SIT792: Exploring Home Automation Systems, Technology, and Security

This thesis provides a comprehensive overview of home automation systems, examining their evolution, technological underpinnings, and security challenges. It begins with an abstract highlighting the increasing need for energy conservation and the role of remote access in modern home automation. The introduction defines home automation and its relevance in today's market, emphasizing the use of smart grids for energy management. The background section details the historical progression from manual systems to IoT-integrated smart homes, highlighting the advantages of automated networks over traditional methods. The thesis also delves into the history of home automation, discussing key milestones like the ECHO IV and Gerontechnology. The motivation behind the project is to explore the advantages and disadvantages of home automation and its security risks, with a focus on cost management. The problem statement identifies security issues and operating costs as key challenges, while related work acknowledges the growing interest in innovations and modern living. Furthermore, the thesis discusses the responsibilities of practitioners, home automation system design and implementation, features of 6LoWPAN, and concludes with results, evaluation, and a discussion of the findings, underlining the popularity of home automation networks globally.

SIT 792 Minor Thesis
Assignment-4: Minor Thesis

Table of Contents
Abstract......................................................................................................................................2
Introduction...............................................................................................................................3
Background................................................................................................................................4
History of Home Automation.....................................................................................................5
Motivation/rationale of the Project...........................................................................................7
Problem Statement....................................................................................................................8
Related Work..............................................................................................................................9
Research Methodology Used...................................................................................................10
GSM Based home automation system.....................................................................................11
Advanced and integrated understanding................................................................................13
Characteristics of Home Automation.......................................................................................14
Challenges faced by using Home Automation System............................................................15
Types of Home Automation System........................................................................................17
Complexities of Home Automation System.............................................................................19
Pros and Cons of Home Automation System...........................................................................20
Critical analysis and reflection of Home Automation System.................................................21
Characteristics of smart home technology:.............................................................................22
How smart grid became the best source of communication?.................................................23
Role of ICT in smart homes and smart grid..............................................................................25
Security risk assessment and recommendations.....................................................................27
Security in the home automation system................................................................................28
Research issues regarding the home automation system.......................................................30
Marketing of products.............................................................................................................32
Responsibilities of Practitioners...............................................................................................33
Home Automation System Design and Implementation.........................................................34
Features of 6LoWPAN..............................................................................................................36
Results/Evaluation/Discussion.................................................................................................37
Conclusion................................................................................................................................38
References................................................................................................................................39
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Abstract
Due to increase in population, energy consumption has increased across the globe. It is has
become mandatory for the people to conserve energy for having a sustainable environment.
For saving a large amount of energy remote access is required to control the operations
which cannot be found in the older versions of home automation systems. However,
engineers are trying to improve the abilities of home automation system using android
based applications. To support such android based applications, there are different types of
communication methods like Bluetooth, ZigBee and others are required. Earlier, the systems
were used to be controlled manually and used long wires and cables for connecting
different electrical appliances. Since, most of the cabling was used; it created complexities in
the network and sometimes leads to network failure due to short circuits. Later in the
1990’s evolution of smart devices and smart homes took place replacing completely the
traditional type of system. The difference between these two was smart homes used
automated tools like android/web-based applications, configurations of censoring devices,
integrated software application, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth based connectivity for controlling and
monitoring such digital appliances. When home automation came into existence, it was not
much liked by the people. But later o it became a trend in most of the countries like US and
UK. This research paper describes about the investigations that has been made about the
home automation system. Home automation system consists of the hardware and software
systems to provide services to the people which are broadly discussed in this research
paper. Software applications like installed programs and Android applications to monitor the
accessibility of the system. Hardware devices like router, smart devices, computers, tablets,
smartphones and other useful hardware components in the network. When using Wi-Fi
network for providing internet services to the users, ICT companies also have to create
strategies to avoid security vulnerabilities. This issue is reflected in this paper and
consequently its mitigation strategies are developed. Internet of things (IoT) technology is
used as an infrastructure for the home automation network. This technology has enabled
smart devices to integrate with the electrical appliances which are used for developing
smart homes. This paper concludes that home automation network is most liked by the
people across the globe.
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Introduction
The home automation system is generally used in an electronic environment in which the
system has a whole is being set up for a specific purpose. All the necessary appliances like
television, refrigerator, fan, motors etc. are accessed remotely in a home automation
system by the users in an electrical environment. These appliances are controlled and
monitored by using a single interface including Android and web-based applications. Home
automation is the technology evolved to build smart homes. These smart homes have
changed the lives of people and have proved the effectiveness of the technology. This minor
thesis will describe in depth about the home automation system and its requirement in the
market today (Xcubelabs, 2017). It is defined as the effective controlling of the electrical
devices are interconnected using smart grids. It helps in managing the energy consumption
so that it does not affect the environment. The purpose of this research is to find the
relevance of home automation system for the people living in different countries of the
world. This research is about providing information regarding the importance, advantages,
disadvantages, limitations, and use of home automation system. In the previous
assignments, research has been made on the existence of home automation system and the
use of internet of things (IoT) technology. This research is based on acknowledging
important information regarding the implementation of the home automation system. This
minor thesis will describe security vulnerabilities that could occur in automated systems, the
technology associated with it and security solutions that are recommended for the users
who have installed home automation system. This research will be based on considering the
global aspects of managing and controlling the accessibility of the home automation system.
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Background
When the home automation system was not a part of technology, people used to perform
most of their regular operations manually. Manual work created inconsistency and it used
to take a lot of time to accomplish a certain task. The IT companies then worked on
improving the use of electrical appliances for the people as most of these created short
circuits and breakdown in the electricity network. It also included the higher cost of
maintaining such appliances and controlling them manually. Then after years of hard work,
there are a lot many improvements that have been taken place in the field of the home
automation system. Technology like the internet of things has been used to integrate the
smart devices with the Android and web-based applications. The ICT companies are now
focusing to develop enhancements in the field of home automation system without
affecting the environment. Smart grid technology is used to reduce the carbon emission that
is being generated from the electrical appliances of the automated network. It has been
recorded by the researchers that automated systems consume more electrical energy. The
observations of technical experts also state that the home automation systems have
replaced the use of traditional systems. Home automation systems were started as the
evolution of smart homes. The devices are controlled by a gateway. There is a user interface
which is mounted by the control systems. Tablet and the desktop computers can be
accessed off-site without using the internet service. Home automation systems were used
since the 1990’s and have now reached a level where almost every country of the
worldwide is making expectations to use it. These are cost-effective and easy to manage.
The internet of things technology has been used as an interface for the home automation
system. Mostly, a Wi-Fi network is used to provide internet connectivity to the automated
network.
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History of Home Automation
1901- 1920: Introduction to ‘Smart’ technology
Within these years, the home automation system was invented by IT professionals. They set
their target to achieve ‘smart’ homes for the people across the globe. They took the help of
electrical and electronics engineer to introduce such technology in the market. No doubt
this was liked by almost everyone across the globe. Through many years, washing machines,
fans etc. were used by the people in their homes which brought up this idea of creating a
fully automated system by the technical experts. At that time, fewer people used to
implement smart technology for their homes as they were not sure about the reliability and
efficiency of such systems.
1966-1967: ECHO IV
It is the first ever launched smart device that was commercially used by the people. This
device was used to provide information regarding weather forecast, reading of electrical
appliances and many others. This was the good source of gathering information and to
memorize small things like the shopping list. This technology reduced the workload of
people who were more focused on their work rather than other jobs at their home.
1991- Gerontechnology
This type of technology was used to give alerts about something. If anything weird used to
happen then an alarm used to ring to provide an acknowledgment to the users.
Gerontechnology became beneficial for the older people who felt difficulty in managing
their daily routine activities. The government has also facilitated this technology as an
effective innovation for the old age persons living in the society. This was the reliable
product to perform safety for the disabled individuals.
1998-2000 Smart homes:
People have found smart homes technology innovative and interesting and therefore, use of
smart home technology began in early 2000’s. It ensured the users that less energy is
consumed by having all the electrical appliances all together under one roof. The internet of
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things (IoT) technology is used as an infrastructure for constructing smart homes. These
provide devices like sensors and actuators to transmit the information to the users on their
smart devices like computers or tablets (Hendricks, 2014).
This was all about the trends that took place in the history of the home automation system.
Nowadays, the home automation system is used with the help of Android-based
applications having the user-friendly user interface. Users can manage the automated
network for own using their smart devices like tablet or smartphones. These systems also
allow users to access the internet services 24 hours a day with complete security. This is the
reason why people are choosing a secured automated network over the traditional method
of accessing their electrical appliances at home.
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Motivation/rationale of the Project
With the advent of the home automation system and the use of internet of things
technology, research about its advantages and disadvantages promoted to create a research
about this. I took guidance from my academic teachers for understanding the concept
behind home automation system. Using the different academic journals and articles, I have
gathered information regarding the existence of home automation. This project is important
for me to create better opportunities for knowing more about the automated systems and
their importance. This thesis is based on the proper understanding of the topic ‘Home
Automation System’ which is developed by ICT based organisations to provide best of their
smart home services to the customers worldwide. This research is more about the
investigation about the methodologies that are used in an automated network. This
investigation will be based on the data collected from qualitative data analysis method. My
motivation behind choosing this topic is the trend of smart homes nowadays. People choose
to have secured and modern homes to have a better lifestyle. Practitioners have concluded
that now people believe in change and innovations that they observe in the market today.
Earlier, people used to implement traditional systems which are connected with long
transmission lines and were likely about electro-mechanical equipment. These were highly
expensive in their maintenance as compared to the automated networks. Considering these
aspects, I have selected the home automated system to research on this. I will be going to
create a thesis about what it is about, which technology is used for this, security issues,
challenges in the market and the cost required for the implementation of such systems.
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Problem Statement
While researching about the home automation system, security issues and proper
management of operating costs came out to be the problem. Research issues for this
project are to know what are the security risks associated with the automated network and
their mitigation strategies. When it comes to the understanding of Wi-Fi-based networks
and software applications, security is the main concern. However, ICT (Information and
Technology) companies are making research about providing ease of access to home
automation system to the users worldwide. Identification of strategies could be used to
handle costs. The research problems could be sorted by studying about the home
automation network using relevant internet sources such as academic journals.
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Related Work
Technological advancements have proved that people are now more interested in
innovations. Innovations have become the part of their lives creating a modern living. Home
automation system makes the domestic operations much more convenient to perform.
There are different components of home automation system like user interface, controller,
mode of transmission, and electronic devices each of these have their own importance in
the digital world. Artificial intelligence has contributed a lot in making people understand
the effectiveness of automated networks. It provides the information regarding the real-
time scenario about the electrical appliances that are used for a domestic purpose. The
home automation system is the part of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology that is
tremendously growing in the markets worldwide. People from different countries are
approaching ICT organisations to enhance the processes of smart homes and also to provide
a user guide so that they can effectively use such systems. Most of the issues faced by the
users were the energy consumption that these devices have. Each of the electrical
appliances is connected to a smart device to consuming a lot of energy. However, ICT
companies are still working on reducing the power consumption and providing feasibility in
the home automation network for the people who want to use such technology. The
research work is based on the home automation network and the different types of
technologies associated with it (Gunge and Yalagi, 2016). This journal by (Tiwari and
Gedam, 2016), describes the brief description of the home automation system and its
effectiveness for the people. It is studied in this journal that micro-controllers are used to
monitor the activities of a home automation system. Micro-controllers are used to provide
information to the smart devices like the request made by the users. The journal by (Saad al-
summit, Ahmed, and Salama, 2014), describes the importance of internet of things
technology for the growth of home automation systems in different countries of the world.
Author has focused on the advantages of the internet of things in making the automated
systems much reliable to use. It is reflected in this paper that smart devices that are used in
home automation systems are user-friendly, reliable, better in performance and is effective
to use. This paper is the literature review about the home automation system which
describes the different types of smart devices that are used in it. The author has described
the challenges that companies face in implementing home automation technology. The
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main role is of communication in such automated systems; this helps in transferring
information about the functionality of a smart device to the users.
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Research Methodology Used
Research Methodology is a type of systematic plan that is used to describe the research
activities that is performed for understanding a particular topic. A research methodology is
based on assumptions, approaches and the philosophy to some related topic. Researchers
use research methodology as an essential tool for getting reviews about the predictions
made about a research topic like that of the home automation system (Eyisi, 2016). The
research questions are identified and solved on the basis of information gathered for a
topic. Although, there are different research methodologies, qualitative research
methodology will be used for this project. This is because it provides in-depth knowledge
about a topic. I will be using different case studies taking academic journals as a reference.
Qualitative approach is about exploring a problem using surveys, interviews, questionnaires,
focus groups and other fact-finding technique as a medium of study. This method is quite
complex as the raw data is collected from the views that people provide to the researchers.
I want to focus on the predictions and requirements of people for the home automation
system. That is why, I have found qualitative research methodology as an important tool for
completing my minor thesis project. As the method of data collection, I will be conducting
surveys on various ICT organisations and the phenomenon based on home automation
system. I want to collect the theoretical knowledge about home automation system and
hence chose qualitative data analysis method to study about different facts and figures
related to smart homes (Almalki, 2016).
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