Introduction
The Home Automation Framework project is a web application that can remotely control the electronic devices in one’s home using a web interface on a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. The project facilitates ease of access and remote control of electronic devices for those who are busy, have a disability, or are not physically in the location of the device. Examples of such electronic devices may include lights, security cameras, electric door latches, TVs and computers.
Our initial prototype utilizes the small and inexpensive Raspberry Pi as the web server and an Arduino microprocessor. A web application was built using Python, in which the user is able to tap or click an icon in the web application to both turn a lamp off and on as well as open and close window blinds. Developing the prototype involved dismantling an existing remote control technology and soldering wires from it to GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi in order to be able to send voltage to the pins via our program, thus turning them off and on (or active), and remotely controlling any devices plugged into the outlet adapters from the existing technology. In addition, we used a servo in conjunction with an Arduino to control the blinds.
Materials
Materials used in this project include the following:
- Raspberry Pi ($35)
- Stanley Remote Control Device (with RF-controlled power sockets)
- Arduino Uno
- Servo Motor
- Infrared Remote
- LEDs
- Breadboard
- Connecting wires
- Horizontal Venetian Blinds
- Resistors
- Header pin
- Lamp
Description of Major Components
Server: A Raspberry Pi is connected to the internet and running an Apache web server, which serves HTML and CSS files to build the interface in the user’s browser. The Apache WSGI plugin is installed, allowing the server to run python code when the user presses buttons in the interface. The python code handles the GPIO port switching to control the Stanley RF remote control. The web interface and python code is hosted in a GitHub repository.
For more detail: Team 12 – Prototype I Final Report: Home Automation Project
