
Check Out This Berkeley Freshman’s ‘Ridiculously Automated’ Dorm Room - jedwhite
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/30/berkeley-ridiculously-automated-dorm-room/
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ShabbyDoo
Home automation seems to be all-or-nothing today. I can buy a relay switch
with keyfob activation for $20 at Home Depot, or I can call my local Control4
rep to come automate my mansion. The in-between seems non-existent. My
finished basement has recessed lighting controlled by four or five different
switches, all of which are in the basement. When it's time to go to bed, one
of us has to trudge down to the basement and start flipping switches. It would
make me happy to just have a nighttime kill switch -- I don't need the house
to sense my presence and start turning on my favorite music. Might be nice,
but I'm not willing to spend $10K on home automation to make it happen.

I started reading about Zigbee and thought, "Hey, I'll just install Zigbee-
controlled switches in the same boxes where my analog ones are today. Then,
I'll use some automation appliance (like OpenRemote) to implement "turn off
all basement lights" via a phone app" I got confused when trying to figure out
what I would need to buy, which stuff could actually talk to other stuff, etc.
and gave up.

I'd love to see a start-up sell semi-DIY kits for people like me. I'm fine
with replacing switches, plugging in network devices, etc., but I really don't
have the time to pick out appropriate hardware and make it all work together.

~~~
brk
There is a LOT of in-between.

All the main switches at my house are Insteon based.

I use Indigo as an automation platform (it runs on OSX) on an old Mac Mini.

Lights, HVAC, multi-room audio, and several other things are
controlled/managed through this system. I can access it remotely with a native
iOS app and/or with custom control pages. With some applescript it can be
extended to all sorts of other devices and purposes.

Check out <http://www.machomestore.com/catalog/> for Insteon/Indigo products.

~~~
ShabbyDoo
Aha, someone selling something resembling a kit! Thanks for the link.

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bannerts
Edit: I'm not sure if this is the same person, I accidentally typed in
dereklow.com and this person's website is dereklow.net. However note that on
both websites, the person mentions "O-Levels examination" or "O Level
certificate".

Original message: >I think that the dorm room is impressive, however I wish
that the article didn't try to sensationalize it by saying he was/is a
Freshman. According to his website, he is 27 years old and has a degrees in
Animation and Interactive Media. Not to be cynical, but this room is really
impressive for an 18 year old (original impression I got) to have put
together, but less impressive for a much older person.

~~~
GuiA
Not the same person. The Derek Low from dereklow.com never went to Berkeley,
and that video is definitely a Berkeley dorm room.

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pinchyfingers
Yeah, yeah, so the automation is not stunning, but how about the fact that the
video is great promotion for his dorm room as a cool place to hang out?
Personally, I'm hoping that some cool chick at Berkeley hears that 'Levels'
remix and decides that Derek might be her kind of guy. Having cool stuff like
that in your dorm is a perfect excuse for bringing girls back to check out
your room, and it gives interested girls an excuse to swing by unannounced.
Let's not forget what college is all about...

~~~
ImprovedSilence
Haha right on, just hit the party button, and watch the panties drop.

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milesskorpen
"MIDAS" from MIT is 7+ years older, and significantly more impressive --
<http://web.mit.edu/zacka/www/midas.html> . CRTs give this kind of set-up much
more credibility.

~~~
caseorganic
Agreed, and it was significantly more difficult to put together 7 years ago.
This one is very, very similar.

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tsumnia
I've been reading up on home automation for a few weeks now, and,
interestingly enough, in one article by Microsoft
(<http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/homeos/>) they go into detail
about how users were a bit adversed to automated a large portion of their life
(Slide 13 here: [http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/projects/homeos/brushccw...](http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/projects/homeos/brushccw2011_homenetworkingpanel.pdf)).

No doubt what Derek Low did was super awesome, but he only hit the tip of the
iceberg on what users 'want' (Slide 11). Sadly, while they loved creating
scenes (modes), they weren't compelled to drop additional funds for it.

If he wants to continue pursuing this for his degree, I'm sure someone like
Nest will try to scoop him up in a heartbeat.

As a side note, that automated blinds system was uncomfortably loud.

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trun
From the highlights in the article this appears to be very similar to an MIT
student's project from a few years back...

<http://web.mit.edu/zacka/www/midas.html>

~~~
Tyrant505
And he hit the red button like one should.

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driverdan
He used a bunch of X11 components to turn things on and off. That's not
impressive. I did that in high school. I'm sure my non-technical mom could
setup X11 too.

His homemade curtain opener is neat though. Clever use of a caster for a
pully.

What's going to be really funny is the followup video of someone on his floor
figuring out the channel he used and having some fun at 4AM with party mode.

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alexenko
Not sure if blacklight in a dorm is a good idea....

~~~
felixchan
why?

~~~
sanswork
Pretty sure they were making a joke about the appearance of bodily fluid
stains under a black light.

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younata
Not that impressive.

Several people here have already linked to midas.

Personally, I've done part of this to my dorm, and it's cool, but still not
impressive considering all that and more was done some 7 years ago with midas.

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aorshan
This is fantastic. As a college student I can absolutely attest that this is
one of the coolest dorms I've ever seen and completely wish my dorm was as
cool as this. Might be a project for next year.

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geoffhill
I have a feeling that his "Romantic Mode" was underused.

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jakejake
When you bring your date back to your dorm room, say "romantic mode" into the
voice recognition system and the lights dim - she will know without a doubt
that it's business time!

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Aftershock21
Not impressive at all. Its ridiculously simple automation at Berkeley! I am
sure some 14 year old kid in india can do this. \- No machine learning, \- No
face recognition \- No Gesture sensing \- Only lights and curtains..please

This shouldn't be here.

