What is Home Automation?
Smart Home is the term commonly used to
define a residence that uses a Home
Controller to integrate the residence?s
various home automation systems. The most
popular Home Controllers are those that are
connected to a Windows based PC during
programming only, and are then left to
perform the home control duties on a
stand-alone basis. Integrating the home
systems allows them to communicate with one
another through the home controller, thereby
enabling single button and voice control of
the various home systems simultaneously, in
preprogrammed scenarios or operating modes.
For example, a scenario such as "I'm Home"
could be triggered by pressing one button on
a Keychain Remote from your vehicle as you
approach the driveway. The Home Controller
receives the Keychain Remote command
triggering a scenario, preprogrammed and
stored in the home controller. The celestial
clock in the controller knows that it is 8
pm and past sunset, in your geographical
location, therefore starting the scenario by
sequentially turning on the lighting in the
driveway, garage entry, walkway, hallway,
and kitchen. It then disarms the security
system, opens the garage door, unlocks the
interior garage entry door, adjusts the
thermostat(s) to a preset home position, and
turns on the whole-house audio system. The
home control processor is essentially the
Hub of the home systems network, as shown in
the Stargate example below. The Home Control
Processor is programmed to customer specific
requirements to initiate sequential
automatic operation of the home systems, in
response to "one button" commands from a
system controller, based on the situation
and or time.
|
 |
Other time saving scenarios such as "Party
Time", "Away", "Good Night" etc. involving
several home systems can be activated by
phone, voice, and remotes as desired. A home
systems status check is also a convenient
feature to add to the "Good Night" scenario.
In addition to automatically turning off all
lights and adjusting the thermostats, the
system will also provide an audio report
indicating the status of the security system
by zone, the temperature in each zone, the
position of the garage doors, and the
"wakeup" times selected.
PC Networks PC Networks are quickly becoming
an essential element of today?s Smart Homes.
A minimum of Windows 98 release2 PC Network allows all
of the family PCs to share resources
including one connection, and one account to
the Internet, simultaneously. This is also
convenient for smart home system upgrades,
since much of the home automation and home
systems equipment is PC programmable and
equipment manufacturers now provide the
software upgrades via the Internet. The
Internet connection will increasingly play a
major role in the operation and monitoring
of our homes.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
