Floorplans

This page was written by Pluto and imported with their permission when LinuxMCE branched off in February, 2007. In general any information should apply to LinuxMCE. However, this page should be edited to reflect changes to LinuxMCE and remove old references to Pluto.

On the main menu on your Orbiters are floorplans for Lighting, Media, Climate, Security and Telecom. These show the devices in your entire house at a glance and let you control them all individually, or as a group.

You can also have many different floorplans. For example, if you have a large house, it might be easier to break the floorplan into a "North" and "South". Or another floorplan for the grounds. The floorplans are simply bitmap graphics that you create. You can also email or fax your floorplans and photos to Pluto and our staff will create some nice floorplans for you.

Choose the 'Add another floorplan' link to add a floorplan. You will need to give the floorplan a name, like "First Floor", "Second Floor", "Gardens", etc. Then you will specify where the bitmap file is on your local pc, or choose browse to find it. If you want to use some sample floorplans that Pluto created, copy and paste the links at the bottom of this page. If you use Pluto to create your floorplans, your floorplans will look similar to this and the interior colors, finishes and furnishings will match what you have in your home.

Then use the left pull-down to pick a floorplan, and the right pull-down to pick the type of device. If you choose "2nd Floor" and "Lighting", for example, the wizard will show the floorplan called "2nd Floor" and a list of all the lighting devices in your home. Then you can drag the device from the list on the left and drop it on the floorplan. Move devices using drag and drop. If you want to remove a device from the floorplan just drag it and drop it off the floorplan. Position whatever devices you want to appear on that floorplan, and do not worry about the rest. For example, you may want to put your outside lights on the "Gardens" floorplan, and your first floor lights on the "First floor" floorplan. However, Pluto lets you position any device anywhere without restriction. If you do not put a device on a particular floorplan, then you will not be able to control that device from that floorplan's interactive map.

When you touch the "floorplan" button on the Orbiter (the buttons in the left column) you will see your floorplan with little icons for all the devices. Which icons appear are based on your selection on the device page. For example on the "Wizard/Devices/Lighting" page you can specify for each light if it's a chandelier, ceiling light, accent light, etc., and that will determine which icon is drawn on the floorplan. Refer to the Orbiter User's manual for instructions on using the floorplans.