Another node type is now available on the Gateway automation interface: a sprinkler controller. This is achievable through a board I designed to be able to control many outputs. I call this board IOShield and it features two 74HC595 serial to parallel shift registers.

I had an old sprinkler controller which worked just fine. But I had a few things I could be improved:

• The programming interface was not really intuitive, definitely not wife friendly
• Every spring when it needs adjustment or sprinklers tested and fixes, it’s a pain to turn it on manually and then run in the far end of the yard to check/fix a sprinkler
• Water is expensive and Michigan weather unpredictable. I need a finer control of the sprinklers and the ease of turning programs or zones ON/OFF remotely, or when I’m away from home

More details about this addition are found in this blog post. Here's a video demo of the IOShield in action and control via the gateway interface:

The RFM69 IOShield example skech for sprinkler control has been posted at Github. The latest Gateway image andsource files also contain the definition for the sprinkler node, just plug it in and it should pop right on the interface. Sample zones and events have been defined as well, you can easily define your own or make your own schedules in metrics.js. Graphing will show you which zone ran, for how long etc. Enjoy!