It all started way back in 1898, when Nicholas Tesla got the U.S Patent for the Remote Control, which created the concept of one control device for a unit, and which has now expanded to multiple devices and units with and for Human activities. Even though several terminologies such as eHome, Wired Home, Automated and Digital Home, have been used to define this modern and unique Home, but with the evolution and advancement in Technologies have landed us with the ubiquitous Connected Home, which is the most commonly used terminology.
The same Technologies which make a Home Connected, makes a Home SMART, which is also, as in SELF MONITORING ANALYSIS & REPORTING TECHNOLOGY. Though a SMART Home, which is a Connected Home, depends only on Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), experts have also added the factor of Green, as in Environment friendly Home, which aids to reduce the per capita carbon footprint and per capita CO2 emissions. Thus today the concept of SMART is the amalgamation of wired and wireless machines, devices, gadgets & Technologies and environment friendly built Home, which is popularly and commonly termed as Smart Home.
As in a Human body, there are five senses which are the point of first contact, at the periphery, thereafter the process of identifying, defining and forming a perception with physical organs of and through a body, followed by the process of transmitting and finally processing that information / perception, to reach a conclusion and finally, making a decision in the brain of any action to be taken; similarly a Connected Home system has the same structure.
As discussed in earlier articles, a Connected Home comprises of wired and wireless Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), all of which are integrated seamlessly to communicate with each other and transmit, receive information / data :
- Sensors – Wireless Sensors to detect and measure things in a Home
- Controller – A PC or an iPad or a custom made Home automation controller, as a gateway to monitor, manage and control
- Actuators – Physical parts or Hardware of a machine which is attached to a specific unit in a Home, to make it functionable, such as motorized valves, motors,
- Buses – Wired or Wireless Buses which carry, to and fro communications, from an to each connected device, hardware, machine, which can be a system which is wired or wireless or a combination of both
- Interface – The brain of a Connected Home, which is a software system which receives, identifies, analyzes and defines, information of all activities on and through all connected devices, and decides, commands and transmits order(s) to that/those device(s), machines, hardware what to do, which eventually enables a Home Owner to take necessary steps
As laid out in the fundamental concept of a Connected Home, its primary goal is to keep a Home and the Home owner and their family, and all units (such as the lighting system, appliances and all Connected ones, and integrated into the One Home Automation control system) Safe, Secure, Intelligent, Caring and Proactive, in a user friendly, Simple and swift manner, in real time, with ease, comfort, convenience, saving the Home owner Time and Money, and giving an assured, confirmed, tangibly proven Peace of Mind, which didn’t exist till now.
The Home of the Future, a Connected Home is a reality today, which enables and empowers the Home owner to carry their Home on one handheld device, such as the Smart Phone, which Senses, Thinks and even Acts, all of which the Home owner can monitor, manage and control it with 4G / 4G LTE Technology, with or without power in a Connected Home, from anywhere, and anytime. In the coming weeks and months we shall focus on how to make a Home Connected.
