Hi everyone! I’m working on an exciting project to set up a smart lighting system for a bird refuge. The goal is to create a fixed day cycle to help the birds maintain their natural routines. Here’s what I’m planning:
The day cycle will start at 7:00 AM and end at 8:00 PM. The floodlights need to dim in and out over a period of at least 20 minutes to mimic sunrise and sunset. After reaching full brightness, additional lights with specific spectra will turn on and off later in the day. The same goes for UVB lights for a few hours during the day.
I initially thought of using a KNX clock for switching, but I’m struggling to find a solution for the dimming over such a long period. I have access to a Siemens building control system with a weather station, which communicates via BACnet with an MDT gateway. The idea is to map the outdoor light levels (measured in lux) to adjust the indoor lighting to maintain constant brightness. I’m considering using OpenHab’s rule engine as the backbone for this setup.
However, I don’t want to install photosensors everywhere—I just need a ballpark dimming value based on the sunlight. Is this feasible? Has anyone tackled a similar project before? Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!