Talk:Home automation

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Home automation is within the scope of WikiProject Robotics, an attempt to standardise coverage of Robotics. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this notice, or visit the project page, where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion.
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i'm thinking that photo is a bad example of home automation. And dangerous too. How about we find a more appropriate photo.

I agree - I have some photos of an automated home. Where/how can I upload them.

Also, I think it's important to create a section called "History of home automation". It's been around a while and would be useful and interesting. I can supply some history.

Contents

[edit] Domotics merger

This article and Domotics have enough overlap that they should be discussed in one article, even if there is a slight difference between the two --Dtcdthingy 23:40, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

I agree that Home Automation, Room automation and Domotics should be merged. My understanding of the term domotics is that it's a combination of domicile and robotics. A few people from Europe have used the term in their discussions on home automation. I feel that the term Domotics better covers what Home Automation should cover. Home Automation doesn't say entertainment systems, security or 'managing home resources and information'. It just says automating your appliances in your home. On the recomendation of merging with Intelligent building I am uncertain, on Building automation I think that's more a reference to commercial building automation. Building automation and home automation seldom use the same products though the general principles are the same. You most likely won't find entertainment systems in commercial buildings. :-) Smart Environments sounds like it is a subject that is shared with both Home Automation and Building automation. --linuxha 21:20, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

I also agree on merging Home automation and Domotics, as they refer to nearly the same thing. Domotics is a more popular term im Europe. Building automation might well be kept separate, since there is a difference in scale, and in the technologies used (e.g. BACnet vs. X10). Building and home automation should have links to one another. I think that smart environments should not be merged with these topics. It could, instead, be merged into pervasive/ubiquitous computing. Smart environments are more of an application term, whereas home automation is more technical. --Anonymous Reviewer 08:27, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Agree too. Goldenglove 12:18, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

As I noted on the Domotics article's discussion page, this should be merged into one article under the Home automation heading. Takeitupalevel 03:32, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I also agree with the merger. they are simmilar enough. Stwalkerster 21:21, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

I suggest use http://robots.wikia.com/wiki/Home_automation to merge them. --Altermike 09:33, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. Room automation should be merged into Home automation. The resulting article should be filed under Home automation. Kinema 06:19, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] External Links

This section has been trimmed from commercial companies in the field. I also removed the magazine link which contained mainly ads. Please review the external links policy before reverting these changes. Links to corporate entities should only be used where they are the subject of the article. Wikipedia is, after all, not an advertisment. --Usrnme h8er 20:47, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

I would agree with merging. Also, I have never seen the "Dometic" term used outside of this article. --MountainLogic 17:03, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree.

I suggest include only standards and free software in external links. --Altermike 09:37, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Delisting of companies

I was curious as to what the rules are that govern the listing of companies here. I had previously listed the company I used for my house automation only to find it gone at a later date. I had then assumed this meant you were not allowed to list a company (as it could be seen as advertising) yet I found other companies remained in the list.... so it confused me. From the stand point of a source of knowledge I would have assumed it would be beneficial to list the companies that provide this kind of service as anyone wanting to find out more information about what it is could then use the links to reach companies that actually do it.... in this sense, how is it any different to companies being listed on wikipedia in the first place? There are already many entries for companies... some of which are obscure. Enigmatical 22:31, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Please see my above posting, I havn't had time to review all the extrnal links currenty in the article in detail, please feel free to do this and if you feel that they are purely commercial entities - feel free to remove them. Generally, commercial entities should only be linked to from their own wiki articles, such as IBM.com from IBM rather than linking IBM.com from computer, personal computer, company (law) etc... If the companies are considered notable enough, they will have their own wiki pages, subject to wikipedia:notability requirements, which in turn can be linked to from a related page (for example apple computers being linked from personal computer). --Usrnme h8er 07:39, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

This article really needs a history section. I've always been intrigued by the speculative way in which home automation was being marketed in the 1980s... little of it came to fruition. I came to read about this aspect and found nothing. -Rolypolyman 20:34, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Semi-Protect

I have added semi-protect status to this page because about half of the last 50 edits have been either adding or removing commercial links. Time to changes things. Eptin 21:01, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External link candidate #1

I believe that the it was very good to clear out most of the external links, but perhaps this one should be reinstated: Home Automation FAQ. What do you guys think? --Eptin 03:43, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

I disagree. To be honest, I have not seen the previous external links, but I would like to see quality external links that help me in my personal projects. That means, not just links to definition pages. Practical links, to companies that provide useful hardware and software. You ask me what I think? I think you are doing a disservice to users like myself. --ML6868 09:30, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Actually, you should be to find what you are looking for by looking in DMOZ. RJASE1 Talk 02:33, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
At first glance it looked useful, as it might have provided more detail than the wikipedia article would have provided. I looked farther into just now, and I found that most of the topic links point to empty folders, which is completely useless. The whole discussion is moot now, since the current link is dead (I had to look it up on the Internet Archive to find out what it looked like). --Eptin 05:56, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
I need links where they belong: the external links section. They have proved to be very useful in countless articles. Unfortunately some users are too concerned censoring them depriving users like myself with valuable resources. Wake up and smell the coffe.

[edit] External link candidate #2

Hello. I added a link to this site to X10 since it is definitely covers X10 automation in great detail, but I'm wondering it it is general enough to be included in the external links for the Home Automation category. The site definitely centers around the X10 standard, but some of the stuff on the site (the Cameras, VR Gadgetry, Weather/Environment sensing, etc.) applies beyond the standard, and the site seems informational/has a well defined purpose, privacy statement, etc. Thoughts on inclusion? Tomcat7194 21:04, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

It looks as though it would pass. It's not advertisement, it's a guide to how X10 and various other home automation systems are used throughout the house, so yeah, it looks like it should be included. --Eptin 22:13, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
It's been several weeks since my original post here, so I went ahead and added the link to the Home Automation page. I think the description of the site is accurate, but if anyone would like to tweak the wording or discusss this further, go right ahead. Tomcat7194 15:24, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Home Automation Software?

PCs are a growing market when it comes to Home Automation. Should there be some mention of software solutions? Like VR, Text to Speech, Email, etc. Perhaps mention a few existing software solutions on this page as well.

I don't think that any of the technologies you listed, like VR, Text to Speech, Email, count as home automation. There may be some software that might be mentioned in relation to the home automation hardware. Perhaps "Home server" technologies could be mentioned, as they have potential for soon hooking into home automation hardware. --Eptin 15:16, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] eCourse on Integrated Home Systems

New link: http://www.leonardo-energy.org/drupal/node/3048 eCourse on Integrated Home Systems —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.118.58.90 (talk) 07:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)