SmartEye Integrated Solution to Home Automation, Security and Monitoring through Mobile Phones

Automation is the process of having a machine or machines to accomplish tasks hitherto performed wholly or partly by humans. Home automation concerns automating the domestic tasks. There are number of applications addressing home automation and monitoring involving infrared/Bluetooth or Ethernet over Power techniques in remote controls. But there is no such publication on providing facility to control and monitor unlimited number of equipments at home via a mobile device at a very low cost using general packet radio services (GPRS) networks. This paper presents a recent research and development effort in construing a real-time home automation and monitoring system named SmartEye which uses cellular networks, Internet based server, networked hardware equipments and GPRS networks. SmartEye accomplishes two tasks; they are home automation and monitoring through mobile phone. Under automation it addresses turning on/off household electrical appliances, such as electric bulbs, door locks etc. SmartEye uses an alerting mechanism together with security cameras to safeguard homes. And also it provides an interface to monitor and control the home through mobile devices. This is a system which integrates the home with the World Wide Web and mobile devices. This paper also discusses the architecture of the system which makes it an easily expandable, user-friendly, affordable and reliable real-time monitoring and remote controlling solution.