We could consider residence automation as a brand new know-how, however that’s not solely true. Trendy residence automation dates again to at the least 1975, when Pico Electronics launched a system referred to as X10. By leveraging the prevailing energy strains in a house, X10 may ship indicators from a management gadget to any variety of modules that managed lighting, home equipment, safety methods, and extra. And very like fashionable methods, X10 may interface with a pc to supply fine-grained management of every gadget — lighting might be turned on and off at set occasions, for instance.
YouTuber Retro Recipes got here into possession of an X10 Residence Management Interface system from 1986 and wished to see the way it might be integrated into a contemporary residence automation setup. Already having a highly-connected good residence with about 145 gadgets like lights, switches, and water shut-off valves, Retro Recipes determined that relatively than putting in over 100 X10 management modules, it might make extra sense to leverage the software program from the unique system to regulate the prevailing residence automation hub.
An X10 management module (📷: Retro Recipes)
The X10 Residence Management software program runs on a Commodore 64 and has a variety of retro attraction. It options blocky graphics of a house and permits the consumer to navigate every room and place digital gadgets the place they’re situated in actuality. When the setup is full, the consumer can then flip gadgets on and off, or set them to be powered up on a set schedule.
In fact this Residence Management software program was designed to interface with an X10 management module, not the Samsung SmartThings hub that controls all the different gadgets in Retro Recipes’ residence. Accordingly, some creativity was wanted. A contemporary Chat64 cartridge was utilized. These cartridges include Wi-Fi transceivers that enable customers to speak in real-time with different Chat64 house owners. And importantly, these cartridges even have a flashable kernel, which allowed Retro Recipes to replace the software program to repurpose the cartridge.
The Residence Management software program (📷: Retro Recipes)
On this method, the Residence Management software program was capable of talk, through Wi-Fi, with the Samsung SmartThings hub. The SmartThings net software has a web page that lists the gadget ID of every good gadget in its community. And that was the essential piece of data that allowed the Residence Management software program to ship instructions to the SmartThings hub.
To check out the thought, Retro Recipes determined to make use of the Commodore 64 to regulate a valve that shuts off the house’s foremost water provide. After setting it up, it was demonstrated that the stream of water to a close-by faucet was shut off after urgent a button within the Residence Management software program.
What benefit would one acquire from utilizing a Commodore 64 to regulate a contemporary residence automation system? Nicely, none, to make sure. In reality, an enormous quantity of performance is most definitely misplaced. However how may we resist these lovely retro graphics generated by the VIC-II chip? For the retro pc aficionado, it’s a hack that’s properly well worth the time.
Be sure you watch the undertaking video to the tip — there may be somewhat one thing that’s acceptable for the primary day of April, in case you catch my drift.
