#Please advise on new components for large project

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

forest glade
#

Hello folks, I am a beginner to home automation but have built a lot of computers. I am just getting started on a new home automation project and I'd love advice getting pointed in the right direction for hardware.

My project:
A local setup of 3+ units: a server for local LLM, an aesthetic PC "hub" which speaks to smaller units and the server, and small units in different rooms (raspberry pi/arduino). I would like the "hub" computer and small units to glow in sync with an assistant's voice.

My budget:
£7k for setup excluding server.

Country:
UK

Hardware:
I was thinking:
PC Hub: Middle tier computer build, good audio card, good network card, decent cpu, mid tier gpu, LEDs
Small units: raspberry pi, decent mic, LEDs, maybe a camera?,

Questions:
**Starting: **Is there key decisions I should make early which help me, e.g. use Zigbee
**Lights: **Would WS2812B Addressable LEDs be an ok start?
Cameras: If I add a camera to the PIs, do you think they will be able to send video feeds back to the hub, server at an accepatble speed? I don't know if they're powerful enough to handle it.
**Latency: **Building on that, can you advise around how to best manage latency issues between my units? I'd love all smaller units to glow in sync.

Thank you so much, apologies if this has been posted in the wrong place. I am really excited to work on this, and really appreciate any help you can provide. If someone wants to help I might be able to pay you a bit for your time.

woeful pawn
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My suggestion for radios like ZigBee, z-wave, and thread is to make sure the antenna are not all bunched together on back of main computer... Get some USB extension cables or radios that come with them (such as zbt2 and zwa2)
When I moved my setup a couple meters to other side of living room so the antenna had space to spread out, I found out how much better the connections could be

hardy plinth
#

I would also consider things like:

  • Making sure sockets and switches have larger backboxes
  • Running neutral to light switches (if needed)
  • Upgrading circuit/breaker board to have room extra slots for monitoring devices

These are best done during rennovation and not after you have moved in