SMART HOME SYSTEM

A smart home system can be something that makes our life quite easy.
Starting from energy management where the power controls system in the
AC appliances where we use the thermostat, all this is managed to cut
down the power consumption that's taking place.

A door management system, security management system, water

management system are the part of this as well. Still, these are vital things
that stand out in the smart home system. The limitation of IoT in smart
home application stops where our imagination stops. Anything that we
wish to automate or want to make our life easier can be a part of smart
home, a smartphone system as well.

Now, a smart home usually is going to be a base of a smart city.

The smart city is an evolution of a smart home.
Here, it is not just the sensors of a single home that is connected,
here its correlation or a network or a connection between various
organizations, various domains as well as multiple segments of that city
as a whole.
In the smart city, the life of every single dependent becomes more
comfortable and in tune really help to develop that city to greater extends
as such. Now, the key factor for a smart city is government support as
well, and if the governments are willing to take this step, then we hope
we would see a smart city completely build on the Internet of Things.
2. IoT in agriculture
The world’s population is growing by large percentages.
Agriculture needs reforms to feed the world in large quantities. The
internet of things allows the integration of technology with agriculture to
provide better quality food, management, monitoring and control.
How automation and robotics help?
As the population rises the increase for food also certainly rises. In
order for the demands to be met, we require automated methods that
reduce the cost spent on manual labour. We also require methods that
reduce the time taken to cultivate produce. All of this must be done
keeping in mind the health of the individuals that will consume the
produce.
Semi automatic robots could be placed in the fields in order to
detect insects and pesticides to stop their growth at an early stage. These
robots can also overlook heavy vehicles. The farmers can easily control
these operations from the comfort of their homes.
Processes in smart agriculture
1. Data collection: farmers place sensors in the farm to gather
information about the moisture levels in soil and so on.
2. Diagnostics: the data is then sent to clouds for processing. The data is
interpreted to generate weighted outputs.
3. Decision making: based on the processed data the next step is taken
with utmost care and precaution.
4. Action: once the decision has been made, it is time to take necessary
action towards fulfilling the goals.
Smart irrigation system

Smart irrigation systems check the water levels in the water lanes
that farmers make. They involve the use of raspberry pies and Arduino
boards. The main processing unit is the raspberry pi and the arduino
board is for each of the water lanes.
The arduino boards are capable of connection to various sensors
that are a part of the water lanes. These sensors collect vital information
such as moisture and hydration levels of the soil.
In case any water lane does not meet the level that the farmer
specifies, the Arduino boards send signals to the Raspberry Pis that then
alert the farmers to take the necessary steps. The farmers interact with
application to activate the relays that send water to the lanes as per the
specified criterion. The smart irrigation systems can be seen as gate
controlled systems that adhere the gates open only when the moisture
content is less.
In case the moisture levels go beyond the limits it sends another
signal to the raspberry pi to stop the pumping. This system leads to
efficient uses of resources and reduction in water usage. Smart systems
such as these increase productivity in agriculture.
Given below are some of the challenges farmers face with the
modernization of the farming industry:
• Lack of labour and human resources
• Global warming and greenhouse gases
• Manual intervention at a larger platform
• No proper monitoring systems
• Challenges in processing the large amount of non uniform data
IoT analytics in agriculture
The data incoming from sensors is sent for further processing and
analysing. Smart farming integrates machine learning and predictive
analysis to help farmers deal with natural calamities such as droughts and
landslides.
Application of smart agriculture
1. Drone-based uses
Smart farming also involves the deployment of drones to monitor
areas from a remote location. Drones can reach places humans cannot
reach. They are also capable of collecting information and data. They can
send users data regarding soil, livestock, water levels and in addition help
in the prevention of burglary attempts, crow attacks and so on.
2. Real-time crop monitoring
Temperature sensors, light sensors, motion sensors and various
other smart sensors allow for retrieving real time updates about the crops.
The farmers can remotely check on the status of the crop to ensure
smooth functioning.
3. Livestock management
Sensors and smart cameras can count the number of animals such
as hens and pigs on the farm. Sensors can also obtain health conditions
about the animals on the farm. This helps in the early detection of flu
breakouts and allows farmers to take necessary actions more quickly.
4. Tank level monitoring
Iot allows the remote mounting of water levels in huge tanks. It
alerts the authorities when water levels fall below the average level in the
tanks.
5. Smart greenhouse solutions
 Greenhouses ensure that the plants meet the required level of
oxygen levels. However, this procedure requires continuous monitoring
and outside intervention. But a smart greenhouse uses iot monitors and
sensors that sense the atmosphere to send vital information for further
analysis. This is a reliable and efficient procedure that curbs the level of
harmful pollutants in the environment to a large extent.
6. Data analytics
Cloud and IoT platforms play an important role in smart
agriculture systems. Sensors are the main source of data collection.
However if there is no proper mechanism to analyse the data then the
information has no uses. The data undergoes predictive analysis and the
cloud generates back a necessary action on the basis of the inkling data.
7. Infrastructure requirements
In order to implement smart farming the farms require some basic
infrastructure such as stable internet connection, hardware maintenance
cost, huge investment on drones and sensors, a well trained staff and
stable power connection.

3. IOT Application in Smart Homes and Smart Cities

The two most prospering domains with the help of the internet of
things are smart homes and smart cities. Iot in smart homes and smart
homes is increasing an urbanised world and improving energy efficiency.

Smart homes
Smart homes connect the devices and home appliances together in
order to improve efficiency. These interconnect devices under one roof
such as geysers, ovens, smart TVs, thermostats and allow communication
between the devices.
IoT connects these devices to the internet and these devices
constantly send and receive information about the surroundings. The
devices send the data to giant cloud servers mostly via IoT gateways.
Smart homes allow users to remotely monitor their devices via mobile
applications. Applications of smart homes also include home security
systems, smart thermostats and smart refrigerators.
Smart homes cities integrate with the entire cities by creating and
controlling a network.
Smart thermostats
The Smart homes include thermostats that are capable of sensing and
controlling the temperature. This controls the flow.
Location-based smart devices
Smart devices can track your location and instantly send messages
to other devices to operate. For example, your smart thermostats can track
your location from a smart car and switch on the ACs before you arrive

Voice-enabled devices
These devices can interpret human voices and convert these into
text that is interpreted by the machines. Machines then perform the
necessary task. Examples include alexa and siri.
Smart security systems
Security systems that are made using IOT use features such as
facial recognition, iris scanners and other security modes.

Facial recognition
This is one of the most propelling uses of the IoT. facial
recognition models track the features of the face such as the yes, noses,
chin and lips to predict the output of the person. Based on the accuracy
the machine is further trained or sent for development.

Motion detection
Similar to facial detention but here the sensors record the
movements or changes on the surroundings. These behavioural changes
are then sent to the model for further analysis.

Biometric access control

Biometrics have become the backbone of any organisation’s
security systems. They are easy to manage and hassle-free. The
employees and the staff members simply record their thumb or iris
impressions on arrival and the machine marks their attendances. This
model saves time and cost.

Benefits for smart homes

Smart homes allow you to add improvised functionality into
regular homes. These make lives easier. For instance, smart vacuums
clean up your entire home when you are away and smart refrigerators
stock up your fridge and manage your die charts. Smart homes offer
security, stability, flexibility and peace of mind.

Challenges in smart home systems

• Although there is no doubt that smart homes immensely make the
lives of humans easier. It comes with the following challenges
• It becomes difficult to integrate the system when each one of the
IoT devices is sold by different vendors
• Many times the IOt devices are not compatible with each other.
Each of the devices must be connected to the WiFi in addition to
being connected to devices such as Google Assistant.
• The prices of setting up smart homes are highly expensive and so
the customers may not prefer to make such a hefty investment
when regular homes just work fine without IoT.
• Security is still a big threat in smart homes. Smart homes must
have a powerful farewell in order to avoid system hacking
The internet of things technology allows smart cities to stay
connected worldwide. Smart cities are driven by technology to make
smart cities more safer, modern and reliable. It leads to a boost in the
economy.
Smart cities include services, devices and technology that work with IoT.
These offer services to improve water, electricity, roads, transportation,
public areas, buildings and digital services such as broadbands. These
replace regular machines with smart machines that contain sensors to
sense and collect data and actuators generate efficient responses on the
basis of the data incoming from sensors.
Smart cities make the lives of the citizens more comfortable and
easy. Smart cities with traffic sensors have decreased road accidents and
deaths to a large extent.

Features of smart cities

1. Smart water management
Smart eater management uses the internet of things to gain access
to real-time information about the water systems and the water bodies.
This allows humans to better manage their water resources and their
requirements.

2. Smart lighting
Smart lighting contains sensors that can sense when the night falls
and automatically switch on the street lighting. These sensors can also
sense when the sun comes and they automatically switch off. Smart
lighting also is capable of reaching with the help of solar energy.

3. Smart traffic management

Smart traffic management integrates with smart cities in order to
better control and manage traffic in the cities. It offers different routes to
regulate the traffic and it sends help quickly in case of a road incident.
These systems are in constant contact with the traffic police and deliver
the officers with real-time updates.

4. Smart parking
Smart parking is a technology that makes use of a combination of
efforts by iOt devices and humans. This allows drivers to locate empty
spots in parking areas, detect the cars around them and alert the drivers in
case they are blocking someone elses driveways.

5. Smart waste management

Smart waste management involves the use of sensors that detect
full garbage bins to notify the city authorities. These management
systems collect and store data over the course of years to create better
drinking routes and reduce the cost of operation.

6. Smart policing
Smart policing is one of the important features of smart cities. It
involves the use of IOT based technologies to manage the citizens of the
city. These technologies collect data about the cities in order to better
manage the city. For example, cameras in local areas can provide data
about the areas with more burglary cases in order for the police to take
the next step of actions.

Benefits of Smart Cities

Smart cities have revolutionized the lives of communities. Sensors
can now sense the percentage of pollutants in the air. Sensors send data
about the traffic in a locality to manage the city.

Smart homes in smart cities

Smart homes in smart cities are going to become a much more
common occurrence as housing is one of the most important features of
any city.
 These are capable of reducing the cost of living and the cost of
construction. As we move into the near future we are likely to notice that
smart homes connect to smart cities to provide further benefits to the
entire city. These may sound like an alien topic to discuss as of now. But
as the year moves by and the technology develops into a higher level we
are likely to notice inter-connected smart cities and smart homes on a
wider scale and network.

IoT Smart homes for smart citizens

A city with smart homes does not necessarily mean expensive
houses with tight security. However, it is necessary to have some security
on personal and public networks so the city is safe from crimes such as
theft.
By ensuring devices are protected we ensure the fundamental
growth of the city. We can monitor our personal assets remotely and this
is all possible due to the internet of things. Smart homes help in saving
time and costs for example thermostats manage the temperature of your
home and control your expenses. Similarly, if we apply this concept on a
city level we can reuse and save energy to a much larger extent.
Smart cities are much safer. These include smart traffic control, pollution
control, smoke detectors, security cameras near every public area, and so
on. Smart security systems reduce crime rates in any city by a large
percentage.
Smart homes with IoT technology create a much easier and helpful
living space for their residents. Cities become safer and easier to control.
Smart cities contain responsible and dutiful citizens and residents.
IoT applications span a wide range of domains like:

• Home Automation
• Smart Cities
• Environment
• Energy systems
• Retail
• Logistics
• Industry
• Agriculture
• Health