Home automation is an increasingly popular project to build with Arduino and compatible hardware, thanks to the relative simplicity of the hardware and software required - plus you can make it work how you want it to work. To demonstrate this, Timofte Andrei made his own system for a university project and to demonstrate his skills. Apart from the usual relay control, this system can be communicated with via SMS text message using an inexpensive GSM shield for Arduino.
Apart from controlling relays remotely, the user can poll for temperature from a local sensor. With a little work more controls or sensors could be added for a remote and interactive control system. Finally, Timofte runs through his system in the following video (however it's in his native Romanian).
Nevertheless you can find all the details about his system including hardware details and the sketch from the Instructable page. And for more, we're on facebook, twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're wanting to make your own Arduino-compatible project such as the auotmation system above, you'll need an ATmega328P MCU with Arduino Uno bootloader:
This is the same Atmel AVR ATmega328P microcontroller used in the official Arduino Uno, as well as our Eleven, EtherTen, USBDroid, and other boards. Perfect for building your own Arduino-compatible project directly on a breadboard or on a custom PCB, or for replacing the MCU in an existing board. Comes with the Arduino Uno bootloader pre-installed. Better still, it even has a special label stuck on top with details of the pinout, so you don't even need to look up the datasheet when connecting it up in your project! For more information and to order, click here!
