Data Driven Home Automation Systems

Abstract

Home automation presents many opportunities for the future of embedded hardware and software while simultaneously improving living conditions in areas such as security, remote access to home appliances, energy conservation, and overall home comfort. Nevertheless, home automation is still in its infancy and faces many issues such as security, cost, expensive and intrusive installation, and adoptability. In this paper we aim to build a prototype for a nonintrusive cloud based home automation system aimed at collecting data through modules connected to home appliances, analyzing this data in the cloud, and actuating appliances in accordance to a user’s predetermined preferences. Our prototype consists of a mesh network of Arduino modules interconnected via XBee S2s; with one coordinator, and as many routers and endpoints as needed. These Arduinos are part of a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), and they transmit data to the cloud through the internet in order to store and process large amounts of data that is to be used to control a home’s different appliances. The main module, which we call the Sensor Core, is the main hub for communication as it collects data from built in sensors and the other modules and then transmits them to the cloud. As the coordinator, the Sensor Core communicates with the cloud and the user’s inputs and, based on that, communicates to the other modules what to do. Appliances are then controlled via endpoints which communicate with the Sensor Core. Currently, we have three working appliance modules; one which controls RGB LED lighting, one which controls stepper motors and one which controls a custom weather display.