Home automation

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Home automation (also called domotics) may designate an emerging practice of increased automation of household appliances and features in residential dwellings, particularly through electronic means that allow for things impracticable, overly expensive or simply not possible in recent past decades. The term may be used in contrast to the more mainstream "building automation," which refers to industrial settings and the automatic or semi-automatic control of lighting, climate doors and windows, and security and surveillance systems. The techniques employed in home automation include those in building automation as well as the control of home entertainment systems, houseplant watering, pet feeding, "scenes" for different events (such as dinners or parties), and the use of domestic robots.

Typically, it is easier to more fully outfit a house during construction due to the accessibility of the walls, outlets, and storage rooms, and the ability to make design changes specifically to accommodate certain technologies. Wireless systems are commonly installed when outfitting a pre-existing house, as they obviate the need to make major structural changes. These communicate via radio or infrared signals with a central controller.

Home wiring history

A typical domestic patch panel.

Traditionally, homes have been wired for four systems; power, telephones, cable TV outlets, and a doorbell. Typically, components and wiring for these are kept within a closet or a patch panel.

Home automation has been around since World War I. A television remote was first patented in 1893,^{[citation needed]} and a remote control device was first used by the Germans in World War I to control motorboats.^[1] From there, the evolution of controllers and automation has been growing and still continue to grow to this day.

In advanced installations, rooms can sense not only the presence of a person but know who that person is and perhaps set appropriate lighting, temperature, music or television levels taking into account the day of the week, the time of day, and other factors.

Other automated tasks may include setting the air conditioning to an energy saving setting when the house is unoccupied, and restoring the normal setting when an occupant is about to return. More sophisticated systems can maintain an inventory of products, recording their usage through an RFID tag, and prepare a shopping list or even automatically order replacements.

Some practical implementations of home automation are for example when an alarm detects a fire or smoke condition, then all lights in the house will blink to alert occupants. If the house is equipped with a home theater, a home automation system can shut down all audio and video components to alert the user to a possible fire or a burglar.

Standards and bridges

Specific domestic wiring and communication standards include INSTEON, X10, PLC BUS, KNX (standard), System Box, LonWorks, C-Bus, SCS BUS with OpenWebNet, Universal powerline bus (UPB), UPnP, ZigBee and Z-Wave that will allow for control of most applications. Some standards use communication and control wiring, some embed signals in the powerline, some use radio frequency (RF) signals, and some use a combination of several methods. Control wiring is hardest to retrofit into an existing house. Some appliances include USB that is used to control it and connect it to a domotics network. Bridges translate information from one standard to another (eg. from X10 to European Installation Bus).

System

The elements of a domotics system are:

• hardware controllers or software controllers
• sensors
• actuators

Architecture

From the point of view of where the intelligence of the domotic system resides, there are three different architectures:

Centralized Architecture: a centralized controller receives information of multiple sensors and, once processed, generates the opportune orders for the actuators.

Distributed Architecture: all the intelligence of the system is distributed by all the modules that are sensors or actuators. Usually it is typical of the systems of wiring in bus.

Mixed Architecture: systems with decentralized architecture as far as which they have several small devices able to acquire and to process the information of multiple sensors and to transmit them to the rest of devices distributed by the house.

Interconnection

By wire:

1. optical fiber
2. cable (coaxial and twisted pair), including:

   xDSL

3. powerline, including:

   INSTEON

   X10

Wireless:

1. radio frequency, including:

   INSTEON

   Wi-Fi

   GPRS and UMTS

   Bluetooth

   DECT

   ZigBee

   Z-Wave

   ONE-NET

   EnOcean

2. infrared, including:

   Consumer IR

Both Wireless and Wire

1. INSTEON

Classifications of domestic network technologies

• Device interconnection:
  • FireWire
  • Bluetooth
  • USB
  • IrDA
• Control and automation nets:
  • C-Bus (protocol)
  • Konnex
  • Lonworks
  • X10
  • ONE-NET
  • EIB
  • EHS
  • BatiBUS
  • ZigBee
  • EnOcean
  • SCS BUS - OpenWebNet
• Data nets:
  • Ethernet
  • Homeplug
  • HomePNA
  • WiFi

Tasks

HVAC

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) solutions include temperature and humidity control (climotics). This is generally one of the most important aspects to a homeowner. An Internet-controlled thermostat, for example, can both save money and help the environment, by allowing the homeowner to control the building's heating and air conditioning systems remotely.

Lighting

Lighting control systems involves aspects related to controlling electric lights.

• Extinguished general of all the lights of the house
• Automation of switched off / ignition in every point of light
• Regulation of the illumination according to the level of ambient luminosity

Natural lighting

Natural lighting control involves controlling window shades, LCD shades, draperies and awnings. Recent advances include use of RF technology to avoid wiring to switches and integration with third party home automation systems for centralized control.

Audio

Major companies associated with Audio Distribution include: Crestron, Russound, NuVo, and Niles.

• There are three components that allow the consumer to listen to audio throughout your home, or business:
  • CAT 5e/ CAT6 cable from Audio central unit.
  • 2 sets of speaker cabling (4ply from amplifier, and 2 ply from key pad to ceiling or wall speakers).
  • A keypad to control your volume and sources.

This category includes audio switching and distribution. Audio switching determines the selection of an audio source. Audio distribution allows an audio source to be heard in one or more rooms. This feature is often referred to as 'multi-zone' audio.

Video

This includes video switching and distribution, allowing a video source to be viewed on multiple TVs. This feature is often referred to as 'multi-zone' video.

Integration of the intercom to the telephone, or of the video door entry system to the television set, allowing the residents to view the door camera automatically.

Security

Control and integration of security systems.

With Home Automation, the consumer can select and watch cameras live from an Internet source to their home or business. Security cameras can be controlled, allowing the user to observe activity around a house or business right from a Monitor or touch panel. Security systems can include motion sensors that will detect any kind of unauthorized movement and notify the user through the security system or via cell phone.

This category also includes control and distribution of security cameras (see surveillance).

• Detection of possible intrusion
  • sensors of detection of movement
  • sensors of magnetic contact of door/window
  • sensors of glass breaking
  • sensors of pressure changes
• Simulation of presence.
• Detection of fire, gas leaks, water leaks (see fire alarm and gas alarm)
• Medical alert. Teleassistance.
• Precise and safe closing of blinds.

Intercoms

An intercom system allows communication via a microphone and loud speaker between multiple rooms.

• Ubiquity in the external control as much internal, remote control from the Internet, PC, wireless controls (p.ej. PDA with WiFi), electrical equipment.
• Transmission of alarms.
• Intercommunications.

Robotics

• Control of home robots, using if necessary domotic electric beacon.
• Home robot communication (i.e. using WiFi) with the domotic network and other home robots.

Costs

An automated home can be a very simple grouping of controls, or it can be heavily automated where any appliance that is plugged into electrical power is remotely controlled. Costs mainly include equipment, components, furniture, and custom installation.^[2]

Other systems

Using special hardware, almost any device can be monitored and controlled automatically or remotely.

Including:

• Coffee pot
• Garage door(s)
• Pet feeding and watering
• Plant watering
• Pool pump(s) and heater, Hot tub and Spa
• Sump Pump (need info and links)

Organizations

• CEDIA
• Continental Automated Buildings Association
• CENELEC
• MIT AgeLab
• SIMO TCI
• DLNA
• Insteon
• Honeywell

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Home automation

• Crestron
• Energy harvesting
• DASH7
• Digital home
• e-Home Automation
• Hall Research Technologies
• Home automation for the elderly and disabled
• Home of the future
• Emergency light
• EnOcean
• Floor plan and house navigation system
• Gate operator
• Information appliance
• HVAC
• Power line communication
• Speech recognition and Text To Speech (TTS)
• Touchscreen/Touch panel
• Building automation
• Xanadu Houses

References

1. ^ Remote control technology was first developed for military use
2. ^ Home automation costs

External links

• Home Automation at the Open Directory Project
• Home Automation Guides — Provides advice for DIY home automation projects, including weather sensing, furnace control, voice recognition, and surveillance