In the example shown above, the lighting levels of the dimmer switches are displayed using a simple Javascript bar graph for each device in the area that has been selected. Controls are displayed to the right of the levels, for adjusting the lighting level from 0% to 100% in incremental percentages of 5%, or by simply turning the dimmer on or off.

The web-driven graphic user interface (GUI) is created dynamically by the application server from data stored in a MySQL database. The GUI enables the end-user to select an area and control or monitor the status of devices that have been added to that area via the web from anywhere in the world, using any PC, operating system, and web browser due to its simple design.

History of the Project

Back in the fall of 2003, I was working on a smart home software application project for Intelligent Home Solutions, Inc. called VitalView, which incorporated the use of EDT's i-LiNE dimmer switches for controlling the lighting levels of rooms. Steve Marks, the CEO of IHS, contracted me to design and develop a web-driven graphic user interface for displaying the status of devices in a room, and enabling the end-user to adjust the lighting levels remotely via the internet.

Steve shipped the EDT i-ON devices to me and within a month I had a working prototype of my application server that interfaced RS-232 serial communications of the hardware with a custom web server written in C# using the .NET framework. The prototype used a simple Access 2000 database file, but the server was designed to work with MySQL in a real-world setting.

Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, IHS went out of business. The i-LiNE hardware was returned to IHS and the source code was put into storage.