mySmart: Embedded Control Used in Smart Home Automation

[adamharden25]

Contact Information

University: University of Houston

Team Members: David Harden, Yang Lu

Faculty Advisors: Xiaojing Yuan

Email Address: daharden@uh.edu, ylu14@uh.edu, snr.elet.uh@gmail.com

Country: United States

Project Information

Title: mySmart

Description:

“Developing an embedded autonomous system to control home lighting and temperature.”

This project aims to integrate several wireless sensor networks together using National Instruments LabVIEW as the hub for integration. The system starts with data acquisition coming from the MicaZ nodes using the TinyOS platform. TinyOS is a software suite variation of C language called nesC. When programmed, the nodes can be placed away from the base station; that gathers all of the information from the nodes that it is connected to. The base station is connected to a computer, computing device that runs LabVIEW and a driver set called NI VISA runs to connect the two. Information is passed into an embedded remote system, NI’s Compact RIO (NI-9025) system, which has all the necessary code on the device and then sends information to connect NI WSN nodes. Its gateway is connected directly to the c-RIO device and sends information to the nodes for actuation of lights and temperature control. This effectively creates a Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network (WSAN).

Products: NI LabVIEW, TinyOS, MicaZ Nodes, NI Real-time Module, NI WSN

Challenges:

Human to Machine Interface:

One of the biggest issues that any new system comes across when producing for masses of people is the intuitively of the system itself. The system should be able to be used by all walks of people from a 5 year old changing the temperature to an engineer digging into the system settings to optimize it for his personal use. When interfaces are made, they are developed by an engineer that may not have every person in mind. The interface doesn’t need controls or extraneous amount of data flowing on the screen. The user just needs the basic information and controls to make changes. mySmart’s user interface aims to do this. Allowing for the basic information to be shown and be able to relay that information in a short time. The user should be able to look at it for no more than 5 seconds and tell what is going on in the house. The interface should connect user and computer in a seamless way.

Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network:

Monitoring and control make any autonomous system work. The autonomous part comes from the system making its own decisions relative to the settings. The system will come with default settings which are common to the normal household. To build a WSAN, you need to be able to gather data in real time and make decisions based on that data. The TinyOS platform does this well. It allows for the developer to detect any environmental changes and send that information to the base station. The base station and its connecting computing device, i.e. computer, processor, real-time device, will make process the data and make changes to the system based on that data. mySmart makes decisions from the TinyOS data received and is sent to the real time controller; the controller is described later. The NI WSN products allow for digital logic actuation of a system. This creates the full WSAN, the TinyOS nodes, the real time controller, and the NI WSN nodes. As the system stands, lighting and temperature are the two environmental changes that will affect the control system. 

Reconfigurable “Real Time” Embedded Control:

mySmart needs to have two main responsibilities as it relates to embedded control: be able to gather and process data in real time and always be on i.e. no interruptions. After connecting the sensors and the actuators together, there needs to be a brain to make all of the decisions for control, this is where the Compact RIO comes in. It also needs to provide its own feedback as it needs to be able to determine of the decision it made was the right one and if not, reverse that decision. Real time as it stands here means time deterministic. The system will finish its decision and feedback within a timely fashion, usually within milliseconds as the user will not be able to tell the difference. It is tiny changes in the autonomous system that allow for the smart to stand out in SmartHome. mySmart is set with default settings, but the user can also use the physical switches in the home to turn the lights or the fans in the home. Also, you will be able to re-program the controller from the internet in order to complete real-time updates and add newer features all while the system runs in the background.

Solution:

There has become several things that we have to manage from day to day in our lives. Dates, numbers, places, people, etc… For the most part we can do this with the help of smartphones that house all of this information and can keep it readily available for you to access. But what about your home? The home is still where we spend most of our free time and we have to make sure it’s clean and kept up. Your home tends to need help with maintaining settings like temperature from the thermostat, light switches we forget to turn off, washers we forget to turn on all while making sure the power bill is low. Wouldn’t it be great to have something like a smartphone that could work your home for you, to manage your power consumption, temperature, lights, almost anything that you use on a daily basis but may not have the time to set everything?

The embedded system proposed here mySmart is something can become the testbed for a simplistic, programmable, user-friendly design that controls and automates some of the mundane systems in the home. The design of the user interface is one that will encompass a sleek setup with the help from LabVIEW. The information displayed will be the basic information for the system to work and be able to work with little effort from the user. The user will be able to gather all of the information over time and will be displayed in a way that is pleasing to the eye. To build the complete system we have three hardware components that make up the wireless sensor and actuator network (WSAN). First is the TinyOS platform, which allows for data acquisition of the environmental data i.e. lighting and temperature. MicaZ nodes are used with the accompanying sensor boards that allow for information communication to the base station. The information is passed into a computer and feeds the serial communication of the USB connection to the embedded system. Second is the NI WSN system. This system integrates perfectly into the NI c-RIO system. The nodes are used for digital logic actuation of the lights and fans for the demonstration. They also have more physical connections for additional sensors to be connected to the node for wired capability. And third is the c-RIO system. This is the brains of the system that makes all of the decisions. It provides real time, deterministic control and is an always on device. The system as it stands can control lighting and temperature in the home with default settings and will turn lights on and off without physical switches and the fans in each room to vent a warm room, until it reaches the desired temperature in that room alone. The system can also be accessed remotely to change the default settings and actuate some of the components.

Future Enhancements:

This will be a testbed for home automation, allowing for more rooms, devices, settings to be added onto it. The system can be extended to encompass more rooms, and multiple sensors in order to create a profile of the room and respond accordingly. For example, the kitchen tends to be the hottest rooms in the home when in use, while the rest of the house remains cool. The system will be able to increase the air flow in the kitchen to regulate the temperature. 

By setting the system up some of the other smaller devices in the home can all be set at the same time as well, such as clocks. Then system can set all of the clocks in the house and can do it automatically for things like daylight-savings time.

Controlling others larger appliances can be set as well, by connecting to the system. Turning on washers and dryers at lower peak times of the day can reduce power consumption and bills, and the system can shut the A/C down while no one is home and can turn it on the desired temperature when someone comes in earlier that a set time. This system aims to decrease power consumption and overall money spent while still allowing for the user to be comfortable and all the things in the house be autonomous.

Project is Currently in Alpha Testing