Modern technologies surround us everywhere, creating a qualitatively new level of life comfort that man has tried to create throughout history. These technologies allow now to create a smart home, which will be a certain system to improve the level of comfort and security. Innovative “smart home” systems are increasingly penetrating everyday life, providing additional comfort and safety, saving resources and a variety of leisure activities.
Today, these technologies have ceased to be perceived as “luxury”. On the contrary, modern houses are not just a combination of a beautiful interior with multifunctional furniture. It is also a place of interaction of modern communication and engineering systems, which require a convenient and effective control system – a “smart home” system.
What is a “smart home”?
A smart home is a home with a system of sensors and equipment that are integrated into a single entity and are designed to manage this home, maintaining a given level of comfort and safety. Comfort itself in this case means manual and automatic control of the climate in the house, lighting, household appliances and multimedia. And by security is meant the protection of the home (flat, cottage, garage) from fire, thieves and other criminal elements that can be dangerous to life or property.
The homeowner can configure and control such a smart system from a mobile phone, tablet, computer, remote controls or a separate touch panel. At the same time, information about the state of things in this house can be remotely transmitted to the owner via a mobile application.
Smart home functions
The smart home system relieves a person of many boring routine tasks of managing home equipment, taking over the management of the home ecosystem. Let’s list its main functions:
Security and safety
With the help of the Smart Home system, you can easily organize round-the-clock video surveillance of the surrounding area and internal rooms. At the same time, using the Internet, you can visually monitor the situation in the house, being in any part of the planet!
Most systems also provide security and fire alarms, which will detect unauthorized entry of thieves into the household or catch the first signs of fire. Smart Home will also determine the moment of water leakage and gas leakage.
In the event of such emergency events, the system will immediately send alarm signals to the phone and quickly turn on executive devices: sound and light alarms, relays that activate the fire extinguishing system, etc.
Management of the microclimate in the house
The smart home system automatically controls the management of ventilation, air conditioners, heating system, boilers, warm floors and roof.
Lighting control
“Smart home” combines all lighting sources in the building and even in the surrounding area into a single system, and in this way lighting can be controlled. Also, a smart home can simulate the presence of the owners in the house when they actually left, or automatically switch all household devices to an economical mode with the help of light effects.
Increasing comfort
“Smart home” remembers the habits and daily routine of the owners, and knows how to determine their location with the help of geolocation services. Therefore, before the arrival of people, the “smart home” will raise the blinds or open the curtains on the windows, turn on the lights, ventilate or heat the rooms, heat the water for the bathroom, turn on your favourite music and heat the prepared dinner, etc.
Flexible management and use of scripts
With a centralised smart home control system, it is easy to make the various components and systems of home equipment work in an orderly and coordinated manner. This is realised thanks to the possibility of using scripts – pre-programmed actions, when pressing one button on the control device causes a given sequence of actions.
A smart home can expand
The possibilities and, accordingly, the cost of a “smart home” depend on the number of functions chosen by the user, which he considered necessary at the time of purchase. On the other hand, the smart home system buys additional necessary equipment.
Advantages of using smart home technology
A smart home has clear advantages over a regular home. The “smart home” system trivially relieves a person of many boring routine tasks of managing home equipment, taking control of the home ecosystem and ensuring its protection. For example, this is the maintenance of a comfortable temperature in various rooms, the possibility of automatically shutting off the flow of water or gas leakage in an emergency situation, watering the lawn on a hot day, etc. In addition, such a system can save energy resources and reduce costs in hotels, office premises, warehouses, etc.
Let’s note the main advantages of the Smart Home system:
- Remote activation of equipment using a smartphone application;
- Voice control of household appliances and multimedia;
- The possibility of automatic updating via the Internet;
- Prevention and elimination of emergency situations (gas, water or fire leaks).
Disadvantages of the Smart Home
- Relatively high cost of the system;
- The complexity of installing the Smart Home system;
- Cheap systems have security issues;
- Requires certain qualifications to install.
How does a smart home work?
Smart Home technology is based on the principle of distributed intelligence. This means that there is no need for a central computer (which in other systems is the “Brain” of the home and is responsible for the operation of all functions.) to control all devices in the home. Each device can work independently of the other. This means that a failure of the main processor can leave the house unmanageable. Each node in the house has its own intelligence. Together, they connect to a common managed network and exchange information with each other. This increases reliability by an order of magnitude (failure of an individual device does not affect the operation of the system as a whole), makes it flexible and easily expandable.
The simplest example of a smart home is lighting control. Light sensors are installed in the house, which transmit information about the level of natural light to the controller. The controller determines whether this level is sufficient and comfortable. If the lighting is insufficient, then a certain number of lighting devices is automatically turned on. At the same time, additional lighting is turned on only when there are people in specific rooms.
However, a smart home still has a master controller that ensures the coordinated operation of devices, monitors the execution of complex scenarios and maintains communication between them.
All these devices in a smart home can be divided into the following:
- Signal sensors. These are devices that measure temperature, humidity, window or door opening status, and so on.
- Executive devices. These are devices that are responsible for executing the commands of the home management system, which forms them based on the readings of the sensors. For example, it can be an electronic lock, an ordinary light bulb, a heating element of a warm floor, etc.
- Control devices. This is a mobile phone, a touch panel or a separate remote control.
- Integrated hardware and web services. These devices include video cameras, multimedia and other peripherals.
