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RE: Re: Oil level monitors
- To: "'ukha_d@xxxxxxx'" <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
- Subject: RE: Re: Oil level monitors
- From: Chris Langridge <chrisl@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002 00:12:26 -0000
- Delivered-to: mailing list ukha_d@xxxxxxx
- Mailing-list: list ukha_d@xxxxxxx; contact
ukha_d-owner@xxxxxxx
- Reply-to: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Joking
appart, I was thinking of installing a night vision enabled red webcam on
the
inside of my existing tank which is about 30 years old and made of steel.
It's
very rusty, and I'm sure that it will leak soon. I figured if I could
monitor
the level of the oil, and take a single snap shot of the tank each time it
was
nearly empty, then I could compare photos (at x month intervals) at come up
with
an algorithm to determine the rate of oxidation of the steel. With a bit
more
math, I'm sure I could link this into HV so that my favourite Freddy
Mercury
track plays at full blast just before the oil tank bursts and pollutes the
entire Norfolk countryside.
(But I
am serious about getting a reading off the LED - then we could stick the
Oil
Watchman in a cupboard where it belongs)
Hi
Chris,
Dont
forget that here in the UK we are extremely limited in what is available or
affordable for Home Automation.
Collectively the members of UKHA have devised many ways of achieving
what they desire either by building/writing from the ground up, or adapting
other technologies to suit a different purpose. There are many self
contained
devices such as temperature sensors etc that function well as stand alone
systems but we seek to integrate them with other
systems.
The
ultimate aim is to achieve systems that offer the same type of
functionality
as the high end systems available in the States but without breaking the
bank
too much in the process.
Dont
forget there is another side to continuous monitoring, that of leak
detection.
You know your tank last for x months but a slow leak underground may not be
noticed until you run out of oil 4 weeks early whereas your HA system would
monitor the falling level and know you werent using any because the heating
hadnt been on therefore it can raise the alarm.
It
could also do that if someone was stealing the oil whilst you were away
from
home. An SMS alert (and possible security webcam confirmation of oil level
dropping at faster than normal useage rates) means you could call the
police
and have the villians possibly caught in the act.
Keith
You're right Keith -
And I expect you to come up with a diagram to grab the the output
>from
(I
just visited their site - and I publicly retract everything I said in my
first mail - it is pretty cool - espeicially if like us you're about to buy
a new tank anyway)
Enter into the spirit of things Chris....
It has to be done because it is a challenge....
not necessarily because it OUGHT or NEEDS to be done
:-)
The constant reading can then be integrated with a real time feed
>from
get the lowest price thereby leaving more money for toys. OK, so maybe
that is taking it to extremes!
This HA lark is all about playing with as many toys as
possible.
Keith
We thought about
this last week and figured that this was an example of HA
going too
far.
Our oil tank needs filling aproximately 2 times a year.
y thousand litres of oil last about x months.
So the
easiest way to automate things is to set an alarm on your calendar
to
pop up every x months. Then you go and look at the oil tank to see
if it is
time to order. I figured that if I had a sensor in the tank,
I would still
go and do a visual check anyway before ordering so why
waste the effort to
automate such a rare
event....
>-----Original Message-----
>From: K.
C. Li [mailto:li@xxxxxxx]
>Sent: 28 February 2002
22:46
>To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx>Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Re:
Oil level monitors
>
>
>On Thu, 28 Feb 2002,
steveddickson wrote:
>
>> trying to canabalise one to
interface with comfort, I think Li was
>> going to add it to
hi project list. The manufacturers wern't
>>
interested.
>
>Yes. I have discussed the subject of adding
an electronic feed of the
>fluid level to HomeVision, Comfort and
other systems with the Technical
>Manager of Sensory Systems. I
have a distinct feeling that he
>didn't like
>the idea at
all. He kept saying that there already is an
>option to add
an
>automatic dial-out module to the device when the level is low.
>However, it
>dials out to a preprogrammed telephone number
that the user
>cannot change.
>
>I suspect cosy
arrangements exist between Sensory Systems and the
>designated oil
suppliers for the automatic dial-out facility. Hence the
>company
wasn't keen to allow other add-ons to break that
arrangement.
>
>Regards,
>
>Kwong
Li
>li@xxxxxxx>Laser Business Systems Ltd.
>http://www.laser.com
>
>
>------------------------
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