Using USBmicro Devices in Home Domination

U401 Pinouts

U421/U421-SC3 Pinouts

U451 Pinouts

Monitoring and Controlling U4x1 Devices in Home Domination

USBmicro devices are slick little buggers!  They are very easy to install...just plug them into a USB port.  There are no drivers to install, and they just plain work!  Home Domination will even automatically detect any of them that you have plugged in.  You can plug in as many as you like too.

Each USBmicro device has 16 data pins that Home Domination can monitor for incoming signals, or can control in order to turn things on and off.  There are currently four versions of this device:  U401, U421, U421-SC3, and U451. The U401, U421 and U421-SC3 all work identically, however the U401 is in a "SimmStick" format which is about a 1 inch (26 mm) wide by 3.5 inches (88 mm) long. The U421 is in a "DIP-like" format, which is about 3/4 of an inch wide (19 mm) by about 1.5 inches long (38 mm). The U421-SC3 is identical to the U421 except that it has a screw terminal soldered onto it so you can attach temperature sensors without having to solder.  To use the screw terminals, you'll need a very small screw driver like the kind you use on eye glasses. The U451 is a very handy device with two relays and two screw terminals for connecting to them. It also has 6 other pins that can be connected to external 5V relays. The remaining pins can be used just like on the other U4x1 devices.

The following describes the more common pins on the U401, U421-SC3, and U451.  For the complete information on each pin, or for a description of how to make it so it can control relays (Amp It Up), see http://www.usbmicro.com/odn/index.html.  To buy one of these devices (or more of course!), click Buy Now.

U401 Pinouts

Pin 1 on the U401 is located on the left, as you look at the board in the orientation above. Pin 30 is the pin on the far right. Note that all lines extend from J1 to J2. There are then some J1 lines that only connect to J2, and no other circuitry.

 

U421 / U421-SC3 Pinouts

Except for the screw terminal, the U421 and U421-SC3 are exactly the same.  Pin 1 on the U421 is located on the lower left, as you look at the board in the orientation above. Pin 24 is the pin on the upper left. The lower row therefore is 1-12, the upper row is 24-13.

Description	Pin
Power	14
Ground	9
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 0	1
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 1	2
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 2	3
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 3	4
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 4	24
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 5	23
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 6	22
Data Pin - Port A, Bit 7	21
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 0	5
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 1	20
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 2	6
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 3	19
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 4	7
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 5	18
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 6	8
Data Pin - Port B, Bit 7	17

Temperature sensors can be connected to Port A, bits 0 - 7.  Port B, bits 0 and 1 control the on-board relays, and Port B, bits 2 - 7 can be tied directly to additional external 5V relays.

See http://www.usbmicro.com/odn/index.html for additional information.

Monitoring and Controlling U4x1 Devices in Home Domination

To use a U4x1 device in Home Domination, it's best if you plug in the device(s) before you start Home Domination.  Then, when it starts, it will automatically detect all the devices.  Then, you should start Home Domination and click Setup, then click Device Setup.  Click the + sign next to "U401/U421 Direct I/O" and you should see a listing for each U4x1 device attached.  The following example shows what it will look like if you have 3 devices.

Now click the + sign next to one of the devices you want to configure.  You should see something like the following, where you have two ports, A and B, and each port has 8 data bits.  Initially everything will be set as Input.

If you are only going to be reading the value of each pin, you don't need to worry about that since everything defaults to Input, but you will still need to add a "Sensor" that will be included on the sensor tab on the main dialog, or can be used in macros.  If you want to control a pin like a switch, you will need to change it to Output and add a "Switch" so it will show up in the switch tab on the main dialog, and so it will configure it so it can be controlled.

To change a bit to output or to add a sensor or switch, just double click on a bit, or single click and click Change.  Then select Input or Output to whichever one you desire.  You can change the On Value and Off Value in case the device you have attached is a little backwards, and you can change the value that it will default to on startup.  And finally, if it is set to input, it will allow you to add a sensor, or use one you've already setup, and if it's set to output, it will let you add a switch or use one that's already set up.

This example shows how to set it up so you can control your doomsday device, which is of course quite necessary if you want to dominate the world.  When you click Add Switch, the following window will appear:

A paddle switch is for devices where one bit is pulsed on and off to turn the device on and another bit is pulsed on and off to turn the device off.  A regular switch uses only one bit and it simply turns it on or off.

When you click Switch and then click Select, the following window appears with the Device Type, Port and Bit already filled in for you, so all you have to do is set the name to what you want and click OK and it will add it for you.

When you click Add Sensor, you will get a similar dialog.  If you're curious what those other fields are for, or wondering how to set up a paddle switch, just click F1 when you're on that window and it will tell you all about it.

If you want to change all 8 bits to output or back to input, you can do it easily by selecting the Port (A or B) and clicking Change.  This will bring up the following window where you can change the Input or Output type, and it will automatically change it for all the bits.  Here you also have the option of treating the port as a single number rather than individual bits.  This may be handy if you want to use the U4x1 to pass in a numeric value, perhaps for analog to digital applications.  The value can be used in macros by using the compare ability in a sensor trigger.

Once you've set up all your sensors and switches in this way, they will appear on the Sensors and Switches tab.  If you have the remote network client set up, then you can detonate your doomsday device from the safety of another country, or you can create a macro to watch one of your sensors and detonate the device when Mr. Bond approaches it without using his fancy gadgets.  Remember, doomsday devices may harm the environment, so you might want to consider taking over the world with annoying noise instead.