I am one of your early kickstarter backers and wanted to ask a few questions to the design team. BTW: great product and concept, I really do look forward to the product coming out… can’t wait.
As a user, one of the things I really don’t like are batteries, unless they are for backup in the case of power cuts and so on. The reason for this is the cost of replacing the batteries and also if I am away from the monitored location, I can not change batteries, hence loose functionality.
Are the various sensors (i.e. Motion + Vibration, Moisture, Temp & Door Sensors) hard wire-able? So I can wire in the sensors to existing alarm wiring I have available? If this is possible, I am sure there will be a guide, with pictures, on how to wire this in.
The wiring does not necessarily have to go back to the hub, but a plug-in outlet, which has a wireless connect to the hub (e.g. Wifi).
Is there going to be the following sensors as well:
Light sensor (which could be incorporated into the motion sensor)
Camera, for internal and external monitoring
- Thermostat sensors (similar to others on the market that wire into the existing heating system, by replacing the existing thermostats)
Do you require support for testing in the UK?
I am more thank happy to help if required, and provide feedback and support.
Thank you for you time, and hope this will help in some way
I can’t imagine that this would be impossible as long as you pay attention to the voltage that the device is using and the voltage you are supplying it. As for a tutorial on how to do it, I couldn’t find one with a quick internet search. But, I imagine that there are various z wave/zigbee devices that could be wired instead of battery that exist today. A quick search turned up one that you can hook your doorbell into, but I assume this is a triggering mechanism and not a power source.
I think that SmartThings are going to constantly be updating their arsenal of devices that they provide. It seems a Camera would be pretty easy to prototype and manufacture given the existing shields and components/sensors that exist for the Arduino prototyping platform. You always have the option of buying devices that are z-wave, zigbee, wifi, or I also believe Bluetooth compatible to work with you SmartThings hub. I think I read an update somewhere that detailed how they have someone testing these devices that are currently on the market to verify that they work with the hub out of the box. I plan on getting a z-wave capable thermostat as one of the first things I buy to be able to control the temperature in my living space.
I am hoping that some (if not all applicable devices) of the sensors/ devices produced by Smart Things will be able to plug into a wall, or through existing wiring to a central power solution, so this will be less of a headache later. Especially as they developing the components at the moment.
As for other sensors/ devices on the market, I have not seen much in this way… but I hope more devices will offer this level of diversity soon.
Good point, I also remember a update referring to someone testing devices. Look forward to the list of supported devices (with a set of features available/ or not available through Smart Things GUI), as this will make things far easier.
