hi
im building an SMS controlled multi-socket controlling 3 outlets. as of now , my system is able to control 3 outlets with the default SMS commands as follows.
1) ON A
2) ON B
3) ON C
4) OFF A
5) OFF B
6) OFF C
I am trying to add an additional feature to this controller which is SMS command editing.
Through the SMS Command Editor (VB program) , the user can change the labels used in the commands (A,B and C) into a preferred name (e.g. stove, oven) etc..by typing in the desired label in VB and the string sent to the mcu. the mcu will receive this new string , store it in EEPROM overwriting the previously set values (A,B and C) and these new labels will used as the commands for controlling the handphone.
E.g.
Commands for ON A and OFF A after editing is now:
-ON STOVE
-OFF STOVE
To implement this SMS command function im thinking of using a secondary PIC as an interface between the PC (VB program) and the main PIC (which is interfaced with the phone and controls the multi-socket outlets as well). The reason im using a secondary PIC is because the UART of the main PIC is already connected to a GSM handphone (24/7 of the time). The available UART on the secondary PIC can be connected to the PC Serial Port to receive the string from the PC. When the string is received, the Secondary PIC will then relay this string to the main PIC through an I/O pin (through software serial comm) as an interrupt to the main PIC. The main PIC receives this and stores the new string into the EEPROM.
This is just the main idea for now. I would like to seek any advice on whether this method is the best method to implement or are there any other ways i can go about to accomplish this. All advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your time=)