An Internet of Things based system for home automation using Web Services and Cloud Computing

Abstract

A home automation system allows the control of basic home functions and features automatically and with Internet of Things (IoT) system integrated, it can be controlled even remotely. IoT offers new services for making homes smarter while improving the interaction of people and IoT devices/services with the surrounding environments. However, in many developing countries, the concept of IoT in smart homes has not really been explored. This paper presents an approach to the design and development of a low cost IoT based, energy efficient system with a certain level of security to monitor home conditions and control devices on a real-time basis using web services and cloud computing. Also, the user can constantly monitor the amount of electricity his house is consuming via the graphical user interface (GUI) which provides a visual display of energy consumed by the whole house. The aim of this paper is to save energy while ensuring user comfort and security such that only authorised users can gain access to information provided by sensors and take necessary action. The solution is based on the Arduino Yun microcontroller and sensors. Data collected by the sensor nodes are transferred in real time over the Internet to the user using the facilities provided by Cloud Computing. A notification system using a web-based service has been implemented to inform the user about the status of any device.