C# Home Automation Library

Question

I'm a C# developer looking to get into home automation as a hobby. I have done a little research, but was wondering if anyone knows of a good .NET library that supports Insteon hardware. I'd rather use Insteon than X10 due to reliability issues.

My ultimate objective at this point is to have a simple home automation server (maybe lights and climate control) with a secure ASP.NET web application interface. I'm more interested in actually building it and learning about it rather than finding an existing solution.

Thanks for any suggestions or comments.

Edit: Thanks for the help, everyone.

Does anyone have experience with Z-wave technology? Seems promising - appears to be higher quality hardware, includes a core library, supports .NET, etc. ControlThink appears to have a pretty good controller and SDK.

Here's an interesting application to consider: Stall Status: Know Before You Go

Answer 1

I think this would bee a place to start insteon sdk

Answer 2

Some research via Google looking for an Insteon SDK only yields stuff from way back in 2005. There's only information on serial port interfaces (no USB) and the only language mentioned is something called DockLight scripting that also looks like it hasn't been updated since 2005.

X10, on the other hand, boasts support for C++, VisualBasic, VB Script, and JavaScript. No .Net listed, but VisualBasic/VB Script likely implies a COM object you can easily import for use in C#. They're also much more USB friendly, and the kit costs 1/4 of the Insteon kit ($50 vs $200).

If you were actually building a product I would understand the reliability concern. But since this is a home project I think you'll have much better luck with X10.

Answer 3

I can't remember if it covers the specific technologies you mention but you should definately check out this episode of .NET Rocks. They talk about all the different stuff you can do with home automation and a lot about how to do it. I believe one of the main points was that Microsoft Robotics Studio was a good tool to use, as it uses a lot of the same abstractions as you would otherwise use.

Answer 4

I would avoid X10 like the plague. Between things like modern TV's and power strips, bridged power junction boxes and just plain strange wiring, X10 signals tend to just "disappear" and never get to their destination.

If you really want to give X10 a shot, I've got a box of X10 stuff in the garage that was worth $250+ new and it's all completely useless in my house, so you can have it. Some of it worked in my old house, but it won't so much as turn a light on 2 outlets away where I live now.

X10 is viewed by most modern electronics as "noise" on the line (which, technically, it is) and something to be filtered out rather than passed along or left alone.

Answer 5

I know it's been a long time since this post was made, however I was wondering if you'd picked a route, and what you've ended up doing with home automation since.

I've been doing this kind of stuff with many of the technologies available, but I've always done it on top of a product called homeseer. .net plug-ins and vb.net and c# scripting can be done on top of this foundation. I've been thinking of rolling my own similar to what you were describing. Any thoughts, tips, decisions you've made etc?

Answer 6

A bit off topic, but listen to the latest episode of dot net rocks, one of the finalists of my .net story built an home automation solution that really made me want to dive into home automation again. Totally awsome solution.

http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=518