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RV Control System - An Idea

April 12, 2014, 10:07:46 pm

I figured I'd post this here.  I think the Foretravel owners on this forum might be more similar to me than a lot of other RV owners out there given that we are uniquely interested in quality, value, and performance and from what I am seeing so far, tend to be very technically oriented.

Once upon a time I lived in a stick house, now fulltiming.  That stick house had a pool and one day I had the bright idea to to replace the pool timer and control system with an automation system.  It was arduino based and used a 433mhz radio and custom PCB to communicate with the controller back at the house.  I spent a lot of time iterating over and over on PCB's and other stuff trying to make it a lot more professional in order to sell it.

Things change, the house got sold, and somewhere along the way I realized that trying to pretend I am a big automation company like Pentair and charging less than they do for something that does 10x more isn't going to cut it.  But the system was pretty nice, very beautiful web interface that also worked well on iphone.  Touch screen controls that mounted on the walls.  The scheduler would schedule pump runtime based on gallons pumped rather than hours, therefore the pump would run longer as the filter clogged, saving you money overall.  There was a scheduler that would do things like turn the pool light off if I forgot.  There was temperature sensors, solar control, etc. 

I developed lots of experience with embedded linux systems, wireless (non-wifi) communications, creation of PCB's, sensors, and other bits needed for automation and control.  I got to thinking the other day about how cool such a system would be for the rv and how most of my work is already done because I can reuse much of the pool automation system.

For an RV based system I would build tiny PCB's that would handle individual functions and the entire system would communicate wirelessly so you don't have to run a billion wires.  Everything would run off 12v which is easy to come by pretty much all over the rig.  There would be individual boards to control and monitor generator, thermostat override, temperature sensors, light control, security, etc.  Some boards would be complex, I'm sure the dometic thermostat is some kind of RS485 control.  Some boards would be incredibly simple, a transmitter and a relay or sensor.  The idea would be to make it cheap enough that you can really deploy a big system without breaking the bank.

Features:
* All modules communicate with short range, even Bluetooth LE is an option which means modules would not drain your coach batteries (at all).  I have a bluetooth LE device (iBeacon) that runs on a coin cell battery for 2 years.
* Light (or other arbitrary 12v device switching) based on schedule or other conditions
* Schedule generator run time so it fits within a specific window (when you may not be near the rv).. But intelligently kill the generator if the rig is cool enough and/or batteries are charged
* Override thermostats to request air conditioning or heating
* Keychain remote control (wireless arm/disarm/bay door locking)
* GPS tracking module to help you find your RV
* Comm module (has SIM slot for GSM communication over cell phone network)
* Switch module (light).  Turns on or off individual 12v circuit
* Security module. Monitors a hall effect switch for break of contact
* Long range tracking/comms.  I found a nice radio setup that can communicate 40 miles or so - good for boondockers to keep an eye on thing outside of cell tower range.

There's probably more I could incorporate.  Much of what I want to do wasn't possible only a couple of years ago but power consumption of microcontrollers and other stuff is so low now that these little modules wouldn't even touch your battery.  There is some engineering time for sure but if the boards are kept simple and small then they are easy to make.

As far as the software - coordinating bidirectional wireless communications between more than 2 devices is an absolute bear to handle.  I would probably try to use some kind of existing mesh networking to ease development time.

This would all be free/open source.  Software, schematics, etc.  I'd try to build and sell the kits but this would be hobbyist level and small.  No FCC certification, end users are responsible for all fires they cause, etc.

Anyone geeky enough to want to install a setup like this in their coach? 

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Re: RV Control System - An Idea

Reply #1 – April 13, 2014, 09:46:34 am

I don't really need a new hobby ...... but I have to admit, the concept is very attractive.  I would hope you could keep the forum advised on your progress and the projected costs.    Please feel free to PM me if you feel that is more appropriate.    BTW,  nice paint job!

Dave VanAmburg

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Reply #2 – April 13, 2014, 10:25:33 am

The new Prevost run off an iPad. Probably something similar. 

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Reply #3 – April 13, 2014, 11:01:31 am

Please don't forget us non electronic models in older GV

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Reply #4 – April 13, 2014, 12:49:42 pm

I giggle at the thought of being able to run a vintage coach from my phone.I was thinking I needed to install the smart switch fro the genset anyhow.  Geek my RV!

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Reply #5 – April 13, 2014, 08:13:06 pm

Sounds like a fun project. 

We have done the home automation on our last two houses and really enjoy it.  Auto lights when you walk in to rooms, AC, AV and lights controlled by the security system (arm the system turns everything off and sets back tstats), can call the house and get and set status, use the internet to do the same, etc etc ... Nothing home built , all of that equipment is available for whatever you can think of, we just ran the wires or replaced switches.

I've often thought about doing something with the coach as well for the fun of it.  Some other RV specific things would be to turn off the inlet water when you set the alarm, bring in the awning (I don't trust it when I'm not there, and I don't trust it when I'm there either!), check if the shore power cord is plugged in before you drive off (sorry again Neal ), plus lots of other things. 

What device did you have in mind for the 12v switching?  Be interesting to see what you discover about the tstats, the lines are just rj45, but not sure its going to be simple rs485 but maybe.

Have fun!

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Reply #6 – April 13, 2014, 09:16:57 pm

It's all in the idea stages.  I would try to find some kind of 12v latching relay. I'd probably build the PCB capable of handling any reasonable amperage and then size the relays accordingly (if the lower amperage ones are cheaper anyway).  I could just put a socket on and use a normal automotive brick style relay but I think a bunch of those hanging around could result in a measurable phantom current draw.

My home system interfaced with zwave and Insteon modules.  I would always try to use existing consumer technology first because it's almost certain to be cheaper and more reliable than anything I could engineer.

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Reply #7 – April 13, 2014, 10:32:03 pm

One thing that has always concerned me about controlling stuff over the Internet is security. If I can lock/unlock a door (that's on a television commercial), why can't someone else lock/unlock my door, too? My coach isn't so big that I can't turn the lights on and off myself, and when we go out we leave a light on inside if we think it might be dark when we get back.

I'm not against technology. I had an X10 system controlling all of the house lights 35 years ago. I'm just one of those that thinks "just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done." On the other hand, it might prove to be an interesting system. Keep us posted.

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Reply #8 – April 13, 2014, 10:59:47 pm

I have a "SimplySafe" alarm system waiting to go into my coach.  Look at the way they do things.  A unit to control something talking to the controller wirelessly might be the way to go.  I.E. System is armed.  Controller/keypad sends signal to the water control solenoid to shut down water.  Later photo cell sends signal that light is going.  Controller sends signal to lamp control units to turn on.  Ignition is turned on. Alarm sounds as things are not disconnected, tire is low and so on.

Over to you software engineers.

Home Security Systems from SimpliSafe

Keith

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Reply #9 – April 14, 2014, 09:00:28 pm

I've got a Lowes Iris to keep tabs on the temperature and a few other little things. Works pretty well.

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Reply #10 – April 14, 2014, 09:21:30 pm

Until a couple of weeks ago I had my Raspberry Pi configured as a web server with port forwarding from two routers (home and on the RV). Worked fine to amaze my friends and neighbors who could access a photo of my GV. I've been playing around with some ideas for security, remote temperature sensing, etc. All pretty simple with an Rpi and an Arduino.

But winter is over and summer stuff is on the agenda. Perhaps next winter along with the software-controlled QRP ham radio system.

Craig

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Reply #11 – April 15, 2014, 12:11:15 am

The biggest problem with the rpi is power consumption.  It consumes around 1.2A which is a lot more than a typical phantom current draw.  In our rig we only have 100A useful juice in our battery bank.  This means the rpi would drain the batteries all by itself in 3.5 days. 

So none of the general purpose boards like an rpi are really practical for what I'd like to achieve.  I think the secret will be separating out the logic so that the 24/7 stuff is extremely simple and all of the fluff and flash is in tablets/iphone apps/etc.  The mistake I made before is that I put a lot of functionality into the Sheevaplug (a lot like rpi) for my home automation system before.  It was always a constant fight to eek out some more performance because those things are just so slow.

So basically, a full fledged linux anything probably consumes too much power.  You want to build most of the foundational architecture on something like this Coin Introduces Arduino-BLE Developer Kit ? Coin Blog..  Microcontrollers and some type of very efficient wireless standard.  BLE is fairly impressive.

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Reply #12 – April 15, 2014, 12:38:06 am

A few hundred watts of solar power fixes the power consumption issue. In fact, I can't really see how you could have a high-tech RV without solar. One of the major functions of the network in our RV will be power monitoring.

Craig

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Reply #13 – April 15, 2014, 11:15:55 am

True...  But we don't have solar.  For us, I'd like the light control and security features.  I'd like to be able to use the generator to recharge the batteries where applicable.  The payback on solar doesn't make sense for us yet - and may never.  But you are definitely right.  It's only 144watt/hours per day and it wouldn't take a lot of solar to recover that consumption.

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