As a 'Matter of Fact

Inside atest Home Control Consolidation Attempt via Google Home and Matter-over-Thread

- Jeff Bachiochi

In last month's column, Jeff showed us how to build a smart thermostat, using Silicon Labs MGM240 module and a Sparkfun Thing module. This month, he examines the intricacies of melding this hardware and Matter software into a device that can replace an existing thermostat. Access is controlled by Google Home via the Matterover-Thread network supported by the MGM240.

Circuit Cellar has been featuring Home Control projects such as HCS and WHCS II since Radio Shack first offered X-10 home automation components in the 1970s. Those X-10 products are still being manufactured, even though Radio Shack stores have disappeared from the landscape. X-10 uses gated RF over the power lines to send and receive messages/control. The birth of the microcontroller brought on a surge in home automation with new communication media such as Over-the-Air RF transmissions, and the Internet.

In the '80s, the American Association of Home Builders first used a term to describe an automated home system that would become commonplace in future homes. Here we are in 2024 and "Home Control" or "Home Automation" (HC or HA) is far from common. Even with many companies manufacturing HA devices, very few households have currently implemented them in any serious way.

With the change of the century, some highlevel HA software for Windows, Apple, and Linux machines began to surface. Home Assistant and OpenHAB have been some of the more successful open-source favorites. While these attempt to support the plethora of devices and protocols presently being manufactured, they continue to require a mishmash of support, because there are no standards.