roZetta™ grew out of an earlier DIY project (BX24-AHT) adding the ability to emulate a TW523, interfacing with the TW523 ports on legacy X-10 controllers (e.g. JDS Stargate, HomeVision, Ocelot, Leopard), translating the legacy X10 TTL commands into Insteon, UPB and newer extended X10 commands, and adding support for an ethernet interface. It, too, was intended as a DIY project with all of the components originally available from Mouser Electronics but changes in their inventory and minimum order quantities have forced me to use several different sources, increasing the shipping cost and complexity beyond what is practical for DIY. Consequently, it will be sold partially assembled except for socketed chips and modules.
In mid-2008 Tibbo™ discontinued their EM202 NetModule without warning. Its replacement, the EM500, was finally released in mid-2010 but updated firmware to support their GA1000, promised at the time of the EM500 release, only became available in mid 2011. After such a long delay, many of the components used in the original roZetta™ design became unavailable, forcing a redesign of the entire project. The latest version of roZetta™ uses an FTDI USB-to-serial chip, has plug-in sockets for the EM500 ethernet-to-serial module and the GA1000 WiFi card (users can buy direct to save money) as well as a pre-installed 512KB Flash memory chip. ZBasic™ has also introduced new chips and roZetta™ now uses the ZX-40s which has twice the memory of earlier versions and runs compiled native assembler code which operates much faster than earlier Virtual Machine (interpreter) versions. There is a plug-in socket for the ZX-40s so users can buy it direct and there is also a plug-in socket for an I2C battery-backed RTC. I have designed one with features that dovetail with roZetta™ but the pin-out is the same as one available from Spark Fun Electronics. In addition to the 64KB flash chip, there is a 64KB SPI EEPROM and an 8KB I2C FRAM chip so there should be no shortage of user memory.
In addition to the four software UARTs, the ZX-40s has a second hardware USART and ZBasic™ modified some internal code to make it accessible along with the low level X-10 functions they added for me earlier. This allows roZetta™ to support the latest Insteon™ interface which runs at 19200. In all, there are six serial ports - one hardware USART used by USB or LAN, one hardware USART and four software USARTs are available for serial peripherals. The onboard IR and RF receivers have been eliminated, replaced by a wireless input port that can interface with external IR or RF modules. And, there are eight ADC/DIO ports available for sensors, indicators, etc. There are three resettable fuses protecting various subsections of the board and an onboard 3.3V regulator to supply the Tibbo™ hardware.
As of mid-June 2011, I am waiting to order prototype PCBs so I can assemble and test the new design. During the long delay, some of my own parts became more of a problem. In addition to my spinal cord damage (~45 years), which continues to deteriorate (The VA now classifies me as Catastrophically Disabled.), I am dealing with Congestive Heart Failure (past 8-9 years), lung cancer surgery (a year ago) and prostrate surgery (six months ago) so progress may continue to be slow, as medical appointments take up much of my time, and I will likely need to find someone else to build and distribute roZetta™ once it is ready. Also, my budget is in about the same state as my health so my toy wish-list is outgrowing my means.
Below are JPG images of the new PCB. Right-click, View Image to enlarge.
I got the prototype boards and began testing but then discovered the Arduino - I have been a bit out of contact lately so it was entirely new to me. It was an Aha! moment as the modular approach of the Arduino shields was an obvious way to make roZetta™ somewhat immune from sudden disasters like the withdrawal of the Tibbo EM202. I have since designed several Zarduino™ boards and shields that both duplicate and expand on the original roZetta™ design, adding features, additional DIO/ADC channels and support for additional hardware in the process. The results are documented on my Arduino related page. Because there are now several boards needed, it will take additional time to order, build, and test prototypes but nearly everything is just an extension of things I have done earlier so I am confident in the result if my health allows me to reach it. As of September 2011, all of my efforts are devoted to this and to one related project to add features to the RR501 that will allow its use with the Zarduino™ version of roZetta™ as well as a standalone controller. I'll add a page for it as it progresses.
I have had brief communications with the author of mochad which runs on Chumby (and I bought an 8" Insignia which runs Chumby) about interfacing with roZetta™ via WiFi although the interface may need to be kept rather simple to deal with the capabilities of various Chumby devices. I have also bought Basic4Android and a rather basic Android tablet in order to try my hand and maybe develop a more full featured WiFi interface to roZetta™. And there are some folks who frequent the X-10 Community Forum who think I am behind the times because I am not into Voice Control and some of them might be persuaded to do an Android Voice Control interface.
And I am also designing a daughterboard for the RR501 that replaces the MCU, adds an optically isolated RS232 port, an optically isolated output for driving IR/RF transmitters, a galvanically isolated 50-ohm BNC antenna connector, 8KB of F-RAM and a battery-backed RTC, turning it into a full-featured X-10 computer interface which can be used with roZetta™ or standalone which I call the RR5x5™ (five-by-five).
The screenshots below are still reasonably accurate - there will be an additional tab on the main screen for the added serial port and there will be changes to reflect the added memory and increased ADC/DIO channels. The user manuals will require extensive editing to reflect these recent developments but overall it still shows the project's capabilities fairly accurately. The add-on modules are now mostly incorporated in the shields so the price list is no longer valid.
There are Windows, Linux and Mac OS-X interface applications for configuring and controlling roZetta™.
| FILES | Windows | Linux | Mac OS-X | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| roZetta™ Overview | Opto-isolator Adapter | roZetta™ User Manual | roZetta™ User Manual | roZetta™ User Manual |
| RTC/EEPROM | Interface Cables DB9M-6P6C | |||
| Antenna/Preamp | Price List | |||
| roZetta™ Tips & Tricks | ||||
| Interrupts & Timers | Maximizing RF Range | roZetta™ Windows Notes | roZetta™ Linux Notes | roZetta™ OS-X Notes |
ZBasic, ZX-40, ZX-40a and ZX-40p are trademarks of Elba Corp.
Nano LANReach is a trademark of Connect One Ltd..
Copyright: No part may be reproduced except as authorized by written permission. This restriction extends to reproduction in all media.