Reasons For Automating Home

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

INTRODUCTION

In the present scenario there is a severe need for Energy. Every year we witness continuous power outage all over the country. Hence there is a need for developing methods which can use the available power more efficiently. Much of the Energy which is wasted is because of not switching off the appliances when not in use. Standby power loss of the devices which constitutes 10 to 15% of the total house hold consumption is also a major loss. Hence in our project we try to automate the electrical devices by using sensors for knowing person’s presence and also controlling these devices using Zigbee and GSM networks.

HOME AUTOMATION

1.1.1 Automation

So what exactly is Home Automation? There are many definitions available for home automation, but in general we can say when we have an automatic control on different devices (i.e. switching on and off) or its functions (for example speed regulation of fan) at home then it can be said to have home automation. Now-a-days people are inclined to have home automation, there are many reasons behind this such as for its implementation they don't have to rebuild their home, they don't need to move the walls of home, it is not very difficult to implement and without investing lot of money they can install it at their home. The implementation costs of the home automation system can be brought down to very less cost such that even a middle income grouped family can afford the expense of home automation. Its installation is very simple and also takes less time to automate the whole home. Home automation allows the user to control the things at his home in accordance to his wish in a very easier way. Home automation may include different tasks like home security, automatic on/off of lighting, control of sound system etc. In home automation a user can control the devices from any place of the home or even from a remote location.

1.1.2 Reasons for automating home

The reason why many people are adopting the idea of home automation is because that they are getting more comfort in using home automation. As in this modern age where a person wants to do lot of work, they want much of the routine functions at home to be automated by which they get convenience they need at home. Now for example consider a remote control which is used with TV. Before its invention for controlling the TV we have to face many difficulties like we have to sit near the television to change the channels or to control the volume. When we sit at a distance we have to get up if we want to turn on the TV. But now with the help of a single remote control we can do all this tasks easily. So just with the inception of a remote the convenience in using TV has been greatly enhanced. From the above example it is evident that the systems developed should enhance the user’s ease of use. It was the initialization of home automation. Different tasks kept on adding to home automation like heater’s temperature setting, control of lights, warming mattress before entering the room, and automation of heating and cooling of your washroom water before wake up.

1.2 ADVANTAGES OF HOME AUTOMATION

1.2.1 Saves energy

By using home automation we can save lot of energy. If we have an automatic control of lights and other electrical devices in our home then we can save energy which otherwise gets wasted when they are not in use and left on. We can also configure these lights to be turned on only for a specific duration of a day and our home automation system will automatically switch on or off the lights according to the given schedule. An occupancy sensor along with several other sensors can also be implemented which turns on the devices when an occupant is present and the sensor value is lesser than the set threshold.

1.2.2 Safety

Safety is a matter of concern for everyone. In case of fire and smoke at any place of the home, the home automation application alerts us and heavy loss can be avoided. Accidents related to gas leakage can also be prevented. Home automation charges extra cost. But this cost can worth the benefits we get from the home automation. A person can benefit from the home safety at a very low cost. Hence the risks of safety can be considerably brought down with an automated home.

1.2.3 Security

Security always remains a big issue in home. Older home automation systems did not include the security alarms, but now the security alarm is a built-in feature for a home automation. Motion sensors and cameras are widely used for this purpose. The motion in every part of the home is continuously monitored by these systems. Magnetic contact sensors are widely used at the doors and windows where a possible intrusion can occur. The alarms are not only reported to the user but also the concerned government agencies like nearby police station in cases of intrusion and trespassing. Sometimes the intruder can physically harm the members in the family; hence a sophisticated automation system which promptly alerts the concerned police personnel as soon as possible. Hence with the help of home automation you can ensure the safety and security of the whole family.

1.2.4 Convenience and extra comfort

In this modern age people are adopting different technologies for relax and comfort. They buy different products which makes their life simple and much easier. Because of this same reason they are also inclined to install home automation system at their homes. It is the home automation due to which they have complete control on every electronic device at their home. As there are many electronic devices at our homes like air conditioner, heater, cooler, microwave oven, sound system, etc. Everyone wants to control all these electronics devices with as much easiness. For example if we are busy in watching our TV program for suppose a cricket match and we don't want to be disturbed and we forgot to switch off the other room lights. Then with the help of home automation we can easily turn them off without going to that room. Now modern home automation system have touch screen instead of remote control for intuitiveness. An exciting feature of home automation is that now days we can control remotely. It is not necessary that we must be present at the home. If we are at your office and we want to turn on/off your home lights or air conditioner then we can do it the help of a phone or mobile. Internet can also be used for this, with internet we just need to access the home automation control console via a website then we can do whatever we want to do. With this facility we can make setting of everything before we reach home. For example we can play song of your own choice, make setting of light according to our wish and need, and turn air conditioner on so that it would in desired temperature when we reach home. In fact we are virtually present at home even if we are not. Now we can avoid lot of power losses. We can watch and observe every person at our home with the help of cameras that are linked with internet. We can access this facility by just surfing the website. With the help of this feature we can enjoy the complete safety from the intruders and thieves. Today the home automation system has good performance, comfortable and reliable to use.

1.2.5 Easy to implement

Home automation system is very easy and there are not many difficulties in implementing this. The complete home control can be in a single remote control. And with this single remote we can control everything at home. We daily waste much our time in turning on/off you home and corridor lights, wasting time in checking the locks of all doors before we sleep. We have to be alert regarding gas and electric Heater. We can't get a second chance for leakage of gas. But with the help of single modification to the home lots of work and risks can be avoided. Also it looks very attractive and pleasant to have home automation at our home. We can do everything with the help of this remote like turn on/off light, your TV, sound system. In previous home automation systems compatibility was the major issue. But now a device is compatible with lot of other devices. So we have great flexibility. Home automation can improve life style and standard. Now there are many companies in the market that provide home automation and home safety, so in depth technical knowledge on automation is not required. We can choose a vendor based on their product catalogue and facilities and they will install the home automation. With rapid introduction of wireless in automation it also reduces the intrusive wiring required to automate.

IS IT CONVENIENCE OR NEED?

Convenience is not only the reason for home automation. There are others reasons for home automation implementation like one need may be the security before automation for home security we have to use different security devices and guards but now with the help of simple and efficient home automation system we can provide home security along with several other benefits. Thieves and unknown persons can be monitored via motion sensors and camera we can get update even when we are in a remote location who is trying to enter to our home. Also different door opening and locking systems are used at the doors so that if some unauthorized person tries to enter the home then a security alarm is triggered concerned authorities can be intimated. Automatic opening and closing of main door of home also fall under the category of need. If we don't have this facility then we have to hire a security guard for 24 hours at the door, who will be opening and closing the door when a car comes. But with the help of simple home automation we can achieve this task.

1.4 LITERATURE SURVEY

[1] A Home automation system is implemented using Zigbee and GSM networks. AT commands are used for communication between the PIC microcontroller and the GSM modem. Various electrical devices in various rooms are controlled by sending an SMS. The user can also send a different message for knowing the status of the devices.

[2] An ultra low power socket has been designed which reduces the standby power losses of the electrical devices. The electrical device is connected to the socket which internally has a SSR and it also has a PIR Sensor which will monitor the user presence in the device proximity. It also has a current sensor for measuring the current going to the device. The current through the sensor is monitored and if the device is not performing any task and there is no user presence then the load is completely removed from the supply by the relay and it is again set to the standby mode when a user motion is detected. Hence the socket designed reduces the standby losses of the electrical devices.

[3] Implemented a home automation system using Zigbee and Wifi networks. A home gateway has been implemented for interoperability between Zigbee and Wifi. The home gateway allows the data flow from Wifi to Zigbee and vice versa. The remote access of the home has been provided using Internet. For local access a Zigbee remote has been developed which can be used for controlling a device in home. For implementation a Bulb, a radiator valve, a safety sensor have been tested and verified.

[4] Presents a home manager application, a software infrastructure aimed at usable and secure management of cooperating objects for home automation applications. The home manager application can also add and remove devices, supplement essential material to new devices, encrypt and decrypt data for security requirements and also rekeys the network when a device leaves the network.

[5] Hardware techniques for power management, power monitoring and remote controlling at home and suitability of Zigbee for low power consumption are discussed. Zigbee has direct role in monitoring and efficient power utilization. It covers enough area for communication and works at a data rate of 20 kbps to 250 kbps with minimum power consumption.

[6] The energy can be efficiently utilized when the person s presence is detected in a room. An ultrasonic sensor is used for the presence of a person in the room .The objective is then to detect the person within the sensing region. Zones of moments are identified and tracking is further applied to improve the reliability of detection .The ultrasonic sensor used here achieves better results compared to a infrared sensor..

[7]Home automation concerns the automation of the domestic tasks. There are number of applications involving home automation with Bluetooth and Ethernet. There is no facility of monitoring the devices using a mobile phone

at a very low cost. This system integrates the home devices with a mobile phone and World Wide Web server. This system is easily expandable, user friendly, affordable and reliable real time monitoring.

CHAPTER 2

BACKGROUND THEORY

2.1 MICROCONTROLLER

A Microcontroller is an Integrated circuit which essentially consists of a processor, memory and configurable input/output pins. It is used in development of systems which needs execution of pre programmed tasks continuously but not in the systems which require large computations and perform varied tasks. Microcontrollers are of low cost and are produced by many vendors which allow us in choosing from a wide range of available controllers which meets our specifications of power, internally available peripherals and memory. The program memory stores the code which has to be executed by the controller and the program counter which points the next instruction is responsible in fetching the instruction and gets it executed by the processor. A small amount of RAM is also available for temporary storage of variable and some other data.

2.2 GSM

GSM is a mobile communication standard developed by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). It the most widely used mobile communication system and almost present in every country. Over 82% of the mobile market uses this standard and has a consumer base over 3 billion. GSM made a paradigm shift from its predecessor by using digital for both signalling and speech channels in contrast to analog used in the first generation (1G). GSM is regarded as second generation in mobile communications (2G).The ubiquity of the GSM is advantageous for consumers as well as the service providers. It operates either in 900MHz band or 1800MHz band. The services provided by this system include Voice calls, Text Messaging services, Multimedia Messaging services and also data services. Data services are introduced with GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and later improved by EDGE (Enhanced data rates for Gsm Evolution). A Subscriber Identity Module called SIM card is introduced in this system which allows the user to store their subscription information, Phone contacts, few messages etc. The communication using GSM are considerably secure. Several cryptographic algorithms such as A1, A3, and A5 are used for encryption of data transmission. Generally for product development based on GSM a GSM module is used. A GSM module has a communication interface (such as UART or DB9) for communication with a microcontroller. A predefined Attention command list (AT Commands) are used for communication between the microcontroller and the modem.

2.3 ZIGBEE

Zigbee is wireless communication protocol defined in IEEE Standard 802. 15. 4. It is a low cost, low power, wireless mesh networking standard. The low cost allows the technology to be widely deployed in wireless control and monitoring applications. Low power-usage allows longer life with smaller batteries. Mesh networking provides high reliability and increases the range. Zigbee operates in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands i.e. 868 MHz in Europe, 915 MHz in the USA and Australia and 2.4 GHz in most other countries. Data transmission rates vary from 20 kbps in the 868 MHz frequency band to 250 kbps in the 2.4GHz frequency band. The Zigbee network layer natively supports star, tree and mesh networks. Every network must have a coordinator device, which is responsible for creation, the control of its parameters and basic maintenance. Within star networks, the coordinator must be the central node. Both tree and mesh allows the use of Zigbee routers to extend communication at the network level. Zigbee builds upon the physical layer and medium access control defined in IEEE standard 802.15.4 for low-rate WPANs. The specification goes on to complete the standard by adding four main components: network layer, application layer, Zigbee device objects (ZDOs) and manufacturer-defined application objects which allow for customization and favour total integration. Besides adding two high-level network layers to the underlying structure, the most significant improvement is the introduction of ZDOs. These are responsible for a number of tasks, which include keeping of device roles, management of requests to join a network, device discovery and security. Because Zigbee nodes can go from sleep to active mode in 30 ms or less, the latency can be low and devices can be responsive, particularly compared to Bluetooth wake-up delays, which are typically around three seconds. Because Zigbee nodes can sleep most of the time, average power consumption can be low, resulting in long battery life. This Wireless Personal Area network standard (WPAN) is ideally suited for low data rate, battery operated, periodic data transmissions. It has a maximum data rate of 250Kbps. Compared with other WPAN such as Wifi or Bluetooth, Zigbee is lower in cost. It is widely used in home automation for inter home network creation.

2.4 SOLID STATE RELAY

Solid state relay is a type of switching device which allows in controlling a device which operates with considerably high voltages with a less control voltage. In any relay the control voltage section and the load sections are electrically isolated and coupled by some other means. In case of an electromagnetic relay while turned on condition the control voltage creates sufficient magnetic field for the switch to close and make an electrical path from the load to the power source. In case of Solid state relay these sections are electrically isolated and optically coupled. The control voltage is given as input to IR Transmitter and at the load section IR receiver is placed which receives the signal from the transmitter of the control section. When the control voltage is given the IR Transmitter is turned on and the IR receiver turns on the Mosfets and the electrical path is created between the load and the source.

2.5 ANDROID

Android is a linux based operating system for mobile phones and tablets. It is an open source system and the source code is provided by Google under apache license. This open source code and permissive licensing allows the software to be freely modified and distributed by device manufacturers, wireless carriers and enthusiast developers. Being an open source platform android has attracted many developers over the years and has seen a manifold increase in the number of applications developed on this system. Android is software of choice for technology companies who require a low-cost, customizable, lightweight operating system for high tech devices without developing one from scratch. Currently there are over a billion devices powered by android, over 7 million applications and over 75% market share in the smartphones segment. With its immense success in phone and tablet section, electronic manufacturers of TV, Camera, and Watches are also developing their products based on Android. The process of development of application on android requires xml and java coding. A source development kit (SDK) provided by android can used with eclipse IDE for development of the application. Having such a huge user base application developed on android can be widely available.