Phillips Illuminate? 

What are you ultimately trying to do with Holiday LIghts? do you simply want to control them via App, or have different events trigger different holiday effects, or do you want to sync with music?

Its a little bit off topic of Castle OS, but....

I am using a DMX controller with RGB LEDs that are each addressable over DMX, and using the E1.31 protocol from the PC. this allows me to syncronize RGB LED lights with Music. I would love to connect that system to Castle OS, which I am sure can be done with a custom plugin, but alas I lack the programming skills needed to do so. if you are Interested in DMX, I would be happy to discuss with you the specific software/equipment I am using.


Chris S.

At first I was looking into DMX systems. My wife Dave me permission to "go crazy" with Halloween and Christmas displays at our new place (the neighborhood in general has some nice displays). I was starting to imagine pixel strands surrounding the house, pixel walls with animation on the garage doors, and animated pixel trees in the yard all set to music. But then I realized two things. First, I don't have the time needed for all the fabrication and programming needed to pull that off. Second, my wife's expression told me there really was a limit to my crazy she intended and I was flirting with that line.

So I compromised with buying a packaged solution of app controlled lights for the house. I wanted a system that was extensible so I could add on in subsequent years. The more control the app gave the better, but at least some pleasant pre-programmed effects. Finally, I gave preference to WiFi connected controllers because I assumed they used HTTP, TCP/IP, or other standard communication protocol that could be hacked to come from Castke instead of the official App.

So what controls am I looking for? Let me put it in a baseball analogy:

A nice solid single - on/off control. Strangely enough, most of the app enabled lights I found have remote on/off in the app but not based on timers. So I don't have to walk outside and unplug lights but I still have to remember to turn the on/off through the app. With Castle I could control them like any other light in my house.

Stand up double - on/off and selection of preprogrammed effects with color settings. This would allow me to build a scheduled show based on a sequence of effects.

Head-first, bag hugging triple - Add on individual bulb control (on/off, dim, and color). Now things get crazy and you are getting close to DMX type systems.

Out of the park cannon homerun - Ability to connect all of this up through IFTTT recipes. Now I may leave my lights up all year. Imagine any time your sports team scores or wins your house lights up in team colors.

Once I get these Illuminate strings hung (unblocking them as I type this) I will look to sniff the traffic when I have some play time thus season.