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Coach Automation
12-02-2015, 16:02 (This post was last modified: 12-02-2015 20:08 by davidbrady.)
Post: #1
Coach Automation
To continue on our earlier discussion of the costs and inconveniences of the defacto standard coach automation systems, namely RTI, AMX, and Crestron.

I took 30 minutes and installed an open source home automation server on my pc called openHab. I also downloaded the openHab iPad app and android app. The apps instantly found my server and connected to it allowing me to toggle switches on my server which will then send signals to relays, rs232, infrared, powerline protocols and the like to make changes to SpongeBob systems.

PC
İmage , and

iPad
İmage

SpongeBob currently uses AMX Accent3 to control just seven systems, excluding Audio/Visual for the time being: the front door lock, stateroom lights, salon lights (left and right), shades, lights master, and panel lights. The Accent3 does this by strobing its 8 internal relays which are then wired to the coach's DC relay panel:

İmage

It's very simple matter to run my openHab server on a $35 Raspberry Pi using just a handful of its 40 GPIO, general purpose input/output pins, to connect to the DC relay panel.

So, for folks with outdated, unsupported systems you have a very powerful and inexpensive solution at your disposal. If all you have is handheld control over mission critical bus operations; i.e., no wall switches, then you need to look into a solution like this.

Take a look at the expansive support, integration, and interoperation openHab provides with industry vendors, what openHab refers to as bindings. Virtually all home control protocols and devices are represented over here.

david brady,
'02 Wanderlodge LXi 'Smokey' (Sold),
'04 Prevost H3 Vantare 'SpongeBob'

"there is no perfect forum there are only perfect forums"
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12-02-2015, 20:12 (This post was last modified: 12-02-2015 20:14 by cmillsap.)
Post: #2
RE: Coach Automation
David,

The openHab system sure seems like a great way to solve broken OEM systems in coaches that have no additional manual controls for lighting and etc. Imagine having to go to a service center to get your interior lights to operate! Fortunately, Vantare and Marathon provided switches for all those items. I don’t know how many converters included that ability but I’m sure glad Marathon did.

However, the A/V system is another matter. Marathon did install a (work around) manual switch that allows manual operation of each audio/video component with the remote control.

Getting the openHab system to control the A/V may be a bit more involved due to the many parameters that need to be controlled such as on/off, volume, channel selection, source and etc. on multiple units.

I would be more prone to revert to having the TVs and radios controlled by each remote and use a 4 channel (ant-cable-dvd-dss) remote controlled (or manual) switch to provide the signal source. Installing the same model TVs throughout allows each remote to control all the sets.

Rather than installing a digital receiver on each set that requires either manual on/off or another remote each time you turn on a TV (unless you can program the TV remotes to turn on the digital converter?) upgrading the TVs makes more sense to me. New TVs are very reasonably priced nowadays.

I upgraded to Samsung Smart TVs throughout and circumvented the Crestron system on the antenna and cable input which allows each TV to be operated only by its remote control. The DSS and DVD inputs to the TVs still function through the A/V system and the Crestron still controls both. Interesting that the Crestron required no reprograming with the new TVs installed?

Chuck


Chuck & Tela Millsap
Arizona
2003 Marathon XLII S/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi S/S
2004 Wanderlodge M380 D/S
2000 Wanderlodge LXi N
/S
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12-02-2015, 21:20 (This post was last modified: 12-02-2015 21:45 by travelite.)
Post: #3
RE: Coach Automation
Hi Chuck,

I'm still very much exploring the power of openHab, but it's quickly becoming difficult to justify any of the expensive and traditional approaches, even for the audio/visual.

I spoke of the openHab "bindings" earlier. OpenHab works at the level of 'items' and 'events'. It's meant to operate at an abstract layer where you describe the "logical" things you'd like to operate. Things or items like TV's, Receivers, Lights, Locks, etc. To communicate to these items requires bindings. AV receivers these days can be bound over bluetooth, rs232, infrared, or ethernet. OpenHab doesn't care. The idea is that if a new TV is installed all you change is the binding, none of the user interface, items, or sitemaps change. (Items, events, rules and actions are defined and programmed into openHab by someone like me. It's written in Java, and the programming required is written in Xtend, which is an interpreted Java-based scripting language).

There are literally hundreds of bindings for virtually every conceivable device or communications protocol; it's a very active open source software community. One of the bindings is IR_Trans which provides a communication means for receiving and sending infrared commands and a tool for learning new commands. The transmitters that actually send the infrared command can be remote and bound to openHab via wifi ethernet for example.

In actuality, everything is available to build a complete drop-in replacement of the existing RTI/AMX/Crestron, and it can be done at a very reasonable cost with completely open source software putting the power and convenience back into our hands.

My personal opinion regarding A/V is that TV will eventually be IP. Broadcast, satellite, standalone blueray and dvd players will be with us for a long time, but the growth is in IP TV, and that means compressed video streams. I don't see any compelling reason to duplicate what Vantare has in my bus because I think even with brand new equipment it's a dated philosophy. OpenHab provides a binding for Kodi (formerly XMBC) which is an open source media player. I think a more up-to-date video philosophy is to run ethernet throughout the coach and connect a central media server to thin media clients at each TV. The media server can scrape the internet for channels including realtime sports and news, and paid for services like Netflix. It'll also house all of your DVD, music, and other video files and it'll accept videos in any compressed format. The thin clients receive compressed video over ethernet from the media server, decode it, and display it on the TV. The way things are going I don't see any value in adding separate boxes for dvds, dss, or atsc tuners. My focus is going to be on network connectivity, which means optimizing my cellular and wifi approach and taking advantage of free wifi when I find it and building a system around IP TV. If cable at the pole or atsc over the air falls out easily then so much the better.

Whatever the view in philosophy, openHab doesn't care. From what I can tell the bindings are there for an openHab server to serve up commands over bindings to implement either one.

What a great hobby project! Smile

david brady,
'02 Wanderlodge LXi 'Smokey' (Sold),
'04 Prevost H3 Vantare 'SpongeBob'

"there is no perfect forum there are only perfect forums"
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[-] The following 1 user Likes davidbrady's post:
propjock (12-16-2017)
11-06-2017, 13:23 (This post was last modified: 11-06-2017 13:24 by Dan Young.)
Post: #4
RE: Coach Automation
(12-02-2015 16:02)davidbrady Wrote:  To continue on our earlier discussion of the costs and inconveniences of the defacto standard coach automation systems, namely RTI, AMX, and Crestron.

I took 30 minutes and installed an open source home automation server on my pc called openHab. I also downloaded the openHab iPad app and android app. The apps instantly found my server and connected to it allowing me to toggle switches on my server which will then send signals to relays, rs232, infrared, powerline protocols and the like to make changes to SpongeBob systems.

PC
, and

iPad


SpongeBob currently uses AMX Accent3 to control just seven systems, excluding Audio/Visual for the time being: the front door lock, stateroom lights, salon lights (left and right), shades, lights master, and panel lights. The Accent3 does this by strobing its 8 internal relays which are then wired to the coach's DC relay panel:



It's very simple matter to run my openHab server on a $35 Raspberry Pi using just a handful of its 40 GPIO, general purpose input/output pins, to connect to the DC relay panel.

So, for folks with outdated, unsupported systems you have a very powerful and inexpensive solution at your disposal. If all you have is handheld control over mission critical bus operations; i.e., no wall switches, then you need to look into a solution like this.

Take a look at the expansive support, integration, and interoperation openHab provides with industry vendors, what openHab refers to as bindings. Virtually all home control protocols and devices are represented over here.

(11-06-2017 13:23)Dan Young Wrote:  
(12-02-2015 16:02)davidbrady Wrote:  To continue on our earlier discussion of the costs and inconveniences of the defacto standard coach automation systems, namely RTI, AMX, and Crestron.

I took 30 minutes and installed an open source home automation server on my pc called openHab. I also downloaded the openHab iPad app and android app. The apps instantly found my server and connected to it allowing me to toggle switches on my server which will then send signals to relays, rs232, infrared, powerline protocols and the like to make changes to SpongeBob systems.

PC
, and

iPad


SpongeBob currently uses AMX Accent3 to control just seven systems, excluding Audio/Visual for the time being: the front door lock, stateroom lights, salon lights (left and right), shades, lights master, and panel lights. The Accent3 does this by strobing its 8 internal relays which are then wired to the coach's DC relay panel:



It's very simple matter to run my openHab server on a $35 Raspberry Pi using just a handful of its 40 GPIO, general purpose input/output pins, to connect to the DC relay panel.

So, for folks with outdated, unsupported systems you have a very powerful and inexpensive solution at your disposal. If all you have is handheld control over mission critical bus operations; i.e., no wall switches, then you need to look into a solution like this.

Take a look at the expansive support, integration, and interoperation openHab provides with industry vendors, what openHab refers to as bindings. Virtually all home control protocols and devices are represented over here.
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