The title is actually incomplete but didn’t want to make it too long. What I’m about to describe is an initiative on how to put together an encrypted, authenticated, realtime, RaspberryPi powered home automation gateway. It will be a few separate posts that will go from concept to implementation, using a real world example of how to control something in the house. I’ll break it down and explain the big picture and each part that needs to be addressed. But first, a little more background and reasoning behind this effort.
Above you can see my temporary gateway setup. It’s very simple – I have a RaspberryPi powered through an ATXRaspi, and a Moteino which acts as the gateway to my wirelessly controlled house. It’s hard wired to my home router because the wireless adapters are simply junk, not reliable. Also hooked up to a monitor and keyboard.
I’ve seen tons of blogging and articles on how to make something blink, turn a servo or LED on, even do more real things like turn ON lights, change the thermostat or control some household appliance, from your smart phone. All cool and dandy. But almost everyone seems to completely skip security. The blog posts end when the LED or light turns on, and everyone seems to be super excited about the cool thing they just did. But I’m left there with a raised eyebrow wondering if those people know what they are doing. Security is of major concern to me because if I hook up my garage doors, lights and perhaps other appliances to the interwebs, I don’t want unauthorized access. Is that a nobrainer or am I paranoid? Continue reading