Home Automation - A Comprehensive Insight

ABSTRACT

Automation in the simplest of terms means ‘to auto’ thus avoiding manual interface with the machine or in simpler words ‘control without direct interference’. The second important part of this paper is Home the place where human beings dwell. With advancements in time and technology automation plays an important role in the home environment .homes have now (potentially)become the places where a progressive interaction say from libraries to museums ,hospitals to shops takes place and people receive a number of services . modern automation thus provides for new architectures and components which on home implementation go for highly personalized services at an affordable rate .Automation market also has the potential to become a parallel runner to the professional market provided necessary technological advances and input of infra structure takes place .the broad aspect of home automation includes man-machine interface issues ,energy usage and task planning and management , non-intrusive automation systems ,privacy issues ,safety protocols coupled with telecommuting and paradigms of a changing environment.

                        Taking  into widespread domains of home automation the paper aims to cover the paper aims to cover the following points-

•    Energy usage and task management for proper coordination of daily chores .

•    Friendly multimodal home interfaces which are ‘intelligent’.

•    Non-intrusive systems which go for context awareness and are prepared for ‘surprises’.

•    Proper sensor recognition especially using wireless protocols.

•    Active furniture.

•    Privacy security and safety.

•    Production paradigms and ethical issues.

                   So how about an automated home with intelligent beds, autonomous coffee tables, and an ‘arm-equipped kitchen’ with protection against breaking and intrusions and care of the elderly.

                   Thus the adage ‘home sweet home’ now will change to “home sweet automated home”.

HOME AUTOMATION- AN INTRODUCTION

The sole aim of this paper is to reflect upon issues, raise questions and finally attempt to come at a tangible solution that home automation raises for researchers of information and communication technologies. Intelligent homes are a vision of   “home of the future” as well as a related, though not identical of home control products .so it becomes essentially important to trajectorise this technological interaction thereby providing resurrected images. It also deals with people’s reactions to both the vision and product formulation and everyday implications of these technologies.

           The earliest developments of these technological prototypes taken back to the 1960’s and the 70’s but it has not been a runaway box-office hit. It has been a nascent industry with but few companies willing to spend technological know-how on the field .

            Some of the very specific applications include complex management electricity loads to benefit from multiple tariffs , generally unfamiliar to the public . The ‘automatic home’ is something seen in sci-fi movies resembling a Starship ENTERPRISE .The ‘butler in the box’ devices  such as voice recognition systems provide a further impetus to home automation.

            Home automation can also be thought of as a logical consequence to the today’s ‘just-in-time mentality’ coupled with convenience, cost saving, security as the other prime de facto.

            Home automation thus signifies a ‘technology for living in’ which provokes speculation about home and life styles.

            The later pages of these papers continue in the same vein set forth by the introduction as it automatically explores various aspects of home automation such as technological aspects, security, lighting ,electrical appliances , multi utilities , future trends , applications and finally conjure up on a simple case study concluded  by the epilogue.

                        TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF HOME AUTOMATION

It is generally assumed  that home automation extols the wonders of home control such as it will be a panacea for stoves left on, groping in the dark for light switches, high  heating bills without going skin deep into the various technicalities involved. The laggardly approach towards home automation resulted in construction of numerous stand alone devices without providing anything that is compatible and affordable to the typical homeowner .A particular standard to unify all appliances so that ‘consumer economics’ becomes  easy to deal with.

                       The  EIA  developed the  Consumer Electronic Bus (CEBus) along with major players like Sony, Philips ,AT&T, Panasonic, Texas , Mitsubishi, RCA, for a proper standardization of home appliances.

                       The CEBus facilitates communication between home automation devices and appliances with a view to reduce the jungle of hand held remotes by infra red controllers.

                        CEBus has five primary goals:

Ø  It would be retrofittable.

Ø  It would use distributed intelligence.

Ø  It would be non –product specific.

Ø  Have an open architecture.

Ø  Finally it would be expandable.

CEBus isn’t actually a bus but a network specification which follows the seven layer network model lay down by the ISO and comprises of physical, network, transport, session, datalink and application layers. There exists a well defined network through which the layers communicate with each other.

§  THE PHYSICAL LAYER

 This is the lowest layer and it is the place where all the CEBus strengths lie embedded within. All the different media are present in the physical layer specification and all the layers above the physical layer are specification independent.

          The CEBus specifies six media to carry the signal generated information as part of its specification programme. They are :

·         PLBus (power line bus)

·         SRBus (single room bus)

·         RFBus (radio frequency bus)

·         TPBus (twisted pair bus)

·         FOBus (fibre optic bus)

The last three are together referred to as the WIRED BUS.

§  DATA LINK LAYER

After the physical layer comes the data link layer responsible for the provision of clean channel of communication for higher levels. The prerequisites of the data link layer are:

ü  Collision handling

ü  Detection and resolution

ü  Packet acknowledgement

ü  Packet reconstruction

The above mentioned four aspects are handled using CSMA (Carrier sense. Multiple access) and with CDCR (Collision detection and multiple resolution).

          Packets are signals of information transmitted via various nodes interconnected to each other. since there is always a possibility that two nodes will transmit information at the same time and the information collision takes place. As it is best to avoid to avoid such a situation collision prevention is tried first .

§  APPLICATION LAYER

 The final layer responsible for end user visibility. In CEBus the highest level defined it is not visible to the user because the operation is more or less part of the functionality embedded within. so the end user can be said to see the programmers sight .for avoiding discrepancy EIA gives CAL (common application language) for intelligent device communication.

                     A prelude to the CAL is the Application Protocol Data Unit i.e. the

APDU made up of  3810 bytes but it only gives the information of the first two bytes as mode information and type identifier. The mode information specifies the service class, header type, and data type length for the command which follows. The type identifier determines whether command is implicit or explicit and also determines response codes for an explicit command..

                        Finally the Common Application Service Elements decide what the final outcome should be. CASE enables us to create any commands and do whatever function is pleased.

§  NETWORK LAYER

The network layer is primary responsible for determining which media are to receive the packets of information signals and also deals with the breaking apart of packets which exceed the normal 32- byte limit.

§  TRANSPORT, SESSION AND PRESENTATION LAYERS

 The OSI layer 7 network model was designed to be useful in just about any application , so some extra ‘fat’ would be there that needs to be trimmed while implementing  applications which do not require all facilitations and segmentations defined in the model. The function of transport session and presentation layer are handled by application, network, and data link layer in  the CEBus.

               Thus summarizing the whole exercise this chapter puts forward the various functional layers of CEBus which is today by far the most widely used by Home Automation buffs today.

                            SECURITY AT THE AUTOMATED HOME

The forthcoming pages of this paper concern themselves with the effectiveness of electronic security systems in our homes, businesses and law enforcements.

                   With regard to smart security it I widely acknowledged that “professionally installed and monitored alarm systems are useful instruments to deter crime and provide peace of mind for residential and business owners”. A home security system is acknowledged by insurance companies as effective, necessary and beneficial.

                     There are many instances where home security systems are a boon for residents and businessmen. These sophisticated electronic security systems pay for themselves by a drastic reduction of vandalism and crime.yet another aspect which comes into light is that it has reduced lawsuits more than property losses.

                      MODES OF SECURITY SYSTEMS

v  Alarms as security systems

v  CCTV surveillance systems.

1. ALARMS AS SECURITY SYSTEMS:

                     THE mantra is “show me the yard sign”. Alarm systems are single most effective measure to reduce probability of burglary.

                      It is a generally observed trend that:

·         Expensive homes are more likely to be burgled than non detached homes.

·         Close proximity to a highway entrance increases a home’s vulnerability to burglary.

2. CCTV CAMERAS FOR THE ‘SMART SHOP’:

                      CCTV surveillance at shops has by far been the most effective way for protection against theft and burglary. The only weakling is the invasion  of   privacy  at homes.

                        The security at home has been the most grave concern that it started the dual income trend after WW -2.

After an insider into the need for security let has have a study on the components required for a smart home.

                      A security system which protects homes against intruders and also operates light and electricity appliances as modules embedded within can be programmed  to be apart of alarm signaling.

                  For example - consider the security console system introduced by the Marmitek Corporation known as Security Console 2200. this base systems can be operated by the security console of the 2200.   

                     The working of the device can be illustrated as follows: at the alarm situation the built in telephone voice dialer of 2200 will dial up to 4 preprogrammed numbers and play the prerecorded alarm message. Anyone picking up the phone at the other end responds to alarm message by pressing a single digit on that telephone. This will stop the future dialing on and allows the person who picked up the phone to listen in protected premises by means of microphone of security console SC2200. Path of sensors will be reported in a similar way by plays fixed service message.

                                   

                                      Additional feature of security console 2200 

Ø  Anti faming circuit detecting radio signals.

Ø  Alarm message recording by the use up to 12sec.

Ø  Silent alarm function.

Ø  Wired sensor input

Ø  Additional sirens and light activation.

Ø  Lifestyle function provides for perfect simulation of residential.

              The parts of smart system are 

ü  Base station

ü  Door/window station

ü  Motion sensors

ü  Key chain remote controls

ü  System remote controls

ü  Lamp module

ü  Glass break sensor

ü  Programming telephone numbers

ü  Jamming detector and panic alarm.

from the study of the example of the security console 2200 it becomes evident that security system for a smart home is a must and forms an integral part of it.

   Diagram of SC2200 by the MARMITEK Corporation

                                Thus this phase of the paper stresses on the importance of a security system and also provides the instruction to do the needful.

                              HEALTH AT A SMART HOME

                                     

An aspect of home automation comes out to be home networking which has home technology as its nearest relative .a home network allows the residence to be connected to the outside world through a residential gateway that passes information down to the ISDN or DSL. Home networking allows the home to be fully connected, controlled externally as well as internally. Thus home networking makes it possible the luxury of telemedicine and telecare.

                                 Home network allow the devices of smart home to be commented monitored via external sources for the disabled person home networking allows for safety and reassurance that a fault developed will be informed to the correct people through the network.

                                It gives the much required during to the ill and diseased to retain the care of hospital within there own home. Thus a person at home can be. Remotely assessed by medical staff and telemedicine proved for virtual medical service to the home.     

 Telecare and Telehealth

               In their infancy, designed nosing one off at devices such as blood pressure and configured to standard system such as smart house or a call system. Relying on the use of internet of telephone for trans furring information from the source to the relief the doctor.

          

         

   Basic Criteria Underline for health technology

                                    Solution 

·         Affordability

·         Ease of use

·         Flexibility

·         Functionality and Interactively

·         Reliability and maintainability

·         Replicable and ease of installation

·         Up gradable

                        Thus health solution needs to be flexible to suit to needs of the occupant. It is required to be dependable and reliable over a basic set of criteria. This technology at a smart home is evolving with respect to peoples relationship to technology at home is changing.

                          Utilities for a smart Home       

Any smart home has various uses friendly utilities which are integrated into the smart home circuitry and there by provide for a wide range of applications.

                      Some of these utilities include

Ø  Message controller

Ø  Telephone security Intercom

Ø  3-V temperature sensor

Message controller: - A message controller provides for free annunciation for home automation system. Owners customize their own announcement to accompany key events. The voice to EPROM storage retains message without power. Its built in produce great voice reproduction. Up to 8 nearly 10sec   

    

                                 

 INTELLA VOICE RECORDER

. Announcement easily be recorded The onboard processor monitors the power line using X- YW523 for key events.        

                            

Telephone security intercom- enables a doorbell to be answered from any telephone.these are compatible with a commercial or single line phone systems and does not require a dedicated  trunk port  to operate .

                         when the bell is activated by button the phone is picked up by the occupant and is connected to the door station .compatible with cordless phones is particularly useful when employees and security people are working alone and respond flexibility to open doors.

3-v temperature sensors – analog devices introduce a 3-v temp sensor IC with a voltage output guaranteed accuracy better than 2 degree Celsius and non –linearity better than 0.5%  over 0- 100degree Celsius .

                            a temp sensor say AD 22103 is ratio metric ,providing for sustained precision operation as voltage levels decrease . the sensor equipped with on-chip linearization and signal conditioning thereby eliminating external circuitry cutting development cost.

                         Temperature Sensor             

   APPLICATIONS

       

Applications of home automation :

1. GENIO :  an ambient intelligence application in home automation and entertainment environment.

            The avatar of  GENIO acts as a home assistant as well as combines effectively with home appliances thereby increasing its sphere of influence at a wide variety of applications.

               Applications of home assistant -

ü  Speech recognition software.

ü An RFID

ü Entertainment services.

ü Home assistant application.

                              HOME APPLICATIONS-

Ø  Oven

Ø  Refrigerator

Ø  Washing machine

Ø  Dishwasher

Now as we have discussed avatar let us now make it clear what an avatar is- an icon or a representation of a user in a shared virtual reality.

v  Features  - reading e mails

v  Checking goods in the refrigerator.

v  Shopping list downloaded to a personal digital assistant.

v  Effective management of washing machine, dishwasher, oven, boiler.

v  Preparing a recipe

v  Intelligent plugs.

                        FUTURE ASPECTS OF HOME AUTOMATION

  The concept of ambient intelligence arises as a need for providing a vision to the future     environments where people are assisted by information technology in all walks of life. Much different from the computer environment we know today. The envisioned technology “will weave into fabric of everyday life until it is indistinguishable from it”.

                   In short we envision the creation of smart environments which integrate information, communicate and sense technologies into everyday objects to differentiate between “system oriented, importunate smartness and people oriented ,empowering systems” for latter achievement where “smart spaces smarten people” the requirements of potential users who are going to liven the future in intelligent homes. This can especially be said of service providing systems as their benefits are a post –product of suffice information from the user.

PRERQUSITES FOR FUTURE ENVIRONMENTS

·         Desire to maintain control over their environment and to properly define responsibilities.

·         Responsibility of parents for their children and to control  and protect over information gathered by them.

·         Sensitive issues such as interpersonal contact are to be dealt with.

·         Reduction of information overload and burden to search for information items.

·         Prevention of annoying accidents, adjustments of lights desired ambiences are a must.

·         Conclusion of spontaneous conversations.

Advantages of home automation

Ø  User control.

Ø  Value addition.

Ø  Maintenance of home comfort with no subversion.

Ø  Secure, safe and private.

          Disadvantages of home automation

§  It includes laziness as people migrate become incompetent as they do not have to do anything.

§  Low cost effectiveness

   Thus this chapter highlights the future automation and enlists the advantages and disadvantages of home automationInfra –red control (IR control)

   CONCLUSION

As we come to the end of the insight on home automation we find that we have bygone through all possible nuances of home automation. We have read the possibilities, implications, aspects, technicalities, modernization, securities, and also the various marketers which are providing us these services in compliance with the marketing standards set by CEBus and X-10.

                      We have also seen the advantages and say a few disadvantages of home automation and finally conjure up the future trends in home automation. Thus it can definitely be said that home automation is born of the present and it is the thing for the future.

Bibliography

1)      www.smarthome.com X10 and Home Automation parts

2)      www.smarthomeusa.com X10 and Home Automation parts

3)      www.x10pro.com X10 parts

4)      www.appdig.com Home for Ocelot controller and also a touch screen version! User forums

5)      www.worthdist.com Distributor for HA parts and accessories

6)      www.home-electro.com IR interface units, Serial and USB versions

7)      www.girder.nl PC Control software, User forums

8)      www.evation.com IR interface