2017 IEEE International Conference on Technological Innovations in ICT For Agriculture and Rural Development
(TIAR 2017)
IoT Application Development: Home Security
System
Raj G Anvekar
School of Electronics and Communication
Engineering,
KLE Technological University Hubli, India
raj.anvekar123@gmail.com
Abstract—One of the prominent application segment of
Internet of Things framework is in the Security Sector. It is
important to arrive at a unique low cost solution to prevent
theft and ensure security to members of the home. The
Internet of Things(IoT) Layered Architecture based design
approach assists the system designer to conveniently
differentiate the system component requirements distinctly at
various layers. This papers highlights the model driven
development process for Home Security System. It remarks the
uses of customers end application such as Telegram to securely
transmit information through layers of IoT architecture. This
paper aims at providing a low-power, cost effective and
unobtrusive IoT based home security system which assist in
presence detection, identification and authentication of
stranger. The proposed solution makes use of USB Webcam as
an image capturing unit, Electric Door Strike as an actuator
and Telegram which has an amazing feature as Telegram Bot
which provide APIs to build solutions which is compatible with
Raspberry Pi IoT infrastructure.
Keywords—Internet of Things, Telegram, Raspberry Pi,
Home Security, Electric Door Strike, Doorbell.
I. INTRODUCTION
Internet of Things (IoT) is an interconnection of physical
objects and other devices embedded with electronics,
software, network connectivity and application specific
sensors and actuators that enables the objects to collect and
exchange data. It is an important topic in technology industry
and its applications has gained popularity in recent years and
is predicted to have billions of smart objects connected
together by 2020. IoT has become a major platform in the
field of Home Automation and Security, and foresee large
number of application possibilities in near future. Smart
connectivity [1] with existing networks and context-aware
computation using network resources is an indispensable part
of IoT. In today's world, Wi-Fi and 4G-LTE wireless Internet
access is predominantly used, which justifies the evolution of
ubiquitous information and communication networks.
However, for the Internet of Things vision to successfully
emerge, the computing standard will need to go beyond
conventional mobile computing scenarios that use smart
phones and portables, and evolve into connecting everyday
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Dr. Rajeshwari M Banakar
Professor, Member IEEE
School of Electronics and Communication Engineering,
KLE Technological University Hubli, India
banakar@bvb.edu
existing physical objects and embedding intelligence into our
environment.
Security has become a major issue everywhere and its
LPSRUWDQFHFDQ¶WEHGHQLHG in this crime ridden society. The
role of IoT infrastructure in the development of home
security system is significant. The security of home members
acts as a fore runner in the development of home security
systems. The primary aim is to develop feasible solution to
transform a traditional doorbell into an intelligent bell which
provides information of the stranger to home owner thereby
enabling him to answer the door through smartphone with
easy user interface. The design solution in IoT system is
multidisciplinary and is scattered through various domain
specific challenges.
In [2], Ovidiu and Peter discuss the growth and
application of IoT based design systems in the near future.
The authors give an IoT layered architecture illustration
which is useful for the IoT system designer. The networking
infrastructure and protocols requires special attention during
system level integration of IoT. The network infrastructure
demands [3] need of high quality data and failure free
wireless communication. There are many researches that
anticipate the failure of wireless network which is growing
as the use of technology evolves. The main factors are
network topology, failure of network measurement and cost
minimization which decides the efficiency of the network
and data delivery. The data delivered or exchanged over
internet can be audio, video or an image file. Jayashri and
Arvind [4] proposes the use GSM based security system to
enhance the security. It illustrates two methods of home
security system, first one has a webcam which captures the
motion and sends a mail to the owner of house. Second uses
GSM-GPS module to send SMS to the owner with the
assistance of sensor and micro-controller. In [5] Arun and
Doreen uses Bluetooth as a wireless standard to detect,
identify and locate entities inside home. WLAN is setup to
collate a server data at a centralized server. Uses 3 Bluetooth
beacon which provide the RSSI value and supports 3
decision model, they are peak RSSI decision model,
supervised and unsupervised learning model for detection,
identification and localization of the entities. Exchange of
information in the form of video or image is the requirement

 2017 IEEE International Conference on Technological Innovations in ICT For Agriculture and Rural Development
(TIAR 2017)
of varied application, including smart transportation, smart
health care and smart structures. Umar Albalawi and Prabha
Sundaravadivel [6] presents a modular and extensible
quadrotor architecture and its specific prototyping for
automatic tracking applications. To demonstrate the power
and flexibility of proposed design, a target tracking and
acquisition applications is presented here. The designed
module implements the basic proportional integral derivative
control and a custom target acquisition algorithm.
Importance of the sliding-window-based algorithm is also
presented.
II. IOT LAYERED ARCHITECTURE: HOME SECURITY SYSTEM
The IoT layered architecture consist of four major layers.
They are Application Layer, Information Service Layer,
Networking Infrastructure Layer and Smart Object Layer.
The Smart Object Layer mainly consist of sensors for data
acquisition and actuators for data deployment. It is the base
layer of IoT Layered Architecture.
Fig. 1. IoT Layered Architecture
The sensors of Smart Object Layer interact with real time
parameter and enables data collection which can be used by
the upper layers. Fig. 1 illustrates the IoT Layered
Architecture. Choice of the sensors and actuators in an IoT
based system design makes them Smart Objects. These
Smart Objects can be used in distinct application as they can
be programmed using appropriate Internet modules. As they
are programmable they can be used to provide user services.
In the IoT layered architecture, Information Services Layer
mainly deals with end user applications. It has Software as a
Service (SaaS) as its important design attribute. SaaS allows
user to connect and use cloud based application over
Internet. The customer specification governs the designer's
model approach. The salient features of SaaS is that user can
gain access to sophisticated applications, access applications
data from anywhere and its ability to automatically update to
the latest version. The Networking infrastructure Layer acts
as a bridge between Smart Object and Information Service
Layer. For the data transmission between the door bell and
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the Raspberry Pi, Webcam acts as an intermittent node. The
APIs of webcam are installed in order to take a picture of
VWUDQJHUDWRZQHU¶VGRRU7KHQHWZRUNLQJLQIUDVWUXFWXUHDFWV
as a source of communication between source node and
target node. It includes Ethernet LAN cable, USB Wi-Fi
Adapter, which connects Raspberry Pi to Internet. The
Information Service Layer uses SaaS to reach customer end
using Internet. It sends and receives the information in the
form of data packets. The social networking application such
as WhatsApp, Gmail and Telegram acts as SaaS for
customer end applications. The Application Layer is
customer specific design feature. It supports various
application in field of security, home automation, energy,
transportation and automobiles. It can receive and retransmit
information through the layers on IoT architecture. Fig. 2
illustrates IoT Layered Architecture in Home Security
System.
Fig. 2. IoT Layered Architecture for Home Security System
III. IOT APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPTUAL MODEL
With the increased availability of consumer sensing
devices including modern smartphones, the domain of
networked sensing has evolved into the Internet of Things,
where application exhibit traditional Wireless Sensor and
Actuator Network (WSAN) features and such large number
of sensing and actuation device are coupled with increased
device heterogeneity and integration with database server,
etc. As IoT has gained wide acceptance the need for sound
software engineering approaches to adequately manage the
development of complex application arises. Based on roles
Fig. 3. Conceptual Model of Home Security System

 2017 IEEE International Conference on Technological Innovations in ICT For Agriculture and Rural Development
(TIAR 2017)
defined in Fig. 2 we propose the following model driven produces an output. An output could be command or a data
message that is consumed by others or data message that
development process that consists of following steps as triggers an action of an actuator. A computational service is a
shown in Fig. 3. representation of the processing element in an application.
A. Domain Specific Concept
The concepts that fall into this category are specific to a
target application domain. For example, the Security System
domain is reasoned in terms of rooms and doors. An entity of
interest (EoI) is an object (e.g., room, book, door), including
attributes that describe it, and its state that is relevant from a
user or an application perspective. The entity of interest has
an observable property called phenomenon. Typical
examples are the sensing range of motion detector of a door
and a tag ID. The conceptual representation of an actuator, a
sensor, a storage or a kind of user interface is a resource.
These are the following types of resources:
x A sensor has the ability to detect changes in the
environment. PIR and Webcam acts as a sensing
device. The sensor observes a phenomenon of an
EoI. For instance, the PIR sensor detects the
presence of a stranger in front of a door.
x An actuator makes changes in the environment
through an action. Electric door strike and alarming
systems are examples of actuators. The actuator
affects a phenomenon of an EoI by performing
actions. For instance, the electric door strike
controlled by smartphone allows the owner to enter
the home.
x A storage has the ability of storing data in a
persistent manner. The storage stores information
about a phenomenon of an EoI. For instance, a
database server stores information in the form of
picture captured using webcam about the people
YLVLWLQJRZQHU¶VKRPH
x A user interface represents tasks available to users
to interact with entities of interest. For home
security system, it sends a notification to home
owner indicating the presence of stranger at his
door. On authenticating the identity, the owner
unlocks the door using his smartphone.
B. Functionality Specific Concept
The computational element of an application mainly the
software component and any interaction among them falls in
this category. A computational element is basically a type of
software component that encloses a part systems
functionality and data, and restricts access to that part via
explicitly defined interfaces. We use the term application
logic to refer a functionality of a software component. The
application logic to send information of visitor to owner on
pressing the doorbell, to unlock the door using smartphone
etc. This concept includes a software component with
specific functionality, a computational service related to it,
which is a type of software component that consumes one or
more parameter information as inputs, processes it, and
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A software component communicates with other
software components to exchange data or control. These
interactions occurs based on different modes such as request-
response and command. This is in principle as an instance of
the component-port-connector architecture used in software
engineering.
C. Deployment Specific Concept
All the devices employed for an application falls in this
category. Each device hosts zero or more resources. For
example, a device could host resources such as a PIR sensor
WR GHWHFW YLVLWRU¶V SUHVHQFH D 5DVSEHUU\ 3L WR SURFHVV WKH
input data and give output data to actuators, a smartphone to
display information of stranger, a door strike to unlock the
door and a storage to store the information of stranger.
D. Platform Specific Concept
The computer programs mainly the device drivers which
acts as a translator between a hardware and an application
falls in this category. We identify the following platform
specific concepts:
x For efficient functioning of a sensor, sensor driver
is required. It accesses data observed by the sensor
and generates the meaningful data that can be used
by other software components. For instance, PIR
sensor generates a value on detecting the presence
of visitor and precedes this value to Raspberry Pi
for further calculation.
x An actuator driver is required to allow the actuator
to function appropriately. It translates a command
from other software components and actuates the
actuator appropriately. For instance,
locking/unlocking mechanism of electric door
strike when triggered by a user application.
x In order to provide read and write access to storage
device, a storage service is required. A storage
service provides access to the storage. Other
software components uses this storage service to
access data from the storage. For instance, MySQL
storage service provides access to a database
server.
x An end-user application is a basically a type of
software component that is required to help a user
to perform tasks (e.g., receiving notifications,
submitting information). It provides access to
available tasks. For instance, in the home security
application a user can authenticate the identity of
visitor and allow access to home using an
application installed on his phone.

 2017 IEEE International Conference on Technological Innovations in ICT For Agriculture and Rural Development
(TIAR 2017)
Fig. 4. Flowchart of Home Security System
The flowchart in Fig. 4, illustrates the initialization
process to invoke the webcam and sets it to active mode.
The steps followed by IoT infrastructure to reflect the output
response are also shown. When a visitor presses the
doorbell, it sends an analog signal to Raspberry Pi which
triggers the Webcam to take the picture of visitor. Pi
connects to Internet and sends the data to Telegram server.
The server responds to the request and sends the data to
Telegram user. The user authenticates the identity and
allows access to visitor by unlocking the door remotely
using his smartphone. The above algorithm is repeated
every time the bell is pressed or motion is detected.
IV. DESIGN METHODOLOGY
The methodology used for making the system operate is
divided into two important phases.
A. Human Detection and Authentication
When a visitor approaches a home and presses the
doorbell, an analog signal is fed to Raspberry Pi. If the
visitor does not presses the doorbell, the PIR sensor detects
his presence and sends signal to Pi which triggers the
webcam to take the picture of visitor. The algorithm is
deployed on Pi to process the data. Pi connects to internet
and sends the data to Telegram server. Telegram is highly
secure as it supports AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
and Triple Data Encryption standards.
In this part we have installed Telegram libraries in the
Raspberry Pi to make use of Telegram application and
created a new Telegram account for the Raspberry Pi by
registering a mobile sim card number. Once we register the
mobile number, a Telegram code will be sent to that
respective mobile number for activation. The captured image
as shown in Fig. 5 is sent using Send_Photo command of
Telegram. Along with the photo, a notification message is
also sent using command Send_Message. Thus, at the sender
end, it is the Raspberry Pi which does the main work, but
data has been sent through Telegram. The user authenticates
the identity and take necessary actions.
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Authorized licensed use limited to: Corporacion Universitaria de la Costa. Downloaded on March 19,2021 at 05:46:35 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Fig. 5. Picture of Visitor
B. Restrict/Allow access to home
To take control action we have used an amazing feature
of Telegram which is known as Telegram bot. Bots are
answer machines that takes the proper action for questions
asked or commands sent.
On the Raspberry Pi Telegram bot libraries must be
installed and upgraded to the new version. The controlling
action is implemented by writing python script. In this
experiment, when user sends commands to control the
Raspberry Pi from his Telegram account to the bot, python
script will get called. Function bot.notifyOnMessage(handle)
will intimate the bot that some command has been received.
To check which command has been sent, a series of else-if
conditions are written inside the handle(msg) function.
Hence the Telegram bot calls this function and when the
command sent by the user matches with the options written
inside the handle(msg) function it will execute the
commands which are under the else-if keywords. Inserting
the token of Telegram Bot in python script is very important.
In Telegram bot, messages can be sent by using function
bot.sendMessage(chat id, msg). To execute the OS
commands we can use sub process python module or OS
system module. In order to control the door lock, home
RZQHU VHQGV µ/unlock¶ RU µ/lock¶ commands to the bot. The
IoT device and smartphone need not be connected to the
same network.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
We have performed the experiment by interfacing
Webcam and Electric Door Strike with the Raspberry Pi. The
use of Telegram application to receive the messages and
send the commands makes the whole system user friendly
and effective. When the home owner receives the pictorial
information of stranger/visitor, he authenticates the identity
and takes action by sending commands to Raspberry Pi from
his Telegram account using his smartphone connected to
Internet. The door locking mechanism is implemented using
Electric door strike. When the Raspberry Pi receives

 2017 IEEE International Conference on Technological Innovations in ICT For Agriculture and Rural Development

(TIAR 2017)
µ/unlock¶ command from user/home owner, it runs python [3] Elisha Colmenar, Fadi Al-Turjman, Mohammad Biglarbegian,
code which makes respective GPIO pins high, triggers the ³'DWD 'HOLYHU\ DQG *DWKHULQJ LQ ,R7 $SSOLFDWLRQV$Q
2YHUYLHZ´ WK $QQXDO ,((( :RUNVKRS RQ :LUHOHVV /RFDO
relay and unlocks the door. Networks, WLN 2014, Edmonton, Canada.
[4] -D\DVKUL %DQJDOL DQG $UYLQG 6KDOLJUDP ³ 'HVLJQ DQG
Implementation of Security Systems for Smart Home based on
*60WHFKQRORJ\´ ,QWHUQDWLRQDO-RXUQDORI6PDUW+RPH9RO
No.6 (2013), pp.201-208.
[5] Alaa Alhamoud, Arun Asokan Nairy, Christian Gottron, Doreen
%RKQVWHGW DQG 5DOI 6WHLQPHW] ³ 3UHVHQFH 'HWHFWLRQ
Identification and Tracking in Smart Homes Utilizing Bluetooth
(QDEOHG 6PDUWSKRQHV´ WK $QQXDO ,((( :RUNVKRS RQ
Wireless Local Networks, WLN 2014, Edmonton, Canada.
[6] ELIAS KOUGIANOS, SARAJU P. MOHANTY, GAVIN
COELHO, UMAR ALBALAWI AND PRABHA
SUNDARAVADIVEL, " Design of a High-Performance
System for Secure Image Communication in the Internet of
Things", SPECIAL SECTION ON SECURITY AND
RELIABILITY AWARE SYSTEM DESIGN FOR MOBILE
COMPUTING DEVICES, Date of current version April 6,
2016.
Fig. 6. System Implementation

In the same way ZKHQ LW UHFHLYHV WKH FRPPDQG µORFN¶

the door will get locked by making respective GPIO pins
low. Fig. 6 represents the system implementation in real
time. Thus by sending commands to the bot we can control
any actuators that are connected to IoT device. Also this
action can be taken from any remote place. Once the door
gets unlocked a notification PHVVDJH ³The door has been
ORFNHG´LVVHQWWRWKHKRPHRZQHUDVDFNQRZOHGJHPHQW7KH
system is highly responsive and robust.

VI. CONCLUSION
An IoT enabled design framework is presented for
security sector. The conceptual model developed for the IoT
based Home Security System has been built using the
fundamentals of IoT Layered Architecture feature. The
successful implementation of the proposed design solution
for IoT Home Security System, with the projection of 21
billion Smart Objects by 2020 advances the knowledge
during system integration. In this paper, we have
conceptualized and implemented a low-power, cheap and
unobtrusive IoT based Home Security System which assist
in presence detection, identification and authentication of
stranger. The system requires extremely low maintenance
and can be employed in smart homes of tomorrow. Future
work is on, a similar approach in developing a prototype for
face detection and identification using the concept of
machine learning and artificial intelligence.

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0DULPXWKX 3DODQLVZDPL ³,QWHUQHW RI 7KLQJV ,R7 $ YLVLRQ
DUFKLWHFWXUDO HOHPHQWV DQG IXWXUH GLUHFWLRQV´ ,QWHUQDWLRQDO
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1645±1660.
[2] 2YLGLX 9HUPHVDQ 3HWHU )ULHVV ³,QWHUQHW RI 7KLQJV ±
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Authorized licensed use limited to: Corporacion Universitaria de la Costa. Downloaded on March 19,2021 at 05:46:35 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.