ABSTRACT

Smart Home technology started for more than a decade to introduce the
concept of networking devices and equipment in the house. According to
the Smart Homes Association the best definition of smart home technology
is: the integration of technology and services through home networking for
a better quality of living. Smart home Automation technology, lifetime is
getting easier and simpler on all side in life. In the world, automatically
systems are being chosen over the manual system. With the fast growth in
the number of users of the internet through the past decade, the Internet
has become a part and section of human life. Many tools that are used in
computer systems can also be integrated in Smart Home Systems. In this
paper, I present the Technologies and tools that can be integrated or
applied in Smart Home systems with the use of arduino, that can remotely
controlled smart home automation system, for monitoring and controlling
the temperature degree, humidity percentage, gas leakage, fires, and rain
in the house. This system can also control the light by using motion and
light sensors inside and outside the home. The developed system consists
of two parts: hardware and software. The hardware consists of many units
such as smart phones, personal computers, Arduino Mega, Ethernet shield
and relay board, temperature and humidity, gas, motion, flame, light and
rain sensors, a buzzer and fire alarm. Arduino Mega used as the
Microcontroller is the primary hardware unit connected with an Ethernet
Shield responsible for sending and receiving directives and status via the
internet. The software is the second part of this system; it is Arduino IDE’s
code used to design web browser page.
1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Smart home

Advancements in the field of smart homes are not an isolated case.

First of all the developments take place within the society and are

influenced by trends within that society. Furthermore in order to create

added value the focus should be on the smart home environment instead

of only on the used technology. Thirdly creating smart environments to

support elderly and disabled persons has enormous potential. To live up

fully to the expectations is however a complex process which involves

various stakeholders. Smart Home is the integration of technology and

services through home networking for a better quality of living. A lot

technologies related to Smart Home are emerging. In the next sections, we

define Smart Home, Related Technologies and Trends.

Smart Home is the term commonly used to define a residence that

uses a Home Controller to integrate the residence's various home

automation systems. The most popular Home Controllers are those that are

connected to a Windows based PC during programming only, and are then

left to perform the home control duties on a standalone basis. Integrating

the home systems allows them to communicate with one another through
the home controller, thereby enabling single button and voice control of

the various home systems simultaneously, in preprogrammed scenarios or

operating modes. The Home Automation field is expanding rapidly as

electronic technologies converge. The home network encompasses

communications, entertainment, security, convenience, and information

systems. Power line Carrier Systems (PCS) is a technology which is used to

send coded signals along a home's existing electric wiring to programmable

switches, or outlets. These signals convey commands that correspond to

"addresses" or locations of specific devices, and that control how and when

those devices operate. A PCS transmitter, for instance, can send a signal

along a home's wiring, and a receiver plugged into any electric outlet in the

home could receive that signal and operate the appliance to which it is

attached.

Embedded physical devices, such as household appliances are

becoming smarter and smarter, They are equipped with embedded

microprocessors and wireless transceivers, offering limited communication

capabilities and providing good behavior, Everyday objects fitted with

small, cheap mobile processors, sensors, and actuators. Sensors and

wireless sensor networks are being deployed in smart home solutions,

measuring with precision the environmental conditions in the home

environment, their advanced sensing functionalities and their increasing

accuracy enable the development of smart home applications that offer

advanced automation. Residences are transformed into a smart house,

incorporating embedded sensors and actuators, and pervasive technology.

Efficaciously addressing the needs within the realms of the ‘Smart Home'

environment, requires a multidisciplinary collaboration. This development

usually unfolds specialists from Architecture, Electrical and Electronic

Engineering, Computer Science and some purpose related to the health

sector may also require the participation of professionals from Social

Sciences, Medicine, and Occupational Therapy. Although all people can be

interested in such undesirable situations, elderly people and people with

health problems, require more exclusive monitoring when they are not

accompanied by a healthcare professional. It is possible for someone

exhibiting early stages of cognitive impairments too; a "smart home"

typically is a domestic environment that has been partially automated.

Home automation includes the centralized control for lighting, air

conditioning, ventilation and heating also devices controlling and others,

Smart Home automation, aims to promote the comfort energy consumption

efficiency and safety in domestic scenarios. Houses are equipped with

autonomous control panels to control all of the systems and devices

present in the home, Moreover, those control panels are overwhelmingly

not regarding each other, The main aim of an intelligent house is to focus

the control of all the devices into a private control unit which can be

programmed to do special tasks suitable for the possessor and the house in

question, The aim of a smart home is not only suitability but also to reduce

the consuming of resources such as power, gas, etc. Due to the present

pricing on energy, energy saving has become a part of a person's day-to-

day life, If a person has the possibility to control his home automation, he

can remotely reduce the consumption of energy and thus cut down on

expenses, Furthermore, ecological sustainability has acquired relevance in

the latest years, If anyone is away from home, there is no need for the

ventilation or air conditioner to turn on. The same rule applies to lighting,

heating, and other appliances. Some smart homes systems pause the

operation of devices until they are required again. Furthermore, there are

several different technologies for investigation such intelligent house. Some

standards utilize complex communication protocols and control wiring;

others rely on embedded signals in the existing power circuit of the house.
Portions rely on radio frequency (RF) signals, and others become hybrids

by combining several methods, all of the controlling tasks done through a

microprocessor.

1.2. Arduino

Arduino is an open-source platform used to make electronics

projects. It consists of both a microcontroller and a part of the software or

Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that runs on your PC, used to

write & upload computer code to the physical board. The Arduino platform

has become quite popular with people just starting out with electronics,

and for good reason. Unlike most previous programmable circuit boards,

the Arduino does not need a separate piece of hardware (called a

programmer) in order to load new code onto the board we can simply use

a USB cable. Additionally, the Arduino IDE uses a simplified version of

C++, making it easier to learn to program. Finally, Arduino provides a

standard form factor that breaks out the functions of the micro-controller

into a more accessible package.

1.3. Features of the Arduino UNO Board

1. Arduino is a USB interface like a serial device. The board directly plug in

to the computer so it is easy and comfortable to interface with the

computer.

2. It is an open source device and very easy to debug the problem so it is

more advantages between the large community peoples. In order fast up

for application it has 16 MHz clock.

3. It has inbuilt in voltage regulation in order to manage power inside and

can be directly powered by USB without any external power.

4. This board has 13 digital and 6 analog pins to connect the hardware

with the external environment. With the help of these pins we can directly

plug in the real-world data.

5. This board has a ICSP connector which is necessary to re boot load our

chip and has 32 KB of flash memory for storing our code.

6. An onboard LED and reset button is attached in order to make debug

process easy.
2. THEORY

2.1. Smart Home Advantages

Smart homes obviously have the ability to make life easier and more

convenient. Home networking can also provide peace of mind. Whether

you're at work or on vacation, the smart home will alert you to what's

going on, and security systems can be built to provide an immense amount

of help in an emergency. For example, not only would a resident be woken

with notification of a fire alarm, the smart home would also unlock doors,

dial the fire department and light the path to safety. Smart homes also

provide some energy efficiency savings. Because systems like Z-Wave and

ZigBee put some devices at a reduced level of functionality, they can go to

"sleep" and wake up when commands are given. Electric bills go down

when lights are automatically turned off when a person leaves the room,

and rooms can be heated or cooled based on who's there at any given

moment. One smart homeowner boasted her heating bill was about one

third less than a same-sized normal home. Some devices can track how

much energy each appliance is using and command it to use less. Smart

home technology promises tremendous benefits for an elderly person living

alone. Smart homes could notify the resident when it was time to take
medicine, alert the hospital if the resident fell and track how much the

resident was eating. If the elderly person was a little forgetful, the smart

home would perform tasks such as shutting off the water before a tub

overflowed or turning off the oven if the cook had wandered away. It also

allows adult children who might live elsewhere to participate in the care of

their aging parent. Easy-to control automated systems would provide

similar benefits to those with disabilities or a limited range of movement.

2.2. Smart Home Devices

The prevalence of smart home appliances, which can be

programmed to do nearly anything, is such that consumers purchase and

use them without a second thought. Currently, there are virtually no

appliances in the home that are not available with some degree of

automation. The combination of automation and programmability with

artificial intelligence is the next step in the evolution of the home

automation system.

2.3. Home Automation Systems

Instead of being forced to move into a nursing home when unable

to achieve full self-care, elderly individuals can rely on their smart home

appliances. An intelligent interface that monitors the residents' movements,

and learns to recognize their habits, can notify loved ones if the habits are

interrupted. In addition, a smart home has the capability of monitoring the

vital signs of residents. If an elderly person has a medical condition that

could be of concern, the vital signs can be routinely sent to the appropriate

medical facility. The smart home equipped with artificial intelligence will

learn to distinguish dangerous readings, and alert medical personnel

immediately.

2.4. Smart Home Appliances for Physically Challenged Individuals

If an individual has difficulty moving around effectively, they are

often forced to depend on others for care. With the implementation of

smart home appliances, such as an effective security system, those with

physical challenges are often able to live on their own. A smart home

security system allows the homeowner to remotely view visitors on a

camera, and speak to them via microphone and speakers. If the visitor is

welcome, the security system unlocks and opens the door to allow the

visitor access to the home. Smart home security systems can also learn

which visitors are always allowed, and what areas they may have access

to.
3. METHODS

3.1. Proposed working system

The system (arduino & smart home) consists of two parts: First, the

Ethernet part, which is responsible for giving the control instruction to

home appliances and receiving responses from the sensors. The second

part is the Microcontroller unit Arduino Mega board, which is responsible

for controlling the devices that connect with relays and sensors. The

Microcontroller is the head of the system which controls and operation all

information in the system. Fig. below shows a proposed block diagram of

the Structure system.

 Fig.1: Block diagram of the Structure system.

From this block, there are two main important parts: the

Microcontroller Board and the Ethernet Shield Module. The Ethernet shield

part connected with six sensors and eight channel relays board, The

DHT11 sensor is a temperature & humidity sensor in the system; the

motion sensor is a motion detector that uses a passive infrared sensor; the

Rain sensor is a YL-83 module; Arduino Electronics DIY Parts Photo resistor

is a Light Sensor; the flame sensor is a fire detector, and the MQ5 sensor is

a gas detector, also Fire Alarm buzzer and gas buzzer. The data from all

these sensors and relay are continually processed by the Microcontroller,

and a status is given in web browsers and home application if there is any

event in the home by switching ON/OFF the relays. Also, it can see or

control every events and status by web browsers or home application.

These units are responsible for the management and provide a smart home

automation. The user can control the state of the relay and remotely turn

ON/OFF the light and devices in the house. Actually, the Ethernet Shield is

the interface between the Microcontroller and web browser by using the

internet. During this operation, the information transfer from the

Microcontroller to the web browser. The commands sent by the user from

a web browser are executed by the Microcontroller. This system works in a

smart home automation system providing guaranty and a remote

management system for all devices inside the home.

4. DISCUSSION AND RESULT

Smart home is perform using the Arduino Mega platform. The system

uses an Ethernet shield module to interface with the internet of thing to

monitoring, controlling appliance and status. Moreover, a USB port used to

connect Microcontroller with a personal computer for uploading command.

Fig. below shows the final smart home automation system.

Fig. 2: Final Smart home Automation system.

The home automation system consists of the Arduino Mega2560, an

Ethernet shield, a temperature & Humidity sensor, a gas sensor, a rain

sensor, a motion sensor, buzzers, light sensor, flame sensor, USB cable,

RJ-45 cable, Relay board and a 9-volt power supply.

4.1. Testing the Hardware System

All hardware devices were checked and tested to make sure that all

devices were in a perfect working situation, After that, all devices were

tested separately with the microcontroller to obtain the needful software in

this implementation and to discover any mistake in each hardware devices

easily, After the test carried out, all hardware devices were working

perfectly, all hardware device was connected to each other and the overall

system was tested & It was observed that the system was ready to use.

Fig. below shows the flow chart of the Ethernet shield software.
Fig.3.Flow chart of Ethernet shield
 After testing the Ethernet shield module and its functionality and

connection to the network. The system has been ready for testing the

other hardware units, beginning with the sensors units: motion, light, gas,

flame and rain sensors, these sensors are analogs so they requisite to

convert them from analog to digital format. The system looks at the

sensors reading value if increased than the limited value, the system

forward the warning status to the web browser and turn ON relays also

gives us sounds an alert using the buzzer for gas and flame sensor. But

temperature & Humidity sensor is digital sensor; it is connected directly to

the Arduino Mega2560 in the digital port. The flowchart in Figure 5 showed

how the software analog sensors work.

Fig.4. Flowchart for analog sensor software
 Fig. 5. Sensor Hardware Connections

Fig. 6.Relays with Sensors at the high limit value.

4.2. Testing the WEB System

The software on a personal computer's web browser or any smart

devices browser or Android application are used with the hardware system

to carry out controlling with monitoring the system via the internet. This

software was created in the Arduino IDE environment. By this software,

the owner able to monitor the actual sensor value, controlling electronic

devices and see the information’s from the Microcontroller. At first for

entering the web page, the software needs a username and password in

figure 8 shown the authentication requirement username and password for

login to the home page.

The Web page of the program showing the sensor value and the

status of the Relays is shown in Figure 9. This page consists of three parts:

the first eight rectangles represent the relays status; the second four

buttons show the switch button with ON/OFF electronic devices and the

third part shows the current reading sensor values. Moreover, the system

consists of six sensors; First part, the motion sensor that detecting any

movement in the house it will turn ON relay eight that connect to a lamp

on the motion environment when exceeding the limit value; Second part,

the light sensor that use for auto light on the outside of the house it will
turn ON relay seven that connect to a lamps in light sensor environment

when exceeding the limit value; Third part, the Gas sensor that detecting

any gas leakage in the house it will turn ON relay six that connect to a

ventilator in Gas leakage environment also it will activate a Buzzer when

exceeding the limit value; Fourth part, the Flame sensor that detecting any

fire in the house it will turn ON relay five that connect to a firefighting in

fire environment also it will activate a fire alarm when exceeding the limit

value; Fifth part, the Rain sensor that detecting any Rain in the outside of

the house it will display rain status when exceeding the limit value; Final

part, the Temperature & Humidity sensor that display the temperature &

Humidity inside the house.

4.3. Testing the Android Smart Home Application

As it was mentioned before, the system can also be able to control by

Android smart devices. The Arduino Smart Home Application software can

be downloaded from Google Play [8] to any Android smart devices and can

be configured by following these steps: a. Configure the system static IP

address in the setting of the program. b. Control of all devices that

connects with relays.

5. CONCLUSION

People who are elderly or disabled benefit the most from a home

automation system that employs artificial intelligence. These systems offer

those who are less mobile, or in delicate health, the opportunity to be

independent, rather than staying in an assisted living facility. Designing a

Smart Home is also very crucial. This can be tough; putting together a

home design that reflects your taste, yet also fits your needs and budget is

a balancing act that takes planning.

The aim of this seminar work is to know what smart home is all

about & how it can be implemented with the aid of arduino to perform a

smart home automation system by remotely controlling and monitoring

electronic devices in the house and monitoring of the temperature degree

& Humidity percentage, gas leakage, fires, and rain; also Automation light

by using motion and light sensors inside and outside the home by using

internet of things. It is applied to send information to the system to control

devices and receive status of the appliances. The target has been carried

out successfully. This system also uses power saving using motion, light

sensor to switch on and off lights in the room and outside. Finally, the
developed system offers a flexible, economical and remotely controllable

smart home automation system.

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