IoT is gaining popularity among millennials by providing smart devices that can be controlled remotely. Of all the IoT services, home automation and smart homes are the most representative. Smart homes include connected devices that make our lives easier, more convenient, and more comfortable. Home IoT services enhance the efficiency and comfort of users in their daily lives. Smart homes are no longer just a vision for future living. The concept has completely revolutionized modern living with unprecedented levels of indulgence, luxury, and relaxation, requiring less effort from residents. At present, there is a compelling demand for fast deployment of smart homes that has provided business opportunities for various organizations. Technologies including Insteon, X10, THREAD, ZigBee, Z-Wave, and Bluetooth LE are competing in this market.
In this chapter, I trace the history of the smart home and try to contextualize where the smart home movement sits in the larger technology category of IoT. The truth is that people have been talking about and building some variation of smart homes for decades, mostly custom automation. For example, almost a decade before the Nest thermostat came into existence in 2011 from Nest Labs, I was already using a programmable thermostat from Honeywell. I must huddle with blanket any day I arrive home early, though, because I programmed my heater to start at 6 p.m.
Smart home systems have achieved great popularity in recent years as they increase the comfort and quality of life. I know you are familiar with digital assistants like Google Home, Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, or Microsoft Cortana, and you might even have one in your home. In this chapter, though, I introduce you to advanced automation with some unique use cases. Later in the chapter we will do a lab as well.
Finally, I close with the benefits of smart home systems, technological limitations that create hurdles, and challenges of privacy and security associated with the connected nature of modern smart homes.
Smart Homes
Imagine that you’re driving home on a hot summer day. Rather than turn the air conditioner on when you get home and wait for your house to cool down, you simply use your smartphone when you leave your office to tell your smart thermostat to lower the temperature. You then tell your coffee machine to start preparing decaf and finally set your lights based on your mood. Smart homes have transformed the way we live. The technology fascinates me, and smart home space fascinates me most, first because it promises to transform the way I live, and second, because even after a decade it is still a luxury (i.e., not all builders offer it).
X10 was the first communication protocol designed for such home automation. It was designed to work on 120 kHz radio frequency (RF) through existing electric wiring. These signals command the operation when they reach programmable outlets or switches. A transmitter could, for example, send a signal to turn on switch at a specific time. I got access to an Insteon (competitor of X10) protocol-based wireless device for the first time in 2008 when I won the device in the INETA Tampa meetup group’s raffle. I learned how to open and close a wall/ceiling register using a Web-based portal. (Can you do that today?) I was amazed with the technology in those days. Around 2009, numerous companies started investing in home automation products. For example, Nest Labs started in 2010, and launched its first product, the smart thermostat, in 2011, which today you see as Google Nest.
The beauty of Smart Homes lies in the fact that one can remotely control entire home devices using smart phones or other web-based applications. The common goal of Home IoT devices is reducing cost and conserving energy, helping low carbon emission thus contributing into greener earth.
According to a forecast by Zion Mrket Research, the global smart home market is expected to reach $53.45 billion by 2022. The home automation sector consists of smart kitchens, security and access control devices, smart irrigation, smart lighting, smart appliances, and so on. All devices are controlled by a master home automation controller, often called a smart home hub. Most of the hubs facilitate easy integration of new devices and appliances sharing the same protocol. Therefore, homeowners can easily upgrade to the latest lifestyle technology by adding a particular suite of devices in place of older ones. This will help the residents to improve appliance effectiveness and enrich their overall lifestyle.
Government is playing important role, too, among the main drivers, finding IoT to be a solution to a major problem of global warming and fulfilling growing demand for electricity as reasons to adopt this technology.
Hardware and software are the two bases for any device, and communication is another important building block in IoT-based home automation devices. Appropriate communication protocols help in avoiding the performance bottlenecks that restrict device integration capabilities with other IoT gateways. Unfortunately, this embedded protocol support continues to affect the growth and acceptance of smart home market. Instead of standardizing protocols, companies are divided, and tightly couple their devices with random or proprietary protocols. For example, Amazon has embraced Zigbee in its Echo Plus devices, and Google Nest is leveraging its own Thread protocol to communicate with sensors.
Home automation architecture
Smart devices and electrical instruments : Sensors in home automation include but are not limited to temperature, lux, water level, air composition, surveillance cameras, voice and sound, pressure, humidity, infrared, vibrations, and ultrasonic. These devices are categorized into two types. The first type only takes commands or can be triggered based on a set time. For example, pet care can be automated with connected feeders. The second type is bidirectional communication devices, which take commands and send notifications or alerts when they read values outside set limits. Few of them are Edge devices, which include Edge computing to predict values based on a machine learning algorithm.
Entertainment devices : These include televisions, portable audio devices and smartphones, for streaming digital content.
Hub : This could be a voice-enabled device with cloud services to translate a user’s voice into meaningful commands (for security reasons, in some hubs the speech recognition and cognitive services are inside the hub itself using Edge computing) or non-voice-enabled hub to program smart devices.
Communication infrastructure : This is the most important component. It seems simple, but if you look closely, this architecture has three communication systems: an external network, gateway, and an internal network. External networks are cable television networks, telephone networks, and the Internet. The Internet is mostly used as a multimedia network for transmitting audio and video streaming services. An intranet is used to interconnect the great diversity of household appliances, electrical instruments, and sensors. Finally, the home gateway is a network device that connects the external network and home intranet to provide the smartphone and web portals that control the function of interconnecting devices in the home.
In this architecture I used the philosophy of a single device manager (hub) for handling different communication protocols. Supporting multiple protocols is a greater challenge with most of the voice-enableds hub on the market. Fortunately, several commercial solutions such as Revolv, SmartThings, Insteon, Vera, and Wink, are bringing interoperability to several supported devices and protocols. Each one of these offers its own smartphone app to use as a remote control for the systems. It works even if a user is outside the house, which makes the solution a fully functional, ideal Plug-and-Play home gateway.
Application
The application of smart home devices is continuously evolving with new up-and-coming technologies in computer networking, embedded systems, human–computer interfaces, and wireless sensor networks. Millennials are bringing new expectations and interpretations about what a smart home system is expected to do. Brands are focusing on better mobile experiences for their consumers and voice is the next generation use case. The following use cases are some of the most relevant today.
Use Case: Smart Home Personal Assistants
At present, there are several personal assistant products available on the market. I am neither rating nor reviewing any of these devices, nor I am recommending one over another. In this section, I am exploring the opportunity to implement personal assistants, a first step in automating your home.
Google and Amazon are among the companies that produce top voice-activated personal assistant products that provide platforms and solutions for home automation. Smart home devices such as Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod, and Google Home provide a more interactive, easy to set up, and user-friendly experience. These AI-powered smart devices are streamlining our lives and allowing us to perform everyday household tasks with ease, all with a voice command or touch of a button. Referring back to the architecture in Figure 8-1, when you speak to these voice-enabled devices, a recording of what you asked is sent to the company’s cloud, where natural language processing (NLP) services process the request more efficiently, to finally respond to you or to the other device as a command. Every device is designed with distinctive architectural elements and can have built-in skills, support third-party skills, plug-and-manage other smart devices, and prepare shopping lists for you. Commonly, all smart home personal assistants are Internet-based systems that can get regular and new updates. For example, you can develop your own skill or command remote web service host developer by third-party developers. Due to such extensibility, they are popular.
In the competitive market of screen-based assistants, LUCY features a large-format screen. It can be installed on a refrigerator door or simply on a wall like a digital photo frame. It is an AI-enabled device with a microphone and camera through which it can see, hear, and connect to other devices like the other personal assistants.
We talked about Raspberry Pi in previous chapters. It can use Google’s speech recognition interface. This device receives voice or gesture commands or collects data from sensors and then interprets those commands or data to administer household devices like fans, TV, heaters, lighting, doors, and more. For example, it collects data from sensors and turns off lights in a room, if there is no one sitting in that room.
Voice technology will become a primary interface to the digital world as we become more comfortable and reliant on it. A lack of knowledge makes it particularly hard for companies to adopt a voice strategy. There is a lot of opportunity for much deeper and much more conversational experiences with customers. These smart home personal assistants would get skills from different service providers to offer customer care. Children will get tuition, and financial services could be available in the future. Every manager should take this as a new opportunity to connect with the customers .
Use Case: Green House System
Home automation not only can make your life safer and more convenient; it can also help you to save energy and money. An important factor in monthly expenses is utility consumption, which can be reflected in terms of gas, water, and electricity. The average home spends almost $2,000 on utility charges related to energy every year. This average household could cut a third of its current energy bill by switching to energy-efficient appliances, thermostat controls, and smart lighting. Almost half of these total utility charges go toward HVAC systems. There exist many types of programmable thermostats that offer the flexibility to control the climate in your home efficiently to save energy and lower energy bills. Some of them are smarter, learning from your habits and setting the temperature based on AI. Another third of the total utility charges goes toward electricity. There exist many types of products that can better use energy, like programmable timers to turn on or off the patio or porch lights at dusk and dawn. These daylight sensors are efficient and can reduce your usage. Motion-sensing bulbs or occupancy sensors turn off lights when a room is left unoccupied. Dimmer switches allow you to set the brightness levels of lighting to match the occasion. The remaining household utility costs go to water charges. For that you have various products to maintain pumps and heat in your pool and irrigate your lawn based on local weather conditions.
Going beyond this usage, I would like to highlight one important device I love. How many times have you left your laptop cord connected while system is either shut down or in sleep mode? The same is applicable with an iron, phone charger, monitors, massage chairs, and so on. This standby mode accounts for 10 percent of residential electricity usage. Smart power strips or smart power bars can cut energy to your devices while they are in standby mode, which is an overlooked yet significant energy-saving tool.
How many times have you let the shower go for couple of seconds (or minutes) before warm water actually starts flowing? Kids often play under the shower. In addition, the quantity of water is based on the angle and holes in the shower head. A smart shower with time limiters can boost your water savings significantly. A thermostatic temperature control attached to the valve lets you select temperatures and it only allows water to start flowing once the temperature reaches that selected temperature. A voice-controlled shower sounds entirely unnecessary or even slightly ridiculous. Once you start using it, though, its convenience might just grow on you. As a parent, you can program the water to turn off after a certain length of time if you need to hurry along any household teenagers. All of this can be achieved with the awesome power of voice commands .
Lab: Working with Personal Assistants
It is not a science fiction fantasy to have a mirror that shows you information about the weather, your daily schedule, a shopping list, and birthday reminders before starting your day. In this lab, I am building a smart mirror that will show you all this helpful information while you are getting ready in the morning.
In the lab in Chapter 6 we installed Windows 10 IoT Core on Raspberry Pi. In this lab, I introduce you to another OS, Raspbian. It is a custom OS based on a variant of Linux called Debian.
Installing Raspbian Operating System on Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi 2, 3, or 4
MicroSD card
Monitor
Mouse and keyboard
HDMI cable
- 1.
Connect a MicroSD card to your local computer and format it with FAT32 format. You can use the quick format option.
- 2.
Open https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/noobs/ and download NOOBS (Offline and network install) on your local computer. NOOBS (New Out of Box System) provides a choice of Raspberry Pi OSs and installs them for you.
- 3.
Unzip the file you downloaded.
- 4.
Copy all the files from the NOOBS folder to your MicroSD card.
Raspbian welcome screen (first time only)
Click Next, then select your time zone and preferred language and create a login password. You’re now ready to get online. Choose your Wi-Fi network and type any required password. The older model only supports 2.4 GHz, whereas the newer models support both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Connect with your wireless network displayed in the list.
Once connected, click Next to allow Raspbian to check for any OS updates. When it’s done, it might ask you to reboot so the updates can be applied.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed a new Raspbian OS and you’re ready to start using Raspberry Pi.
Installing Smart Mirror Platform
There are many smart mirror platforms available. MagicMirror was developed to run on Raspberry Pi. It is a platform that can be easily installed on Raspberry Pi. It is a very powerful and user-friendly platform that allows users to customize it to make it their own. It comes under an MIT license. It is a true modular plug-in system. Various modules come preinstalled with it, like a clock, weather, calendar, news feed, and so on. On top there are various modules available from third parties, like health, sports, and entertainment applications.
I am using MagicMirror because it requires no programming knowledge and installs with just one simple command.
Relax! The screen might look frozen for some time, but the actual installation is running in the background. Installation will take between 10 and 20, minutes depending on the version of Pi.
Raspbian home screen, terminal window with MagicMirror install command
Press Ctrl + X and then press Y to save and close.
You’re all set to start enjoying your very own Raspberry Pi-based smart mirror. Now it’s time to turn the MagicMirror into your own smart mirror. To add or delete a module or change the location of a module you need to make a very simple change in the config.js file. Open the config.js file, located under Home -> pi -> MagicMirror -> config.
MagicMirror clock module
Traffic: Shows current commute time to office.
Email-mirror: Shows the ten most recent emails.
Weatherforecast: Shows weather forecast for the week.
awesome-alexa: Activate an Amazon Alexa module when you say “Alexa” without any Alexa device.
Additionally, for this smart mirror to finish and look good, you need a wood frame and a two-way mirror. Building a wood frame is outside the scope of this lab, as is sticking a two-way mirror on top of the monitor screen. I would like to see your creativity and choice in creating the wooden frame.
You can move further and make it a touch-based smart mirror using an IR touch overlay or touch foil. The main difference is the IR touch sizes are standard and match monitor sizes with a 16:9 ratio, whereas with the touch foil you can use any size screen and mirror, so this does open up more possibilities for ordering a premade frame and standard mirror size.
Exercise
Next, add the voice control module awesome-alexa to your mirror, so that you can update your calendar, play Spotify playlists, and start your coffee machine while you are taking a shower. It’s really awesome to have voice-enabled mirror, a futuristic device.
The full set of instructions is listed on the module’s official website at https://awesome-alexa.js.org/. It is not necessary to copy the steps here.
Smart Mirror Using Microsoft Technologies
One of my favorite parts about developing the smart mirror was the fact that I could do so from the comfort of Visual Studio and leverage the unlimited possibilities of Microsoft Azure. Most of my business applications are developed on the cloud and I would like to see the status of my projects, health, and alerts generated while I was sleeping, without opening my laptop. Here I am developing a simple UWP app in C# that can be installed on my MicroSD card with Windows 10 IoT Core OS I installed in Chapter 6.
Other than current local weather and forecasts, it displays a clock, you can use Microsoft Cognitive Services to perform facial recognition, and use it to show your upcoming calendar events, emails, and reports. Also, with the Emotion API it can play music based on your mood. Finally, it can also include a camera, microphone, and sound bar, enabling voice-based interactions.
Clock
Weather
Commute time
Cryptocurrency rate
Outlook email
Text messages (SMS)
Music
Voice-enabled
Business charts
UWP smart mirror application prototype
- 1.
Open Visual Studio 2017/2019.
- 2.
Create a new project with File | New Project.
- 3.
Select the template Blank App (Windows Universal).
- 4.Add the following code in MainPage.xaml:<Grid Background="Black"><TextBlock x:Name="txtClock" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="58,74,0,0" Text="TextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="99" Width="271" Foreground="White" FontFamily="Verdana" FontSize="55"/></Grid>
- 5.
Add the following code in MainPage.xaml.cs:
Build and Debug settings
Project properties to deploy application on Raspberry Pi
Deploy the app to your Windows IoT Core device.
Smart mirror UWP app
Similarly, Microsoft Cognitive Services offers a ton of programming. We are covering Cognitive Services in detail in Chapter 12.
This is just a small sample, introducing you to a UWP app developed using Visual Studio on Windows 10. Try it out for yourself.
Benefits of IoT Application in Smart Homes
Home security: This is one of the main reasons people opt for home automation systems. IoT home automation provides more control over home security and users are less worried about security of their homes. Users are notified of all the entries into their home through smartphone notifications. Homeowners can also adjust lighting and lock doors through their phones if any unauthorized person tries to enter the house. Advanced devices are using AI like facial recognition algorithms in identifying people at the door.
Energy saving: Although the system installation might be a high initial investment, it can be a cost saving in the long run because of the savings it can provide. Energy savings can be increased by controlling electrical devices and irrigation systems. For example, intelligent irrigation systems react to weather conditions and save money by applying exactly the correct amount of water to a lawn.
Live-saving alarms: IoT-enabled smart homes have alarms that alert users in case of fire or theft. For example, heat sensors can set off alarms and summon firefighters in the event of a short circuit. These notifications can prove to be life-saving for the owners and they can prevent all sorts of disasters before they occur. Insurance companies reward customers with low premiums if they have such alarm and security systems.
Convenience and comfort: IoT automation in homes makes it convenient for users to access all devices remotely through the Internet. Users can turn off appliances, monitor security from inside the house or around the world. Users can easily perform all household operations through their mobile phones while laying comfortably on a sofa. With the rise of adaptive learning and AI, devices capable of learning your habits are getting closer to reality. Automation can be useful for people with disabilities and for the elderly. Even blood pressure sensors and blood sugar levels can be incorporated into these systems, providing peace of mind to relatives.
The IoT smart home is still in its infancy, but these benefits will shift consumers’ habits and make smart homes part of our daily lives.
Challenges of IoT Application in Smart Homes
IoT application in home automation improves the convenience and efficiency of everyday household tasks, as all home electronic appliances are controlled centrally through smartphones and tablets. However, there are certain common challenges like privacy and some difficulties like lack of standardized devices. The following sections cover some of the key challenges:
Lacking Smart Knowledge
There is a lack of understanding of smart home solutions and what they can offer. This lack of understanding not only exists among consumers, but suppliers, too. For example, I visited Home Depot recently, and an automated blinds supplier believed that the only good way to operate the blinds was with a dedicated remote control that comes with the blinds. Having a number of remotes in your hand is a challenge they don’t accept. Similarly, lot of hardware supports its own hub. This tight coupling pushes away better devices available on the market.
Interior designers and home builders also need to improve their knowledge and offer home automation as a standard practice. This is the next big market for existing homes.
If you have never lived in a properly automated home, you probably lack the adequate context to understand what you really want. Most do-it-yourself enthusiasts start with a voice-enabled hub like Amazon Alexa or Google Home, then go for smart lights, smart switches, and a smart television with popular streaming applications. You can plan and install security cameras that you can monitor using your smartphone. Unfortunately, professionals think about home automation differently.
Security
Surveillance camera hacking: This can expose home residents and prove to be a threat to their physical privacy. Some devices have security vulnerabilities that can lead to theft of personal information.
Snooping: Monitoring of users’ daily conversations using cameras and microphones comes with these devices. Smart speakers can leak personal information to third parties. Surveillance cameras can be used to monitor all the activities inside and outside of a house, and they can also be used to record and distribute sensitive videos of the residents. Recently, Google admitted having hidden microphones in Nest home security devices.
Accident: Smart plugs can result in an insecure communication protocol and cause a threat to a user’s life if a medical device is implemented using that plug. Remote control hacking can lead to unintended lighting, temperature control, door locking, and so on.
Home security: Smart locks can be used to trap users inside their own homes and can be opened remotely via hackers.
Manufacturers are aware of these concerns and already pursuing solutions for them. For example, Z-Wave Alliance has already launched a new certification program that requires manufacturers to implement the strongest security mechanisms.
Cost
Because automation technology is so cool, it’s easy to think that it makes your home look more impressive, and thus is considered a luxury. In reality, the technology can help reduce your monthly energy bill and promote sustainability. I live in the Greater Seattle area, a hub of big technology companies, a home to thousands of people who worked on making these smart devices. Still, I don’t see builders offering new houses with preinstalled home automation. Therefore, costs are increased if you try to implement a smart home after you purchase it.
At present, due to the high cost of new smart appliances, to allow control of traditional appliances, intelligent outlets are used to control the household appliances or to collect limited information about them.
Lack of Standardization
I covered this earlier, but I would like to bring it up again. The lack of standardization leads to these devices being purchased indiscriminately. Some devices allow connection of devices from other vendors. However, assembling IoT devices disjointedly could create significant vulnerabilities. Insurance mights deny your claim because you use smart appliances, HVAC, or other systems that are not approved. Depending on the nature of the insurance agreement, this could jeopardize a successful insurance claim due to issues of liability.
Government and relevant authorities have yet to institute common secure standards for IoT devices to ensure safer use.
Summary
I look forward to the day when you go for shopping window blinds and the only obvious option you see is smart motorized blinds. This is a great opportunity for tech startup entrepreneurs. One day, I would like to just say “Goodbye” and expect my blinds will close, lights will be switched off, thermostat will adjust, security will be enabled, and so on, without touching multiple remotes, a smartphone, or web applications.
I did an in-depth analysis of two IoT user cases—that is, smart home personal assistants and a green house system—identifying benefits and describing challenges relevant to IoT application in smart homes.
In the lab, I described how easy is to make a smart mirror using Raspberry Pi on Raspbian and on Windows 10 IoT Core OS. We configured a prebuilt MagicMirror application with just one command, and also developed our own UWP application. Execute this lab for the mirror in your guest washroom and impress your relatives and friends with your new learning.
Despite the numerous benefits, IoT devices are accessible to attackers and cause some significant security threats and privacy concerns for residents if not implemented correctly. All in all, IoT applications in home automation and smart homes will exponentially evolve in coming years and completely revolutionize our way of living.