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Insteon Lighting via AMX
Adaptel
Posts: 41
Hello All,
In my quest for a decent low-cost lighting system, I finally tried the new Insteon stuff. I have to say that I was surprisingly impressed all-around with the performance & reliability of this new technology. Smarthome finally got it right, and these devices are a pleasure to work with. The $36.00 decora switches (smarthomepro) look and feel very high-end and unlike the 68 smarthome X10 devices I replaced, they setup in a snap and work EVERY TIME with no noticable delay in processing a command that is sent. I really like the mindset they have adopted by making the internal source code that the switches run from publicly available and offering develoment tools (including a module with PCB prototyping space) to create custom Insteon devices. I have ordered the devolopment kit, and plan on first making a module that directly interfaces with my genie garage Door openers to provide control/status/info via the powerline/RF protocol.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has jumped on this wagon, and has written a netlinx module to speak Insteon via a Powerlinc II Serial Insteon controller. Before I dive into writing one myself, I was wondering if someone else has done so already.
-Kevin
In my quest for a decent low-cost lighting system, I finally tried the new Insteon stuff. I have to say that I was surprisingly impressed all-around with the performance & reliability of this new technology. Smarthome finally got it right, and these devices are a pleasure to work with. The $36.00 decora switches (smarthomepro) look and feel very high-end and unlike the 68 smarthome X10 devices I replaced, they setup in a snap and work EVERY TIME with no noticable delay in processing a command that is sent. I really like the mindset they have adopted by making the internal source code that the switches run from publicly available and offering develoment tools (including a module with PCB prototyping space) to create custom Insteon devices. I have ordered the devolopment kit, and plan on first making a module that directly interfaces with my genie garage Door openers to provide control/status/info via the powerline/RF protocol.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has jumped on this wagon, and has written a netlinx module to speak Insteon via a Powerlinc II Serial Insteon controller. Before I dive into writing one myself, I was wondering if someone else has done so already.
-Kevin
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As you probably heard, the protocol is included with the prototype development kit, but other than that, it isn't available anywhere that I could find online. Personally, I don't care to spend all that money on a prototype kit that I won't use -- I just want a copy of the protocol so I can figure out how to interface with AMX.
I've actually considered simply hooking up one of the ELK M1's we have here in the lab and 'stealing' the protocol commands that I need by monitoring the serial strings that the ELK sends, but I haven't had the time to do that since we're busy this time of year with other more important jobs.
If anyone has some info or a small code block already worked up, please post it!
Eric
Hello,
You can use the PLM (PowerLinc Modem) Protocol to communicate from the AMX to your Insteon Hub, SmartLinc, or other Insteon Controller. You would need to create a IP Connection to the device on Port 9761. From here there is a PLM Protocol you would need to send to the controller to control the Insteon Devices, such as Switches, Dimmers, Thermostats etc.
I've attached the Insteon PLM Protocol with some additional information as well.
This website is a great resource as well.
http://www.madreporite.com/insteon/commands.htm
I have looked at the protocol specs for using a serial connection to a powerline modem, but was less than impressed with the amount of overhead that is needeed by the controller which is connected to the serial port of the PLM. It is like the PLM is the dumbest of dumb devices and to program a Netlinx module to handle everything in the Insteon protocol, it would be a beast.
Currently I have ditched the PLM (well sort of) and am currently using the amazing little Universal Devices ISY-994i IR box which connects to the PLM, and handles all the complex communication, scene, and linking management functions and relies on a built-in java control panel to manage your ligning network (via Ethernet). The ISY offers a much simpler TCP/IP control protocol, which makes much more sense from the standpoint of user control and status (without having to constantly be worried about the low-level communication functions), called REST. The ISY box uses the REST protocol to nicely integrate with my Elk M1 Gold Security system giving the Elk full realtime control and status info.
I have browsed the REST docs and although I am dying to jump in and write a netlinx module for this protocol, I wish I had the time for it. I am surprised nobody else has done so!!!! I know AMX and Insteon are not "partners", but I think that the more technologies a controller supports, the more people will choose AMX. I know Crust-Ron has a pretty slick Insteon solution. Anyone else out there intereted in tackling this one? Here's some info on Univerversal Devices ISY-99i/994i REST protocol. If someone is REALLY interested in tackling this one, I have a spare ISY box and a bunch of insteon switches, keypads, modules, modems I could let you borrow. Drop me a line if interested.
http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i_Series_INSTEON:REST_Interface