Most of the home automation systems are made specific to the needs of a residence. The design that we plan to implement plans to be a general purpose solution for implementing intelligence in homes in a modular approach so that it can be installed with ease and the brain of the operation rests on a system running a LabView Code. This controls the various peripherals such as the electrical appliances, garage doors and lightings. This can also incorporate security features by taking in inputs from various anti theft sensors spread throughout the house to a central command centre that handles all the information flow and takes decisions based on its pre-programmed, alterable control logic built into it. The project aims to address the following areas.
Controlling electrical/electronic appliances from a central computer
Collecting information from sensors and reporting break in through SMS and email
Programmable options for implementing automated activation/deactivation of devices at predefined times
Connectivity to the owner through the internet phone for remote access and control of the system
The feasibility of the project is determined by the cost competitiveness of the entire system as a whole. This system, if mass produced has the potential to be one of the industry leaders in home automation, even with so many variants already available in the market.
Implementation:
The implementation of this system will be done with a prototype that will demonstrate proof of concept of the above stated objectives in the given time frame. The plan to implement is as follows
The electrical devices to be controlled are controlled with a relay and a separate individual switch connected in parallel for manual override in case of malfunction. The relay will be connected in the normally open position so that if there is any problem it will switch off. The relays are controlled by the outputs from the DAQ which are amplified using drives. A Graphical User Interface is made that can be used to control the devices; simultaneously it shows the status of the devices as on/off.
Various anti theft devices are distributed throughout the house. They are interfaced with the DAQ and their readings are taken many times a second. Any anomalies indicate a break in and an alarm is rung to show the intrusion. With step 4 the local authorities and the owner can be informed.
The task is to perform certain house hold functions that are to be performed during a particular time in the day, like Geezer/Water Pump. This can be done by allowing options for tasks and times for starting and stopping execution. Then the system time is compared with the programmed timed and then activation the tasks at the time.
The plan is to embed a GUI to a Personal Server/Site through which the LabView System can be controlled over the Internet from anywhere. Also the system can be interfaced with a GSM module for sending SMS alerts to the owner and receive commands over SMS from registered mobile phone numbers.
