I have been in the security industry for over 25 years, in one capacity or another, and there is something I would like to share with you.
One of the best kept secrets of the security and access control industry is just how simple the monitoring hardware actually is. It is the software that runs on the monitoring hardware that makes it seem cool.
The original BeagleBone, or the new BeagleBone Black, has all the computing power that you need to build yourself an extremely sophisticated access control, alarm panel, home automation, and network-intrusion-detection system.
All for less than a year's worth of monitoring charges from your local alarm company!
While we are on the topic of monitored alarm systems, there is no such thing as a FREE alarm system. It is like a free lunch. Where I come from, I can buy and install a basic home alarm system for less than $500.00. But if you sign up for a "free" system, monthly monitoring fees will be between $20 and $25 per month. So, in just over a year and a half, I have paid for my "free" alarm system. Most alarm companies will sign you for a three-year contract, but for (36 x $25) $900, you can build yourself one heck of an alarm system, plus one for your buddy too!
Don't get me wrong, monitored alarm systems have their place, for example, your elderly mother or your convenience store in a bad part of the town. There is no substitute for a live human on the other end of the line.
That said, if you are reading this, you are probably a builder or a hobbyist with all the skills required to do it yourself.
If you have a friend or a relative who is a good carpenter, you have got it made. They will be an indispensible part of your team when it comes to installation.
This book will show you how to build and program your own high-tech alarm and home automation system. By the end of the book, you will have a basic knowledge of how alarm systems work and you will have built and tested your own basic alarm system.
The only limit will be your imagination.
So, let's get started!
Chapter 1, Alarm Systems 101, explains what the major components of an alarm system are and what they do.
Chapter 2, Our Very First Alarm System, covers how to build our first alarm system on a breadboard.
Chapter 3, Bigger and Better, covers what to build depending on what you've learned in the previous chapter, and thus make your system even better.
Chapter 4, Building the Hardware, covers how you build the actual hardware that your BeagleBone will use to connect to an external source.
Chapter 5, Testing the Hardware, covers how you test the hardware that you've built. This is where the rubber meets the road. Does your creation work?
Chapter 6, Automating Stuff, introduces some additional uses of the alarm system hardware. Now that you have a working system, it is time to do other things than just monitor some switches.
Chapter 7, Protecting Your Network, covers how you will be moving even further away from the conventional alarm system by using the BeagleBone to monitor the status of your home network. Here, you give the BeagleBone something to do in its spare time, such as protecting your network from the bad guys.
Chapter 8, Keeping an Eye on Things, covers how you can keep an eye on things while away from home. Sitting in a café in Paris and want to know how things are going back home? This chapter shows how to do it.
Chapter 9, Going Further, covers some of the many more cool things you can do with your system. Now that you have all this great new knowledge and a cool platform to play with, you are limited (almost) only by your imagination. Just to get you started, I have added a few suggestions.
What you need for this book depends largely on what your interest in alarm and security systems is.
If it is a general interest, then all you need is this book. You will find that there is very little technical jargon, and that what there is, is explained as simply as I can.
If you are a programmer who wants to get your feet wet when it comes to hardware, then this book is for you too. If you are an advanced programmer, you may find the code a bit simplistic. What can I say, I'm a hardware guy!
If you are a hardware guy like me and a builder–tinkerer, you will love this book. There is enough software provided to keep you out of trouble for the most part.
But what you need most of all for this book is an insatiable curiosity!
The title of this book suggests that it is only for BeagleBone owners. In fact, the hardware is designed in such a way that it will work with any single-board computer with I/O capability. So if you are a Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or Gumstix owner, don't be put off.
This book is for you too. You will have to write your own software, but we will provide all the source code.
This book is also for anyone who is interested in alarm systems and how they work. It is also for hobbyists and basement tinkerers who love to build things.
As for skills, if you want to build the hardware, you will need some basic soldering skills. All the parts are through-hole variety, so basic skills are all that is required.
When it comes to software, you can just run it as it is. If you want to modify code, then you will require knowledge of Java and integrated development environments.
We will also have a working 4 GB image file that you can download and burn onto a USD card, and be up and running in minutes.
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: "You can access the Cloud9 integrated development environment (IDE) from the Start.html link on the microSD card image."
A block of code is set as follows:
<html>
<head>
<title>Wireless Hub Access Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Here is a simple way of accessing your Router via Yaler:</h1>
<a href="http:192.168.10.1"> Here is my Router Page </a>
</body>
</html>When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:
var outputPin1 = "P8_13"; //Alarm Output 1
var outputPin2 = 'P8_11'; //Alarm Output 2
var outputPin3 = 'P8_12'; //Alarm Output 3
var outputPin4 = 'P8_14'; //Alarm Output 4
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
$ mkdir yalertunnel $ cd yalertunnel
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Navigate to Connection | Data and set Auto-login username to root."
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