This time, the project is a bit more complex than before, but all the complexity is not in the hardware (the connections are very simple, just plug in a USB dongle and the trick is done!,) but in the software! In fact, the management software to set up and control these devices needs some skills. Also, due to the fact that the Z-Wave world is really huge, and the lack of space for it in this book (I suppose I can ask my editor to write a dedicated book just to explain how to use the Z-Wave for the home automation projects!), I'm just going to present the very basics of the Z-Wave protocol, showing a minimal application that you can expand on your own.

As stated before, we're going to use a Z-Wave controller connected to the BeagleBone Black's USB host port to manage two Z-Wave devices: one used to measure some environment data, and one to turn on and off a connected device. So, what we have to do is to write some software to be able to send and receive messages to...