CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND
Imagine how helpful it will be to be able to switch on your air conditioning
system ten minutes before you get home on a hot afternoon in January. How
about having a security system that will detect smoke, excessive electrical
power usage, burglar attempts and unauthorized movements in your house
and alert you? This is what home automation is about and there is no end to
its application. In fact, sophisticated home automation systems are now
being developed that can maintain an inventory of household items, record
their usage through an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, and
prepare a shopping list or automatically order replacements. Home
automation has made it possible to have what is often referred to as a 'smart
home', a home that can detect and identify you, automatically adjust the
lighting to your predefined taste, open doors automatically, play your
favourite music, water your flowers in the morning, switch on the security
lights at night and switch them off in the morning, heat water for bathe and
tea, stream to you anywhere in the world via the internet a live video of what
is happening in and around your house. It makes it possible to link lighting,
entertainment, security, telecommunications, heating, and air conditioning
into one centrally controlled system. This allows you to make your house an
active partner in managing your busy life. Nowadays, you can hardly find a
house without a home automation system which can range from the remote
for the television, burglar alarm and hi-tech security gates, to an automated
air conditioning system that maintains the temperature at a predefined
value.
The Home Automation concept has existed for many years. The terms Smart Home,
Intelligent Home followed and has been used to introduce the concept of networking

appliances and devices in the house. Home automation Systems (HASs) represents a great
research opportunity in creating new fields in engineering, and Computing. HASs includes
centralized control of lighting, appliances, security locks of gates and doors and other systems, to
provide improved comfort, energy efficiency and security system. HASs becoming popular
nowadays and enter quickly in this emerging market. However, end users, especially the disabled
and elderly due to their complexity and cost, do not always accept these systems.
Due to the advancement of wireless technology, there are several different of connections
are introduced such as GSM, WIFI, and Bluetooth. Each of the connection has their own unique
specifications and applications. Among the four popular wireless connections that often
implemented in HAS project, WIFI is being chosen with its suitable capability. The capabilities
of WIFI are more than enough to be implemented in the design. Also, most of the current
laptop/notebook or Smartphone come with built-in WIFI adapter. It will indirectly reduce the
cost of this system.
This project forwards the design of home automation and security system using
Raspberry pi, a credit sized computer. Raspberry pi provides the features of a mini computer,
additional with its GPIO pins where other components and devices can be connected. GPIO
registers of raspberry pi are used for the output purposes. We have design a power strip that can
be easily connected to GPIO Pins of the Raspberry pi. The home appliances are connected to the
input/output ports of Raspberry pi along with the power strip and their status is passed to the
raspberry pi. The android running OS in any phone connected to a network can access the status
of the home appliances via an application. It presents the design and implementation of
automation system that can monitor and control home appliances via android phone or tablet.
1.2 AUTOMATION
Automation is the use of control systems and information technology to control equipment,
industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention. In the scope of
industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization. Mechanization provided human
operators with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work while

automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well
(Wikipedia, 2009). Automation plays an increasingly important role in the global economy
and in daily experience. Engineers strive to combine automated devices with mathematical and
organizational tools to create complex systems for a rapidly expanding range of applications and
human activities. Many roles for humans in industrial processes presently lie beyond the scope of
automation. Human-level pattern recognition, language recognition, and language production
ability are well beyond the capabilities of modern mechanical and computer systems. Tasks
requiring subjective assessment or synthesis of complex sensory data, such as scents and sounds,
as well as high-level tasks such as strategic planning, currently require human expertise.
Automation has had a notable impact in a wide range of highly visible industries beyond
manufacturing. Once ubiquitous telephone operators have been replaced largely by automated
telephone switchboards and answering machines. Medical processes such as primary screening
in electrocardiograph or radiography and laboratory analysis of human genes, blood plasmas,
cells, and tissues are carried out at much greater speed and accuracy by automated systems.
Automated teller machines have reduced the need for bank visits to obtain cash and carry out
transactions. In general, automation has been responsible for the shift in the world economy from
agrarian to industrial in the 19th century and from industrial to services in the 20th century.
1.2.1

Office Automation

Office automation refers to the varied computer machinery and software used to digitally create,
collect, store, manipulate, and relay office information needed for accomplishing basic tasks and
goals. Raw data storage, electronic transfer, and the management of electronic business
information comprise the basic activities of an office automation system, office automation helps
in optimizing or automating existing office procedures.
1.2.2

Building automation

Building automation describes the functionality provided by the control of a

building. The control system is a computerized, intelligent network of
electronic devices, designed to monitor and control the mechanical and
lighting systems of a building. A building automation system is an example of

a distributed control system. The building automation system (BAS) core

functionality keeps the building climate within a specific range, provides
lighting based on an occupancy schedule, and monitors system performance
and device failures and provides email and/or text notifications to building
engineering staff. The BAS functionality reduces building
energy and maintenance costs when compared to a non-controlled building.
1.2. PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Android controlled Smart Home Automation should be able to control the home
appliances wirelessly with effectively and efficiently.
Controlling Home Appliances via Application (Switch and Voice Mode)
To develop an application that includes the features of switches and voice mode
application. Switch Mode or Voice Mode can be used to control the switches of home
appliances.
Real Time Video Streaming from IP camera
To receive the quality video from the camera to the android application.
Secure Connection Channels between Application and Raspberry pi
Use of secure protocols over Wi-Fi so that other devices cannot control the appliances.
Options for secure connection is SSL over TCP, SSH
Controlled by any device capable of Wi-Fi (Android, iOS, PC)
To make the home appliances flexible in control, any device capable of Wi-Fi
connectivity will able to control the home appliances from remote location.
Extensible platform for future enhancement
The application is to be highly extensible, with possibility of adding features in the
future as needed.

1.3. SCOPES
The project aims at designing a prototype for controlling the home appliances that can
be controlled wirelessly via an application that provides the features of speech recognition, video
streaming, and switch mode. An application is run on android device. The system can be used in
wide range of areas.
The system integrated with different features can be applied in the following fields.
The system can be used in home, small offices to the big malls
The system can be used from home to offices to control the electrical appliances.
For remote access of appliances in internet or intranet.
The home/office appliances can be controlled in intra-network or can be accessed via internet.
For the development of technology friendly environment
The system incorporates the use of technology and making smart home automation. By the use
of day to day gadgets we can utilize them for different prospective.
1.4. TECHNOLOGY EXPOSURES THAT PROJECT PROVIDES
1. Googles Android open source technology.
2. Wi-Fi technology.
3. Interfacing Wireless Adapter to Raspberry pi.
4. Interfacing relays with ac and dc power sources.
5. Using Transistor as a Switch.
6. Embedded programming.
1.5. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
This project constituted development of application as its major part as well as the
hardware to control home appliances. Management of any project has several steps or processes
in it. So, our projects can be described under the following steps-:

Figure 1.1: Waterfall Model

1.5.1. Experimentation
In this step, we were discussing about the necessary equipments and materials. We were studying
about the similar projects, gathering the information of programming language to be used. We
were developing simple algorithms and flowcharts.
1.5.2. Design
In this phase, we were designing the layout of the application. The necessary features to be
included. We were designing the power strip to connect the home appliances that can be
controlled via GPIO pins.
1.5.3. Development and Testing
In this phase, the development of application was performed. The bugs were identified and
removed. We consulted many software experts for the evaluation of our application. Hardware
design includes the design of power strip.
1.5.4. Real-World Testing
Finally, our system was ready to be tested in the real electrical appliances.

Figure 1.2: Gantt chart

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
As per our survey, there exist many systems that can control home appliances using android
based phones/tablets. Each system has its unique features. Currently certain companies are
officially registered and are working to provide better home automation system features.
Following models describes the work being performed by others.
Smart home is not a new term for science society ,it is been used from decades. As electronic
technologies are advancing, the field of home automation is expanding fastly. There were various
smart systems have been proposed where the control is via Bluetooth[3][6], internet [5]etc.
Bluetooth capabilities are good and most of current laptop/desktops, tablets, notebooks and cell
phones have built-in adaptor that will indirectly reduce the cost of the system. But it limits the
control to within the Bluetooth range of the environment while most other systems are not so
feasible to be implemented as low cost solution. In [8], Wi-Fi based home automation system is
presented. It uses a PC (with built in Wi-Fi card) based web server that manages the connected
home devices.

The system supports a wide range of home automation devices like fans, lights, other home
appliances. A similar architecture is proposed in [4] where the actions are coordinated by the
home agent running on a PC. Other papers such as [8] also presented internet controlled systems
consisting of a web server, database and a web page of websites for interconnecting and handling
the devices. These systems utilize a PC which leads to a direct increase in cost and power
consumption. On the other side, the development and hosting of the web page will also costs
high. Lately few researchers have also presented use of Web services, Simple Object Access
Protocol (SOAP) and Representational State Transfer (REST) as an interoperable application
layer to remotely access home automation systems introduced a smart home management
scheme over the Ethernet network based on XML SOAP standards. The disadvantage of using
SOAP based Web a service is that it is hard to handle and adds overhead to the client and server
when parsing the message, resulting in slow operation and higher Bandwidth. REST has been
represented as a Web-based interaction for controlling household devices using Web techniques
such as HTTP(Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) caching and push messaging technique. Also a
Web-based graphical user interface has been developed to manage the home devices. Home
automation using Cloud computing that has also been proposed by where users were able to
control various lights and appliances within their home.All above mentioned systems has made
tremendous contributions in home automation system. However, a PC is used as a server that
increases the cost and power consumption while others require web page hosting that adds up the
extra cost.
N. Sriskanthan [7] explained the model for home automation using bluetooth via PC. But
unfortunately the system lacks to support mobile technology. Muhammad Izhar Ramli [8]
designed a prototype electrical device control system using Web. They also set the server with
auto restart if the server condition is currently down.
Hasan [9] has developed a telephone and PIC remote controlled device for controlling the
devices pin check algorithm has been introduced where it was with cable network but not
wireless communication.

Amul Jadhav [10] developed an application in a universal XML format which can be
easily ported to any other mobile devices rather than targeting a single platform. Each of these
system has their own unique features and on comparison to one another lacks some
advancement.
Our designed system has application layer prototype. The application is able to synthesize
the speech data with the help of Google Voice Reorganization. The synthesized data are analyzed
and further processing is carried out. In layman words, our design system provides features of
controlling the home appliances using voice commands.
The use of socket programming is performed to connect the android application with the
raspberry pi. This further adds security to our system. The data are received only by the server at
the specified port and data are further analyzed. Our project is different in a sense it has its own
software level application to control the home appliances.
2.2 DEVELOPMENT
Google provides major updates, incremental in nature, to Android every six to nine
months, which most devices are capable of receiving over the air. The latest major update is
Android 4.4 Kit Kat. Android is popular with technology companies which require a ready-made,
low-cost and customizable operating system for high-tech devices[2] Android's open nature has
encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a
foundation for community-driven projects, which add new features for advanced users[3].
2.3 LICENSING
Even though the software is open-source, device manufacturers cannot use Google's
Android trademark unless Google certifies that the device complies with their Compatibility
Definition Document (CDD). Devices must also meet this definition to be eligible to license
Google's closed-source applications, including Google Play. In recent versions of Android,
Google has also stopped maintaining the open source versions of certain stock Android apps
(including Calendar, Music, and Search), in favor of moving further enhancements and primary
development to closed-source variants such as Google Calendar and Google Play Music. At the

same time, Google Play Services inherits and introduces development APIs which are also
proprietary.
Typically Google collaborates with a hardware manufacturer to produce a "flagship"
device (part of the Google Nexus series) featuring the new version of Android, then makes the
source code available after that device has been released.
2.4 MEMORY EFFICIENCY
Android takes an interesting approach. Instead of serializing your entire process image,
you essentially serialize only the critical parts of your application. In general, the parts of your
application the system serializes is the state information and navigation information. If the
system agrees to parcel up your state information, then it can just recreate your Views and reset
their state to how they were when your process was killed to reclaim memory. It's a pretty good
compromise because it forces good application design and prevents thrashing. Android memory
management unit plays vital role in great success of android among other operating systems.
Android contains modified Linux kernel[4]. for handling low memory scenarios and other issues.
This report gives brief details on both linux, android memory management systems.
2.5 ANDROID IS OPEN SOURCE
Android is open because the code is opened to all, because Google doesn't charge for the
platform, and because developers have access to it all. The only restriction is on Google services,
for which the company demands that phone makers conform to certain specifications. Google's
take on Android is that they make it as open as possible. Dianne Hackborn, a tech lead on
Android at Google who has worked on Android since its early days, recently commented at
length on Android development, openness.
2.6 ANDROID MARKET
Android market share varies by location. In July 2012, Android's market share in the
United States was 52%, and rose to 90% in China. During the third quarter of 2012, Android's
worldwide Smartphone market share was 75%, with 750 million devices activated in total and

1.5 million activations per day. As of March 2013, Android's share of the global Smartphone
market, led by Samsung products, was 64%. The Kantar market research company reported that
Googles platform accounted for over 70% of all Smartphone device sales in China during this
period and that Samsung's loyalty rate in Britain (59%) is second to that of Apple (79%). As of
November 2013, Android's share of the Smartphone market is said to have reached 80%. Indeed,
during August, September, and October 2013, no less than 261.1 million Smartphone were sold
overall, with about 211 million Smartphone running Google's operating system[5].
2.7 PRIVACY OF THE SOFTWARE
Android applications run in a sandbox, an isolated area of the system that does not have
access to the rest of the system's resources, unless access permissions are explicitly granted by
the user when the application is installed. Before installing an application, the Play Store displays
all required permissions: a game may need to enable vibration or save data to an SD card, for
example, but should not need to read SMS messages or access the phonebook. After reviewing
these permissions, the user can choose to accept or refuse them, installing the application only if
they accept. The sandboxing and permissions system lessens the impact of vulnerabilities and
bugs in applications, but developer confusion and limited documentation has resulted in
applications routinely requesting unnecessary permissions, reducing its effectiveness.