I've been tinkering with the esp for about a year now thanks to this community. I've built quite a few thingies and now that I'm building my house I'm trying to make it a smart home. I need help to get it rolling.
To start with;
Every switch in my house will be in series with an esp controlled relay(s). They are in series because I would like to operate them even in the absence of my mobile phone. So by design the mechanical switches are always on and the real control is done by the esp.
I got the switches manufactured in China. They are variants of http://nalelec.en.alibaba.com/product/6 ... liers.html. $1-$5 depending on design.
I designed a working circuit and went to a manufacturer in China who thought I was joking as I didn't add registers, diodes, capacitors etc. in the circuit to protect parts. While prototyping, I hadn't added them and as everything "worked" I didn't bother. But now having read some bit on circuit design I know how wrong I was. I need help creating professional circuit and PCB designs. I'll be putting all of them up on github along with all the software stack I'm building.
A board would have 4 10A relays and will have to be 7cmx7cm at most as they will go behind every switch plate. Even if the switch plate has 2 switches we will use the 4 relay board as it simplifies manufacturing. It would be great if we can measure the current usage also.
These boards will also go behind sockets, which are amazingly beautiful and even have USB charging ports!
I have also found locks for $10 or less which can be used with the circuit.
Next comes sensor boards. Every room would have one [or more] and would be able to give temperature, pressure, humidity, dust content, presence of gas etc. Budget is $20 so a lot of sensors!
All this data would be sent to a control unit which is a CHIP [$9 Linux computer which I think is better than the Raspberry Pi]. CHIP would be controlling all the switches depending on inputs from my mobile phone or rules I have setup based on the sensor data. Eg Turn AC on if room temperature is more than 30C. I'm using C to program the ESPs and Elixir for the CHIP. All communications would be encrypted with/without SSL.
The accompanying mobile app(s) is being coded in React Native and would work on Android and iOS.
The CHIP will have an API interface and my plan it to make it compatible with HomeKit [Apple's smart home app], Amazon Alexa, Siri, etc. And make it open so anyone can built a plugin as an alternate control input.
Software I understand, I've been doing it professionally for over 10 years but this hardware, I make rookie mistakes. Therefore, I need help really bad, help in software would also be great as there's a lot of work.
I have ideas around how we can use it for RGB strip control, audio streaming or video streaming also. But thats next.
I can get the board manufactured for $4-5 but need the perfect designs. So, anyone up for it?
Thanks!
Troy.
P.S. The project's name would be ConnectKit or Shanzhai. Need help in choosing the name too!
https://www.troysk.com