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Design and implementation of a low-cost Arduino-based smart home system

Conference Paper · May 2017

DOI: 10.1109/ICCSN.2017.8230356

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 2017 9th IEEE International Conference on Communication Software and Networks

Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Arduino-Based Smart Home System

Souveer Gunputh, Anshu Prakash Murdan, Vishwamitra Oree

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius
Reduit, Mauritius
e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract—A smart home is the residential extension of building sound and secure living. A graphical user interface was also
automation. It initially involved the control and automation of developed using LabVIEW [3]. Davidovic et al. proposed a
systems that ensure human comfort such as lighting, heating, smart home system based on group of sensors, Raspberry Pi
ventilation, air conditioning and security. Recently, it has and Bluetooth as a communication protocol. An android
evolved to encompass most home appliances that use Wi-Fi for based user-friendly interface was also developed [4]. The
remote monitoring. Technological progress has enhanced the analysis and implementation of a home automation
ubiquity of smart home systems resulting in improved technology using Global System for Mobile Communication
standards of living. Commercial home automation systems are (GSM) modem to control home appliances such as light,
still unaffordable to a vast majority of the middle and lower
conditional system, and security system via Short Message
class families. However, the emergence of cheap
microcontrollers, like the Arduino, has enabled the
Service (SMS) text messages was presented by
implementation of low-cost smart home systems, incorporating Teymourzadeh et al. The research work was focused on
the majority of features present in commercial systems. In this functionality of the GSM protocol, which allowed the user to
paper, we present a highly scalable, low-cost and multi-faceted control the target system away from residential using the
home automation system based on Arduino microcontroller frequency bandwidths [5]. Baraka et al. developed a
that is capable of integrating appliance and equipment remotely controlled, energy-efficient and highly scalable
automation, thermal comfort control and energy management. Smart Home with basic features that safeguard the residents'
comfort and security. The system consisted of a house
Keywords-smart home; remote monitoring; microcontroller; network (sensors and appliance actuators to respectively get
arduino information from and control the house environment), an
Arduino microcontroller, and an Android application as the
I. INTRODUCTION user interface [6]. Several Telecare and “hospital at home”
services such as a home emergency alarm, access to
Conventional houses have always evolved with time to community health information, and ambulatory monitoring,
cater for the changing needs of people in terms of security have been designed and deployed by CarerNet, in UK [7].
and comfort. Nowadays, people want to carry out tasks as
quickly, efficiently and simply as it can be with the least II. AIM
amount of effort. This need can be easily met by converting
This paper presents the design and implementation of a
‘normal’ homes into smart ones by implementing a home
simple low-cost smart home system that will control various
automation system. Home automation consists of automatic
actuators based on the data gathered by multiple passive and
control of lighting, temperature and other appliances, safety
active sensors installed in strategic locations. Its main
and security systems, home entertainment systems,
objective is to enable home owners to experience a more
housekeeping and gardening systems. Such systems are
convenient and comfortable lifestyle, a safer environment
designed to enhance comfort, convenience, security as well
and a better energy efficiency. The design criteria have
as energy efficiency by integrating sensors that will monitor
focused on ensuring that the system is affordable, reliable,
various parameters and actuators that will perform
user-friendly and adaptable to the needs of home owners.
predetermined tasks. In recent years, the advent of powerful Moreover, its major features, which facilitate the operation
electronic devices coupled with considerable progress of common home activities, make it attractive to households,
achieved in the field of information and communication especially those with elderly and handicapped people.
technologies have led to a significant evolution in home
automation. Ubiquitous technologies have enabled the smart III. METHODOLOGY
home concept to be extended to include context aware and
situation aware automation [1]. Home project serves as a test The system consists of a voice recognition system which
facility for the implementation of useful new services controls the switching of lights, the opening and closure of
directed towards connecting devices, sensors, and appliances windows, gas leakage detection as well as the operation of an
through data networks [2]. Ransing and Rajput proposed a automatic folding bed. In order to accurately manage these
Wireless Sensor Network based smart home system for the functions, it is crucial to continuously monitor a number of
elderly, to help them ease their work and provide them safe, parameters such as temperature, humidity, rain, gas leakage,
presence of people in the room, and day or night condition.

978-1-5090-3822-0/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE 

For this purpose, a light intensity sensor, a temperature and Arduino, Raspberry Pi, LaunchPad, PIC and BeagleBone.
humidity sensor, a motion sensor, a gas and flame sensor, Each one of them has its benefits so that the selection of the
and a rain sensor are integrated in the system. The important appropriate microcontroller for the system must be effected
data acquired by these sensors are displayed on an LCD with specific design criteria in mind. Here, the overriding
screen to provide feedback to the user about the status of the criteria are cost, number of Input/Output (I/O) pins, sensor
observed parameters. The data is also processed by a capability and ease of programming. The Arduino Mega was
microcontroller which accordingly sends commands to selected because it has a user-friendly development
various actuators to take appropriate action depending on the environment, is affordable and readily available. Besides
values of the controlled conditions. In this context, a servo interesting features like a good memory size and a large
motor is used for controlling the opening and closure of the number of I/O pins, the Arduino is appealing due to its large
window while a stepper motor activates the deployment of support community and extensive set of support libraries and
the folding bed. A fan provides ventilation, a buzzer sounds add-on boards that extend its interfacing capabilities. The
an alarm in case of fire or gas leakage detection and LEDs Arduino Mega development board is based on the
are used to indicate the status of parameters. A blind ATmega2560 AVR processor. The main technical
mechanism reacting to light intensity levels is also specifications of the Arduino Mega are summarized in Table
implemented. One critical feature of any smart home is a I.
user-friendly means to communicate with the system. The
latter must be consistent with their requirements so that users TABLE I. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ARDUINO MEGA
can control the appliances or equipment in their homes easily.
Parameter Value
Moreover, the system should be readily accessible anywhere
and anytime. For this purpose, a Wi-Fi module is installed to Operating Voltage 5V
control devices via the internet through an Android smart Digital I/O Pins 54
phone or computer. A web portal, enhanced with a one- PWM Digital I/O Pins 14
factor authentication system, ensures the authenticity of the Analog Input Pins 16
home owner. Furthermore, a voice recognition system is
DC Current per I/O Pin 40 mA
integrated in the system to interpret instructions spoken by
the user and convert them into commands to be executed. Fig. DC Current for 3.3V Pin 50 mA
1 shows the main building blocks of the system. A Flash Memory 256 KB
microcontroller is at the core of the system. In addition to SRAM 8 KB
processing all input signals from sensors and controlling the EEPROM 4 KB
actuators, it also functions as a micro-web server. Hardware Clock Speed 16 MHz
interface modules such as motor drivers and relays are
employed to interface the microcontroller with sensors and IV. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM
actuators.
A. Voice Controlled Lighting System
Actuators
Sensors The Elechouse V3 voice recognition system was used to
recognize the commands of the occupants to switch on or off
lights. It supports up to 80 voice commands, with a
maximum of 7 voice command working simultaneously. The
V3 module was chosen as it is Arduino-compatible and the
connection is simple. Digital I/O pins 2 and 3 of the Arduino
Mega are connected to the TX and RX pins of the V3
Arduino
Wifi router module. 5V and GND are also provided to the voice module
microcontroller from the Arduino. The V3 module was initially trained with
the appropriate voice commands which were subsequently
loaded into the recognizer of the module. Once commands
are successfully identified, the module sends control
instructions to the microcontroller. Accordingly, the latter
will actuate a relay to switch the lights on or off. The system
Figure 1. Block diagram of system. is also equipped with a Passive Infra-Red (PIR) that detects
the presence of people in the room. In this way, the lights
switch off automatically when there is nobody in the room,
A. Selection of Microcontroller thereby improving the energy efficiency of the design. The
The microcontroller is at the heart of the smart home working principle of the PIR motion sensor is based on
automation system as it manages all its functions. It performs changes in the infrared level emitted by surrounding objects
all interprets all data from sensors, processes them and sends when a person moves around a room. Such changes can be
appropriate signals to control actuators. Recently, several identified by verifying for a high signal on a signal I/O pin.
microcontrollers have emerged on the market, including the The microcontroller is programmed so that it checks for


occupancy every 8 seconds. It will only switch off the lights the user. The ventilation system consists of a fan that is
if it does not detect any movement in the room during two controlled by the Arduino Mega through a relay. The
minutes in order to prevent switching off the lights when an ventilation system has PIR motion sensor integrated in it so
occupant is motionless in the room. that when the room is unoccupied, the fan turns off
automatically. Occupancy detection follows the same
B. Internet Controlled Lighting System principle as that described in Section IV A.
An ESP8266 Wi-Fi module is used to control the lights
through the internet. This low-cost, stand-alone Wi-Fi F. Automatic Folding Bed
module is programmed to use the microcontroller as a web- An automatic foldable bed was also designed and
server. Since the ESP8266 requires a 3.3V power supply and implemented in the smart house. Smart furniture is yet
can draw currents up to 300 mA, the LM317T external another aspect of smart homes that has gained increasing
voltage regulator is used to bring down the 5V supply to attention recently. It refers to an intelligently designed piece
3.3V. Occupants can access the hardware modules through of furniture that not only can serve for multiple purposes but
the web-server to obtain information about the status of the also represents good space management. In the present case,
lights and send commands to switch on or off the lights when the residents do not need the bed during the day, it may
through the relay connected to the microcontroller. The Wi- be folded up against the wall to give more space in the room.
Fi module first needs to be registered on an internet network Moreover the folded bed can also be used as storage
so as to generate an IP address, from where the interface can furniture as shown in Fig. 2. The bed mechanism can be
be accessed. operated by both voice commands and pushbuttons. An
emergency stop button is also installed in case of any
C. Flame and Gas Sensors incident. A stepper motor connected to the microcontroller
In order to detect fire or leakage of inflammable gases in via a driver actuates the retraction and deployment of the bed
the house, an MQ-5 gas sensor is connected to the Arduino. as it provides smooth and accurate motion. Gearing
This low-cost sensor can perceive a broad range of gases equipment is used to reduce the rating of the motor, thus
including LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas), methane and smoke. requiring less power.
It contains a tin dioxide filament as gas-detecting material.
The latter has a lower conductivity in clear air. Hence, if the
inflammable gas concentration increases, the conductivity of
the sensor will rise leading to drop in the filament resistance
and an increase in the output voltage. Interfacing the sensor
with the Arduino requires connecting its D0 output to a
digital I/O pin of the microcontroller. The GND and 5V pins
of the MQ-5 are supplied from Arduino Mega. Once a flame
has been detected, an alarm is triggered and an emergency
message is displayed on an LCD screen.
D. Automatic Window
The extent of cross-ventilation in the smart house is
controlled by adjusting the opening or closing of windows. A
servomotor, connected to the microcontroller through a relay,
moves the window through a gearing system. The voice
recognition system is extended to the window opening
Figure 2. Mechansim of folding the bed into a storage space.
control to provide the user with the possibility of controlling
the windows in the house without having to move. This
feature is particularly very beneficial to elderly and G. Automatic Blinds
handicapped people. The windows are further equipped with An automatic blind which responds to different light
a FC-37 rain sensor which activates their closure intensity level was also integrated in the system. It opens and
automatically when it starts raining. closes automatically depending on intensity of light sensed
by a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR). The blind mechanism
E. Automatic Ventilation System
is programmed so that it can recognize three different states
A DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor constantly according to three ranges of light intensity: “Night”,
monitors the temperature and the percentage of humidity in “Average Daylight”, and “Too Bright”. Their corresponding
the room. Pin 2 of the sensor is connected to a digital I/O pin lux ranges are: 0 -250, 250 – 650 and 650 -1000 respectively.
of the Arduino through a 1kΩ pull-up resistor, with its 5V The position of the blinds with respect to the horizontal
and GND provided from the Arduino Mega. When the corresponding to each state is: 0°, 65° and 30° respectively.
values of temperature or humidity read by the sensor reach a The LDR constantly monitors light intensity level. The
level above set thresholds of 25°C and 70% respectively, the microcontroller determines the state of the blinds on the
ventilation system starts automatically. The threshold values basis of the LDR output. When there is no change of state,
may be changed depending on the comfort requirements of the blinds remain in their initial position, else, the position of


the new state is determined. The angle through which the The system was tested exhaustively and various
blinds must rotate is ascertained by calculating the angle circumstances were simulated to ensure the home automation
difference between the respective positions of the binds. The system works as intended. The voice recognition module was
corresponding number of steps is computed by the able to recognize voices after a single training session.
microcontroller and sent to the stepper motor driver Commands were successfully implemented by the system,
controlling the blind mechanism. whether they were provided through spoken words, switches,
The specifications of the main sensors used in the home push-buttons or a smart phone via the web-server. The
automation system are provided in Table II. applications that have been successfully implemented are
summarized in Table III.
TABLE II. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE MAIN SENSORS USED IN THE
SYSTEM TABLE III. FUNCTIONS OF THE HOME AUTOMATION SYSTEM
Component Main Specifications Application Sensors/Components Control
V3 voice Voltage: 4.5-5.5V Current: <40mA Ventilation system DHT22, PIR Automatic
recognition Size: 31mm x 50mm
module Recognition accuracy: 99% (ideal conditions) Lighting System V3 module, PIR, Voice-controlled,
ESP8266 Web-server
Passive Infra-Red Voltage: 5-12V Current: <60μA
module Sensitivity range: up to 6 m (110° x 70°) Flame and gas MQ-5, LCD screen Automatic
Size: 28mm x 38mm x 40mm sensing system
MQ-5 gas sensor Voltage: 5V Power: 800mW
Window system FC-37, servomotor Automatic,
Detecting concentration: 200-10000 ppm Voice-controlled
Gases: LPG, Natural gas, butane, propane
Folding bed Stepper motor Voice-controlled,
Size: 40mm x 20mm pushbutton

FC-37 rain sensor Voltage: 5V Driving current: 15mA Blinds LDR, stepper motor Automatic

Sensitivity adjustment through potentiometer

VI. CONCLUSION
Size: 50mm x 40mm
In this paper, a low-cost and flexible home automation
DHT22 Voltage: 3.3-6V Current: 2.5mA system is presented. An Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller
temperature and lies at the heart of the smart home system. The latter
humidity sensor Operating Range: 0-100% (RH); -40 to 80°C
integrates home appliances, lighting system, gas leakage and
Accuracy: ±2-5% (RH); ±0.5°C smoke detection system, automatic windows and blinds, a
retractable bed and a self-regulated ventilation system. It can
Size: 14mm x 18mm x 5.5mm be controlled manually by switches or automatically by a
Light Dependent Voltage: 100V (Max.) Current: <1mA voice recognition system. Alternately, commands can be
Resistor given to the lighting system via a smart phone or tablet
Size: 0.2mm diameter through a web-server. Tests performed on the system have
Resistance: 200kΩ (dark) to 10kΩ (10 lux)
demonstrated that it is reliable.

Sensitivity: 400nm (violet) to 600nm (orange) VII. FURTHER WORKS

Some of the improvements that could be brought to the
H. Software design of the smart home, both in terms of security and its
features are as follows:
The microcontroller is programmed on the open-source
Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which • A fingerprint authentication system could be
makes it easy to write code in a C-like language, upload the implemented on the main user interface to achieve
program to the Arduino Mega and test it. The Android high security levels.
application was developed on Java programming language • Controlling the lighting system through a web-server
using the Android Software Development Kit (SDK). has been successfully implemented. This type of
command could be extended to the other systems as
V. RESULTS
well.
Each sub-system was implemented and tested separately • A messaging or email system can be set up to notify
in the first instance. Subsequently, all the features were
users of system status.
integrated into a single home automation system that
provides its occupants with improved security, a better • Solar panels can be used to power the automation
standard of living, enhanced energy efficiency and an system.
environment adapted for the elderly and physically disabled.


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