Building a Home Security System with BeagleBone

Build your own high-tech alarm system at a fraction of the cost

Overview

• Build your own state-of-the-art security system
• Monitor your system from anywhere you can receive e-mail
• Add control of other systems such as sprinklers and gates
• Save thousands on monitoring and rental fees

In Detail

One of the best kept secrets of the security industry is just how simple the monitoring hardware actually is - BeagleBone has all the computing power you need to build yourself an extremely sophisticated access control, alarm panel, and home automation and network intrusion-detection system. Security companies make a fortune each year by charging exorbitant fees to their customers. You will learn how easy it is to make an alarm system with Beaglebone.

A company-maintained-and-monitored alarm system has its place - your dear old mum is probably not going to be creating her own system any time soon. But if you are reading this book, you are probably a builder or a hobbyist with all the skills required to do it yourself. With Building a Home Security System with BeagleBone, you will learn everything you need to know to develop your own state-of-the-art security system, all for less than a year's worth of monitoring charges from your local alarm company!

You will start by building and testing your hardware and open source software on an experimenter's prototype board before progressing to more complex systems. You will then learn how to test your new creations in a modular fashion and begin to utilize BeagleBone. Once your system is built and tested, you will install some of the professional-grade sensors used in modern alarm systems and learn how to use them. You will also discover how to extend your alarm system in a variety of different ways. The only limit will be your imagination.

What you will learn from this book

• Understand the components of an alarm system
• Build a basic zone 1 alarm system
• Modify your alarm system to perform complex tasks
• Build the actual hardware onto BeagleBone
• Integrate home automation into your security system
• Protect your network from intruders
• Keep an eye on your system from anywhere in the world
• Install and use a range of sensor equipment

Approach

Building a Home Security System with BeagleBone is a practical, hands-on guide for practical, hands-on people. The book includes step-by-step instructions for assembling your own hardware on professionally manufactured PCB's and setting up the software on your system.

Who this book is written for

This book is for anyone who is interested in alarm systems and how they work; for hobbyists and basement tinkerers who love to build things. If you want to build the hardware described in this book, you will need some basic soldering skills, but all the parts are of the thru-hole variety an...