Velbus: CAN bus

[brononius]

Hey,

A really nice (and not so expensive) domotica system is Velbus. It has been created by Velleman. Checkout http://www.velbus.eu
They've got almost a solution for all systems, and even a software center.
But this software center is 'too' expensive.
Once you like the opensource software world...

Velbus is working on the system 'CAN bus'.
And i'm thinking to see how i can implement this in linuxMCE.

Is it difficult to do this?
Or is anybody willing to have look a it?

[Marie.O]

brononi,

Open Source is not a price tag. It is about people investing time to fill a need they have.

If you have a need to get Velbus working with LinuxMCE, you are free to take a look at the protocol available on their website. And have a look at the already existing drivers in LinuxMCE (PLCBUS, KNX/EIB, Z-Wave etc), and try to understand how they work. What you learn from those drivers, you take, and apply it to the Velbus protocol. A few weeks later you will have written a Velbus driver for LinuxMCE and everybody can benefit from your work. That's the beauty of open source.

Enjoy your trip to the wonderful world of open source software programming!

PS: Don't pull the "I am not a coder card". Invest time, and you will become a proficient enough to write the driver. If you have specific questions, come by the #linuxmce-devel channel on Freenode. If you are new to programming, go to the nearest bookstore and get yourself a C++ for Dummies book, or something similar to get you going.

[brononius]

Maybe i describe it wrong...

   Velbus = hardware (cheaper then most domotica hardware)
   Software center = paid software
   linuxMCE = freeware

So wouldn't it be great if Velbus works with linuxMCE?
Great hardware stuff, great software stuff, for a low price?

And yes, i can learn to program. And yes, i can put 100's of hours of work in it. And yes, i can try/test/fail for 100 hours...
But hey, maybe somebody did it already? Or maybe somebody can help me out in, hmmm, maybe 4 hours?

[Marie.O]

Velbus is currently not support under LinuxMCE. So, you need to writer a driver for it. And 100hrs seem to be quite fitting.

And describing Velbus hardware as cheap/inexpensive is quite interesting. A 1-channel blind controller for 99EUR or a two channel blind controller for 129EUR (65EUR per channel) is not something I consider extraordinary inexpensive.

You can get an 8-channel KNX controller for 280EUR (33EUR per channel)... And KNX is considered very expensive.

[brononius]

Maybe you're right.
That's the whole problem/question: What's the best, where to buy, how much, pro's/contra's...

I'll definely look into the KNX product line...


Maybe it's an idea to put a kind of chart together with commonly used systems?
I really loved this chart for monitoring systems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_network_monitoring_systems
If i can help with this, give me a yell...

[Techstyle]

Interesting, do you know if it is a standardd CAN protocol?

[brononius]

No idea. I suppose it is? When i check their forum, they talk the whole time about C++ and .NET.
For the moment, i don't see links with/for linux...

 This should be a summary of the protocol:
http://www.velleman.eu/downloads/Velbus_ProtocolSummary.pdf

[jeroends]

Hello,
I think you didn't searched the forum of velbus very well because I posted several programs wich are intended to work unther Linux. Those programs are written in C and perl.

There's one main program intended to work as gateway between velbus and the network. The others are client programs who connect to the the gateway, the same way should/could be done woth mce. I will have a look when I've got a bit time left and if it's interresting for me. Of course i've to install first a mce box.

If you figure out my programs there's really nothing to it anymore to having ie a light switched on or off.

greets

[Marie.O]

What a GREAT first post...

[jeroends]

idd you're right, first, sorry about my "not that good" English.
Secondly, the user asking this question has been asking this before on the velbus forum (if I can remember twice). That's why I reacted a bit rough...

Will look into creating a device but need some time to figure it out (there's a lot of information to read).

greetings

[brononius]

I started already 4 times a reply on this. And each time, i find myself to 'rough' in my replies. So this is my last attempt.
A moderator can close/remove this topic if he wants... Didn't have any good results, positive answers...

I really want to use a good product that combines IT with domotica.
And i really don't want to learn a program language to get it working.
So i'll put linuxmce beside, and velbus next to it.
And restart the search for other products, with a more userfriendly system and support...

Thanks for your great positive support and feedback...
Gives a good idea what you can expect from the global system...