Beta Testing is Now Open! Click here

Hi, my name is Mark Duckworth and I am the President and founder of a new home automation company, Infusix LLC. Infusix is founded on the premise that people should be able to do more for less with home automation. The very first product we have made is our main product called Automatica. It represents the culmination of years of research and development. Automatica is designed to be an all encompassing solution for pool automation, whole house audio, Insteon lighting, climate controls, and likely other bits. Currently only the Pool support is finished and that is what is initially being offered. Automatica is based around concepts like reusability, long term support, and long term returns on your investment.

The architecture is a bit different from other pool automation offerings in three ways. It's cheaper, simpler, and does way more all on its own. So lets go over these 3 points:

Cheaper: The Automatica basic kit costs $899. It contains everything you need to start doing comprehensive pool automation.

Simpler: Automatica was born out of a desire to simplify the pool automation market. Trying to price out a system from another vendor is a labyrinth of confusion wondering what parts you need and how much it all is really going to cost. Automatica consists of a server, and nodes. Nothing else is needed.

And now finally lets talk about how much more it does. Automatica is a single Linux based server that talks to many much simpler nodes. All of the complexity rests in the server. The server has a web interface that you connect to that commands and coordinates everything. This is versus a small embedded handheld control or other implementations where the system is an "island", unreachable by any other home automation component in your overall system. Automatica is designed from the ground up to be interacted with by any other home automation system. Similarly the server is open to run other programs and processes for any users that desire to do so.

Because Automatica is an embedded linux server you can do things like: schedule pump run time based any combination of time of year and actual number of gallons pumped and time of day. Imagine a situation where your pump literally runs the exact amount of time necessary regardless of how clogged your filter is. Because the system knows your filter pressure, it can calculate with good precision the exact number of gallons pumped, meaning no wasted electricity.

Another feature is monitoring of system performance and knowing when there is a problem and shutting down your pump, heater, light, etc. whenever a problem is detected in order to save those devices from damage. The most important things are the ideas we have not yet conceived. One person suggested that it would be nice to have solar control that would turn the pump on on demand. Great idea, now it will be implemented and the software upgrade will be handed out to existing customers free of charge! That is what the future holds for Automatica owners.

Existing solutions require you to guess your future needs. If you are wrong, many solutions require you to scrap what you have and start over, sometimes with great expense. With their solutions the difference between going from 4 to 8 devices controlled is almost double. Not so with Automatica. Automatica Pool nodes by themselves are $449. There is no need to throw away your existing node. You can simply add on.

So what does it look like?

Here is the server. It is a small silent embedded linux computer. It connects to your wireless router in order to provide accessibility to your laptop, ipad, etc. A USB wireless device is attached to the USB port on this device and that is what provides communication with your pool node (and other future nodes).

So what about the pool node?

The pool node is a PVC enclosure that has 4 weatherproof sensor connectors on one side and 2 Jandy style valve actuator connectors on the other side. Nodes are "self-configuring", which is to say you plug everything in and the server can automatically detect new nodes for you. Nodes will detect each other as well. The node can control up to 4 devices. Devices means pumps, lights, blowers, or valve actuators. A node can be customized to deal with 4 valve actuators (and no other devices), or 4 relays (and no valve actuators). Either way, it's 4 devices. The relays inside a pool node are sized to deal with Jandy style valve actuators or contactors. Contactors are basically big switches used to turn on and off heavy equipment. Your central air system probably utilizes a few. This is an unusual setup but it was chosen to increase reliability and decrease cost. The large relays other vendors use have a tendency to fail and are quite expensive to replace. Contactors on the other hand are rugged and inexpensive. Because of the high voltage nature, this aspect of the system must be installed by a professional licensed electrician.

Unlike other systems, if you start out with simple 4 device control and would like to make additions, you don't need to throw the whole system away and start over. You can simply add on additional nodes. Upgradeability is practically unlimited, we have tested 6 nodes communicating at once and will make it even more robust in the future.

What about sensors?

The sensor ports currently handle pressure and temperature sensors. The basic kit comes with 2 pressure sensors and 2 temperature sensors. It also comes with one valve actuator harness. The sensors included are not just the end sensor but a full wire harness with connectors and are designed for trouble free installation AND removal. To add the sensors you simply cut a section of pipe out and install a standard PVC Tee with 1/2" threaded hole for the sensor to plug into. That's it.

The system is accessible from any device in your home, such as an iPad, iPhone, or laptop. You can also access it from the internet or your office network with proper configuration. All configuration is done via a user friendly web interface, not complicated menus on a small screen or worse a small controller with a few buttons. Standard wireless means no control wiring has to be run between your home and pool equipment pad.

Existing systems are rather closed, how open is Automatica?

Automatica is not open source, but all is not lost. We consider the Automatica system to be interoperable. We are willing to work with sensors you make yourself or other companies manufacture. We will support interacting with your Automatica system via another home automation system. We allow you root access to your server and have no problem with you utilizing other software on it. We will not try to hide how the system works with respect to information like pinouts and technical specifications. We support Automatica acting as a "dumb relay" of commands from your primary home automation system. We also support Automatica becoming your home automation system entirely. We will work with you to accomplish either goal.

So where does that leave us?

We believe the hardware is finished. It has been running for quite a while and is reliable. We are currently testing the software to find and eliminate any stray bugs, however the software is feature complete. The system is capable of recurring and single entry pump run time scheduling. By the time you receive a kit, solar control will be fully tested. The setup and configuration portions of the web interface are complete, as are the server communications programs. Most of the updates you will receive during beta testing will be to the web interface and they will be delivered remotely. We still have to complete installation manuals but we have initial videos up on YouTube of the system and the installation of components in one system. Most likely our documentation will be drawn up using photos and installation notes from beta testers' particular configurations.

We have a few small things to finish up before we can provide anyone with a system. We estimate two weeks to complete them. As we begin production, we are utilizing just in time manufacturing until we can gauge demand for the system. This means that there is a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of 4 weeks lead time after ordering. We will do our best (seriously) to keep this time as short as possible. You would not pay until your kit is ready to mail with a tracking number, but it's important to connect with us as we will build kits first come first serve. We are in the northeast, in Hatfield, PA. We will assist with installations or perform installations entirely. We have access to a licensed electrician to approve electrical work. We will also provide phone support during installations. At the time of this writing, it is clear that winter is coming. While that may make waiting until Spring seem like the logical thing to do, now is actually a better time to install the system since if any problems occur you may not be able to run your filter temporarily. Also, plenty of testing, development and installation can be performed on a closed pool. If you are interested in this system I do advise you to act sooner rather than later as large demand may be create a backlog in the Spring. Of course we are also happy to work with southern customers who do not close their pools.

What do you get for beta testing?

A 10% discount, working directly with the developer for installation and support, direct easy remote technical support, and free software updates for life (about 10 years). It's quite likely that ideas that directly help you with your pool installation will be implemented into the software. You will have direct influence over the future of this product. In exchange for this, you are an individual who is technically minded and would enjoy providing feedback about the system.

Click here to request information about our beta program!

We are currently working on getting our ecommerce site up and running and we expect that to be finished very soon.

To understand more of Automatica and how it's installed, please check out the videos below! Please note: The cabling you will receive is a glossy, rugged, outdoor and direct burial rated, black colored cable.

Not convinced? Check back here as we will be updating this page frequently with more content and more information as we complete additional features, or feel free to let us know by emailing us. We love constructive criticism!

Last updated November 10th, 2011.