell you a joke.

Trick your friends by asking the program a general knowledge question, letting them believe the computer knows everything!

Garden

It hasn’t rained in several days! So the program decides to activate your sprinkler system for just the right amount of time necessary to correctly irrigate your garden or produce.

The temperature inside the greenhouse is approaching harmful proportions, so the program actuates the greenhouse vents, protecting its contents before its too late.

Your swimming pool filter pumps have not re-started after a power interruption, the program quickly alert’s you to this, before this inconvenience becomes expensive.

Business

Machinery

Some of the equipment / machinery at your business is automatic and continues to operate when there is nobody there. You set up the program to alert you quickly to any problems, preventing any minor complications from becoming formidable.

The APRS remote control & reporting feature is particularly useful for sites at remote locations, where it’s not possible to use conventional forms of communication.

Lighting & Effects

The program is well suited to managing display lighting within a shop, or the light ambience within a club, leisure, or hospitality business. Where any combination of lighting effects can be changed quickly and easily, or automatically, helping to maintain customer comfort and interest. It can also help avoid the problems of employees forgetting to turn vital lighting on or off at opening and closing times.

Timings

Likewise the program is equally useful, if you have a lot of different equipment or machinery that needs to be turned on and off at particular times, or intervals, throughout the day, such as at a modern leisure centre.

The program may also prove useful in controlling or monitoring equipment where more precision timing is required.

Monitoring

On the subject of monitoring, the program can monitor a lot, using an Analogue to Digital converter (A/D) interface, the program can monitor a voltage reading many times each second, this can be used to measure the output from a wide variety of different analogue sensors, including but not limited to:- flow (consumption), temperature, light level, pH, etc.

It’s also possible to obtain peripherals, which can send the processed data from their built-in and / or connected sensors, to the computer via an RS-232 serial link, to which the program can then respond. One such peripheral is an electronic weather station, which can monitor things like inside & outside air temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed & direction, and rainfall over a known period.

The digital inputs, of an Input / Output (I/O) board, can also monitor a lot, using simple on / off type sensors; or by counting the pulses produced from a magnetic reed switch or a simple optical sensors, it’s possible to measure frequency, period or rpm.

Efficiency

By monitoring and logging sensor data it’s possible to notice inefficiencies, detect equipment in need of a service, etc. and fine tune your operation to operate at its peak efficiency, saving costs.

This page describes the sort of things that can be accomplished using Adaptive Home Logic.