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Automated engineer apartment. Part 1: statement of the problem, choice of iron

For several months now I have been the owner of a concrete two-room box. After acquiring an apartment, repair requests were minimal - to make coziness and comfort for minimal money, if possible, do it yourself. As a result, I had to turn to the designer for comfort, and the concept of comfort included elements of a smart home.

The first versions of the outline of a smart home came down to controlling underfloor heating and a central electricity contactor. But, as you know, appetite grows with food. At the moment, our list has grown to the following points:

  • light control;
  • climate control (underfloor heating, radiators, air conditioners);
  • curtain management;
  • leakage protection system management;
  • automatic metering of water and electricity consumption;
  • multi-room integration;
  • TV control;
  • the ability to control everything from a smartphone;
  • guests should not experience discomfort, the control of lighting elements should be like in an ordinary apartment

As you can see, the list of Wishlist has expanded significantly, in connection with which the issue of choosing iron for implementation became acute. As an industrial automation engineer, I immediately dismissed options like arduino and all kinds of “smart” Wi-Fi-powered devices that Xiaomi offers. Only prefabricated PLCs with I / O modules and wired switches.

As a result of studying all kinds of information for several months, I came to the conclusion that it would be optimal to use PLC in conjunction with the OpenHAB or Home Assistant smart home platform. But now the cornerstone is the choice of PLC. The choice now comes from several options.

Option 1: Segnetics Matrix + FMR I / O Modules


Mid-budget option.

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Pros:

  • Simple SMLogix development environment
  • There is a forum and user community.

Minuses:

  • lack of a built-in web server;
  • it is unclear whether it will be possible to tighten the MQTT;
  • the controller is new, there may be jambs.

Option 2. ARIES PLC210 + input / output modules MV210, MU210


Mid-budget option.

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Pros:

  • Codesys 3.5 development environment with integrated WEB server;
  • perspective support for MQTT;
  • there is a forum and community

Minuses:

  • new non-rolled controller, jambs are possible;
  • there is no trust in the manufacturer (there is negative experience in project implementation).

Option 3. PLC and Berghof I / O Modules


High budget option.

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Pros:

  • Codesys 3.5 development environment
  • reliable tested controller;
  • EtherCAT I / O modules.

Minuses:

  • price (the most expensive option listed);
  • no support for MQTT.

Option 4: WirenBoard 6 and I / O Modules


Low budget option.

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Pros:

  • price (the cheapest option listed);
  • there is support for various smart home protocols, including MQTT;
  • all the necessary modules for a smart home are available from the manufacturer;
  • modular execution, a standard cabinet with plastrons is required.

Minuses:

  • the design of the embedded WEB server cannot be configured;
  • JavaScript-based programming language (it will be hard to implement all the ideas, since the new environment is for me);
  • little programming and configuration documentation.
  • no user community.

By and large, of the four options now, I choose between Aries and WirenBoard. On the side of WirenBoard now there is an abundance of protocols and the declared imprisonment for a smart home, on the side of Aries my experience with Codesys and the guaranteed implementation of management from the WEB interface without OpenHAB are guaranteed.

In the meantime, I am tormented by the question of choosing a PLC manufacturer, I do not waste time in vain and make a power circuit for the electricians of the apartment, which I will tell about in the next article.

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