Design of an IOT Based Smart Home Using Amazon Alexa
Chapter One
MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY
This study was motivated by the trends in technology advancements to take advantage of its immense opportunities to improve on safety and security of the basic need of life of shelter. An additional motivation is that there is need for a home system where by physically and mentally challenged individuals would be able to interact with intelligent systems to provide assistance and reduce mishaps.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study aims to create and build a working and automatic improving smart home system with the basic features of comfort, security and functionality.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter outlines related work in the area of research and development of smart home systems. It gives a brief history about the concept of smart home/home automation systems. The chapter also examines earlier research work and implementations of similar IoT systems.
BRIEF HISTORY
Smart home technology as described in the previous chapter refers to the use of devices in a home connected via a network, most commonly a Local Area Network or the Internet. These devices are connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) and they can be monitored, controlled and accessed remotely. They are also built in such a way to provide services that respond to the needs of users using Artificial Intelligence. This use of Artificial Intelligence to respond to users’ needs is referred to as Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology. The earliest model of this technology was developed by IBM in the late 1990s and was referred to by them as “Predictive failure analysis”.
The retail/consumer versions were released between 1998 and the early 2000s. After years of progressive development, the home automation industry was estimated to be around 6 billion dollars in 2013 and as of 2015, it was estimated that in the US, over 45 million home smart devices were installed across American homes.
RESEARCH WORKS RELATING TO SMART-HOME TECHNOLOGY
One of the earliest studies and research work on the smart home technology was carried out between October 1996 and March 1999 by David Gann, James Barlow and Tim Venables, all of the Imperial College London, in the publication “Digital futures. Making Homes Smarter”. At the time of the publication, the smart home industry was still in its discovery and development phase and there wasn’t a wide spread knowledge yet of Smart Home/Home Automation systems. The study aimed at modelling a commercially functional specification for development and use of smart home technologies in the affordable and social housing markets. The researchers also had a plan to assess likely markets for such technologies through evaluating supply side issues. Another major issue they had to overcome was the age long problem of standards in information communication open systems. Each individual device in the smart home have to operate on the same communication standards. The three aspects of the standards; portability, scalability and interoperability had to be adhered to.
Parsa Raei et al (2016) designed a smart home specifically for people suffering from dementia. In their work, they put into consideration challenges that would likely be faced by dementia patients such as: cognitive deficiency and difficulty for dementia patients to learn to use new devices. To solve these challenges, they decided to;
- Develop new devices resembling those might have seen previously by the dementia patients.
- Design the new devices in such a way to maintain control over their environmentl
- Design the new home such that the Artificial Intelligence software learns and predicts typical home activities.
- Ensure that caregivers of such patients should examine new devices before they can be used by the dementia patients.
- Ensure that caregivers need to be supported through prompts and reminders.
For the smart home, the structure of devices included devices that provided emergency help, fall detection and prevention, temperature checking, helping with hearing and visual impairment, automatic lighting, security of the premises, safety check for ovens and stoves, intruder alarm, appointment reminder system and devices to monitor physiological factors.
Roland Eckl et al (2019) in their book entitled “Intelligent and Interactive Assistance and Mobile Multimedia Computing”, suggested using a system architecture with centralized but subsidiary controllers with open interfaces at software and network levels.
Arun C.J et al (2015) gave an engineering approach to the smart home design. In their publication “Smart Home Automation Security”, broke down the structure of a home to ‘Six S’s’ which include Site, Structure, Skin, Service, Space Plan and Stuff. They had a suggestion that Data packet integrity, device authenticity, key establishment and encryption standards should be mandatory and adhered to.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter reviews how the existing system works as well as how to produce a better alternative for its improvement. The relationship among actors, entities, platform and information flows within the organization is very important. In a nutshell, system investigation and analysis studies an existing system with the view of improving on it or developing an entirely new system to replace the existing one. The major task here is to design a new system using tested and trusted development methods that is as efficient and probably more efficient than the existing one.
FACT FINDING
Fact finding for this study was done by examining related publications, research work, journals and books.
SYSTEM DESIGN
To design a smart home, the communication protocols have to be decided upon as stated in the previous chapter. Commonly, Zigbee and Z-Wave standards are used today. Both implement the mesh network topologies. They are also described as short range, low-power radio signals to connect smart home systems. The difference between the two is the range of coverage with the Zigbee having a range of 10 metres compared to the Z-Wave’s 30 metres.
The Amazon Alexa broadly supports both protocols and Wi-Fi-based products although it is selective in connecting to Z-Wave based devices.
CHAPTER FOUR
IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULT
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the deployment and testing of the smart home system after the design and development. The Hardware and Software Requirements as well as Development tools are identified in this chapter.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LANGUAGE SELECTION
The choice of the AI was based on the fact that the Alexa AI is at the forefront of the IoT based smart home industry. The Amazon Alexa AI also supports a good number of devices required to achieve a functional smart home. The system also makes use of the Amazon Smart Home Skill API.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION, SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION
SUMMARY
An IoT based smart home was developed in this project with the view to embrace technology in our everyday life. The system was able to, with machine learning adapt to user experience. This project also emphasized on the AI system which in future may replace the current method of building homes. This concludes the importance of automation in home systems and other IoT based developments for ease and comfortability.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the smart home system comes with its pros and cons: The pros being the ease of use and uncomplicated connection and cons being security and cost restraints. These are quite understandable considering that the Internet-Of-Things is a relatively new paradigm. The smart home offers great value in this information and electronic age and provides ease of use by the Artificial Intelligence software.
RECOMMENDATION
For future works, improvements can be made in terms of network and data security. Data security should be a vital consideration in development of any further smart home systems.
Furthermore, the scope of the project can be eventually broadened to implement smart cities.
REFERENCES
- Arun Jose, R. M. (2015, August). Smart Home Automation Security: A Literature Review. The Smart Computing Review.
- Charlie Wilson, T. H.-B. (2014). Smart homes and their users: a systematic analysis.
- David Gann, J. B. (1999). “Digital futures. Making Homes Smarter. Imperial College London.
- Robert Eckl, A. M. (2009). Smart Home Challenges and Approaches to Solve them: A practical Industrial Perspective. In A. M. Robert Eckl, Intelligent Interactive Assistance and Mobile Multimedia Computing (pp. 119-130).
- Rouse, M. (n.d.). “internet of things (IoT)”. IOT Agenda.
- Seokung Yoon, H. P. (2015). Security Issues on Smarthome in IoT Environment. In S. I. Park J., Computer Science and its Applications (pp. 691-696).
