Project Luma: Home Cinema

Luma is a self-built home cinema that is fully automated and controlled with a self-programmed app and server. I and my father built it together but I worked on the technical part and he focused on the construction. Software Engineering is my passion and I do have a degree in it.

I used shelly components that are controlled by the server over the local network. The server runs a node.js application with my real-time web-socket framework, to keep the state synchronised between multiple clients. The front end is a react application that is hosted by the server which connects via web sockets to the server. The server manages all cinema devices and handles automations. The goal was that the whole cinema could be controlled via an app. So that you can directly start to watch a movie without having to power on a lot of devices and manage the room temperature manually and so on.

I used multiple components and the following components from Shelly:

• Shelly Duo - RGBW GU10
• Shelly RGBW2
• Shelly Plus 1PM
• Shelly Plus 1
• Shelly Plus 2PM
• Shelly Plus Plug S
• Shelly H&T
• Shelly TRV

The automation is split into five categories: light, climate, sound, media and general start/shutdown.

Start/Shutdown:

For the cinema start-up and shutdown process, I primarily used the Shelly Plus 1 / 1 PM and Plug S to power up the underlying devices in a specific order. This helps to shut down most cinema devices and avoid standby devices all the time (Only a few relays and the server). After the devices are powered on the server controls the motorized canvas, AV receiver, beamer, lights, amplifiers, and initialises the climate control. In the shutdown process, some relays still keep being activated for some time. This is essential for the beamer to cool down or to keep the light on for some additional time to leave the cinema.

Light:

For the light part, I implemented a light engine that sends the light values to the Shelly RGBW2 (used for the LED stripes in the stage and backside panels) and Duo RGBW lamps that are placed on the cinema side walls, over the entrance, and in the foyer wall. To process light values faster, I developed a custom firmware for the RGBW2 and Duo lamps. This firmware is simple and only applies the received light values. This was imported to run light animations from the server frame by frame.

In the application, the user can choose from different light modes. For example, a Movie light mode where the lights start to fade out from the front to the back, keep the stage light dimmed on and turn the foyer light off. Also, I implemented a mode where the light matches with the screen colour but with positions. So the left Duo Lights are matching with the left screen half. This mode is shown at the end of the video. We also have a lot of automation here.

Combined with an open/close sensor of the door entrance the light in the foyer turns on in movie mode when someone opens the door and turns off when the door is opened and closed again. (If someone leaves shortly to the bathroom). Also if the light is in exit mode the light fades on again but the foyer light keeps being off until the entrance door is opened. The applications has a lot more functions, more modes, light profiles (colours, stage brightness in movie mode)...

Climate:

This part primarily controls the temperature of the room automatically. The user can enter a target temperature and based on the current temperature (Measured with H&T) the server takes action. For example, we have infrared heaters on the ceiling that are activated by the server (controlled with shelly realys) to heat the room if needed. Or we have a motorized window (controlled with the shelly 2PM) in the back wall with a fan, that can be used to get fresh air or to cool. The server uses it only to cool if the outside temperature (fetched from a weather API) is lower than the current room temperature. With the automations it is really simple to have the perfect temperature to watch a movie by only setting it in the app.

Sound:

A lot of sound settings are directly controlled via the AV receiver from the application. But we also installed structure-borne sound transducers in the seats for extra bass effect. To make them controllable I used a Plus 1PM to control the amplifier. In this way, the user can simply activate it or deactivate it in the app.

Media:

It is possible to switch the source input or hide the image directly via the app. Also shutting down the beamer separately (If you only want to hear music).

Facts:

The cinema has a 7(2 surround pairs per sear row).4.4 System and supports Auro3D, Atmos, and DTS:X. A 4k and 3D capable beamer is installed and we did everything by ourselves. The room was a boring big basement room and now it is split into three rooms. I did the planning in 3D before we started. Even the technical shelf is self-built and supports a temperate-controlled fan cooling solution.

Without the Shelly products, it would not be so easy to implement my plan. I am very happy that this developer-friendly product exists and I am very excited about new shelly products. Also happy to see some new lights, maybe lights that support RGB and white at the same time :).