AT recent times phrase " smart House” is becoming more common, but not everyone understands what is hidden behind these words. It is rather difficult to characterize such a system, since various firms provide kits targeting different areas. But in general, a smart home implies increased comfort, high security and practicality. Despite the high cost of installing and maintaining systems, you do not need to be a very rich person to equip your apartment or house with everything you need.
Smart home design
First of all, you need to decide on necessary functions. Installation companies of such systems offer one-piece kits, which usually contain not only everything you need, but also a lot of additional (and often completely useless) things. AT self assembly system has a certain plus - you can install only those functions that you need. Most often, people are interested in light and heating control, door locking and alarms, Fire safety. The second is very important point- how these functions are managed. If earlier access to them was possible only through the control panel, now it is possible to remotely configure and adjust.
Based on the requirements, you need to calculate the number necessary materials. This includes not only the server itself, but also controllers, wires, wi-fi. The purchase of all these important elements, of course, will require investments. But the amount you spend will be much less than the cost of the finished version.
Smart home: server or computer
This question will definitely come up in front of you in the planning process. The fact is that the server will certainly require big investments than normal Personal Computer With relevant program. But it also has more functionality. In addition, the PC at least sometimes needs to be rebooted, which will cause a system crash. A constantly running computer fails faster, but this does not threaten the server.
Whatever you choose, you should take care of the special software for creating smart home. You can link several systems or use only one - it depends solely on the needs and willingness to deal with constantly emerging new programs.
Security systems
Very often, the creation of such a system begins with the desire of the owner of an apartment or house to control what is happening around. Video cameras are installed in the right places, the signal from which is transmitted directly to the computer. Thus, all information can be stored on the hard disk and overwritten, for example, after ten days. If you have such a desire, then you can connect remote access. So, while at work, you will know exactly what is happening near your home.
Another very handy thing- lock management. You can set it to open or close from the control panel or smartphone. This function is very convenient, but it also has its own pitfalls. Carefully examine the lock, it must be able to be mechanically accessed. Otherwise, in the event of a power outage, you will not be able to enter or leave the house.
Do-it-yourself smart home: comfort
How many times have you encountered the fact that the switch is located in uncomfortable place. How you do not want to get out of bed to put out the light. The smart home system solves this problem very simply. On all switches in the rooms, special devices are installed that allow you to remotely control the light. If you want to change the level of illumination, then you can not do without dimmers. You can also smoothly adjust the operation of the lamps from the remote control or smartphone.
Professionals recommend taking care of the humidity level in your home. This feature may not seem necessary to everyone, however, a properly selected humidity level will provide you with not only a healthy sound sleep, but also less dust. In addition, in rooms with windows facing the sunny side, as well as throughout the house, during the operation of the heating system, the air is much drier than the recommended minimum.
Is it profitable?
Spending a lot of money on the ability to remotely monitor the house and switch the light may seem unjustified. But it's not just about convenience. The smart home system even allows you to control all outlets. Forgot to turn off the iron or electric stove? No problem. You can do it remotely.
In addition, through the control panel, you can set up a special schedule for some devices. For example, turn on the coffee maker at seven in the morning. Of course put everything necessary ingredients will have to do it on their own in the evening. You can also set up a schedule for the air conditioner.
Such moments allow you to save electricity. Let the amount at first seem small to you, but gradually it will accumulate.
Particular attention should be paid to the regulation of the heating system. Of course, to install it, you will need special temperature sensors in each room. But then you can set the exact temperature for the bedroom, bathroom or living room. Plus, you don't have to waste heat. Smart House can turn off the heating immediately after you leave the house, and turn it on one to two hours before returning.
Simple Conveniences
If you understand that you have no desire, need or opportunity to create such a system, then pay attention to individual elements. So, for example, a controlled lock is synchronized directly with your smartphone. By choosing the right application, you can not only open the door with one touch of your finger, but also send special invitations to your friends. They quietly open the door to specified period with a message without distracting you from cooking.
There are also special “smart” lamps that can also receive messages from your smartphone. They are not only durable, but also easy to manage, however, the cost is quite high.
What is a smart home, and how this system works, readers often ask. It will be difficult to answer this question unambiguously. But still, we can say that here we are talking about the introduction of the latest technologies that have found application in everyday life. Today, many have heard or read about the smart home system, but not everyone can even imagine what level of comfort and security can be achieved with its help.
Review: "Smart home" - what does it mean?
It must be understood that the smart home system helps to achieve two main goals:1. Lighting, television, as well as all other electrical equipment in the house will be fully automated. It can work both according to programmed parameters and in manual mode. remote control through mobile communication or the internet.
2. The complex "smart home" perfectly copes with security function, and protects not only from external penetrations, but also from internal fires, gas or water leaks.
Wouldn't it be nice for the owner of the house, driving up to the garage, to see how the smart home system itself opens the gate? And for this you do not need to get out of the car or use the remote control.
Who wouldn't want to live in such a smart home where you don't have to worry about forgetting to turn off the lights in a room or the TV while leaving for work? The system itself will take care of this problem. Dozens of great and other types of smart home equipment are now available, which until recently were quite expensive. Therefore, only very rich people could afford such a luxury. But now even middle-income people can boast of a smart home.
History of creation
Americans first heard about such a system as a smart home. This happened back in the 70s of the last century. Then, at the Washington Intellectual University, they were able to develop a system on how to make living in a residential building easier, what modern technologies can be adapted for this. True, today no one will call such an innovation a smart home. But at the time it was a major breakthrough.
Back in 1987, a description appeared in the Soviet magazine "Technical Aesthetics" created by domestic engineers. In countries former USSR the invention, which was called "smart home", appeared only in the late 90s. But then it did not find much demand among the population. The problem was not only that the equipment for the smart home system was very expensive. It turned out that it was very difficult to install and operate. One could even say that this system was primitive, but very expensive. And since energy resources cost a penny, few people were interested in such an innovation.
And only since the beginning of the new millennium, they started talking about a smart home in the post-Soviet space again. There were several reasons for this:
- Energy resources began to become more expensive, so there was a need to save them.
- Computers are being used more and more.
- The Internet appeared, thanks to which a smart home could be controlled from a distance.
- Due to the emerging competition, the implementation of a circuit for smart home equipment has become less expensive.
Smart home equipment: pros and cons
And now it’s worth figuring out what the smart home has both advantages and disadvantages. First, let's talk about the disadvantages. They are still available in this system. For example, equipment for a smart home system is still expensive. But this is the case if it is offered from well-known European manufacturers. So why not think about Xiaomi smart home or other companies that produce relatively inexpensive, but very high-quality gadgets?
But it must be borne in mind that everything is not so simple here. For example, there is one small difficulty with the Xiaomi smart home. The fact is that Europeans are poorly versed in it, since the user needs to know Chinese. Therefore, to install and configure the Xiaomi smart home, you may need the help of a specialist. After all, here even the fork has a special design. good master will be able to configure functional modules for a customer's smartphone or tablet.
As for the advantages of such a system, they are much more. Who used to do all the work in noble houses? These were butlers, housekeepers, servants, etc. They aired the rooms, opened the curtains on the windows, looked after the comfort in the rooms. Today, such work can be performed by a smart home system, and for it this is not a problem.
Among its advantages, several very important points can be indicated:
- Energy costs can turn into "robbers". And if you introduce this innovation, you don’t have to worry about energy saving. If you choose the right system, you can use it for years. And how much energy can be saved during this time?
- The smart home system can turn into a reliable security guard who will never fall asleep. The owner immediately learns about the penetration into the housing, and about the occurrence of a fire. Immediately the message will go to the security console. So with such a system, you can achieve complete home security.
- In this way, it will be possible to achieve the ideal level of comfort in the premises. Smart home technology makes sure that the house is always cool in summer. But in winter time it will be warm and cozy. She will take care of heating, air conditioning, and optimal humidity in the premises.
- Ideal ease of maintenance. After all, the program of the smart home system includes up to 50 different engineering actions.
Films often show a living space that seems to take on a life of its own. Light bulbs light up at the wave of a hand, curtains open, after a certain word music plays. All this equipment is intelligent home system, and we propose to consider how to make a smart home with your own hands, what is needed for this, and also what is the scheme of such a system.
Smart home - what is it
A smart home is home automation, which is a residential extension of building automation. Home automation can include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), home appliances, unlock gates, doors, GSM and other systems to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security. It should be noted that for some categories of the population (the elderly, the disabled) this event may become necessary.
Photo - Smart home distribution ideasPhoto - Simple smart home
FROM latest implementation into our lives SMART technologies, many can no longer imagine their lives without automatic installations, software equipment, we need wireless internet, household appliances.
Home automation refers to the use of computer and information technologies for management household appliances and their functions. It can range from simple lighting remote control to complex computer/micro-controller based networks with varying degrees intelligence and automation. Home automation should preferably be as simple as possible.
Photo - Smart door lock
Benefits of using a smart home in an apartment based on PIC or WAVE:
- Economical time spent on daily setting up various mechanisms, receiving calls, sending mail;
- The use of gaseous or liquid fuel materials, and later the use of electricity, allowed increased automation in heating systems, reducing labor force required for manual refueling of the heater and oven.
- The development of thermostats made it possible to set up more automated control of heating, and later cooling;
- So often guarded industrial facilities, residential premises;
- As the number of managed devices in a home increases, their relationship rises. For example, an oven can send notifications when it needs cleaning, or a refrigerator when it needs maintenance.
- AT simple installations, smart can turn on the light when a person enters the room. Also, depending on the time of day, the TV can tune in to the desired channels, set the air temperature, lighting.
Smart home can provide interface-access to household appliances or automation to provide control and monitoring on your smart phone, via server, mini Smart for iPhone, iPod touch, as well as using a laptop computer (requires special soft: AVR Studio).
Photo - Home control through a tablet
Video: Schneider Electric smart home system
Smart home elements
Home automation elements include sensors (such as temperature, daylight or motion detection), controllers and actuators such as motorized valves, switches, motors and others.
Photo - House control scheme
These are heating, ventilation and air conditioning, HVAC can control temperature and humidity, for example, the Internet control thermostat allows the homeowner to remotely control the heating and air conditioning systems of the building, the system can automatically open and close windows, turn on radiators and boilers, and underfloor heating.
Lighting
These lighting control mechanisms can be used to control household light appliances. Also here can be attributed the system of natural lighting, the work of blinds or curtains.
Photo - Scheme of a smart homeAudio visual
- Remote control presence effect (This is the most modern technology, which is used to increase security). It consists in lighting the light, musical accompaniment.
- Imitation of presence
- Temperature control
- Brightness control (electric lamps, street lighting)
- Security (alarm, blinds).
How to make a smart home
You can make an intelligent system with your own hands, the most a budget option- This is a setting to control the lighting in the house or turn on the computer.
Photo - Smart home control option
To make a lamp that will “light up” by itself, you will need to connect special equipment to it. There are several options for solving this problem:
- Install an acoustic relay (1 or x10-wire);
- Connect dimmer;
- Connect motion sensor.
The easiest way to work with the sensor. Its sale is carried out in any online store, you can buy a channel device, you can develop your own according to your own parameters. The only remark is that you cannot install an incandescent lamp with such a device, it may not withstand the load and explode, it is better to work with LED.
Photo - Smart home concept
Another "smart" silent option is a dimmer. Here you will need to touch the lamp, depending on the number of touches, the talking device will change the brightness. It is very convenient to use on the lamp in the bedroom, nursery.
To set up temperature control and regulation, we need a multi-channel system. The central temperature and humidity control circuit consists of:
- Sensors (ds1820) that measure the physical state of the liquid, air.
- Controllers (rfm12) which can be simple physical components and complex devices special purpose or embedded computers.
- Lunex drives that respond to controller signals.
Most modern way is to buy all the components of a smart home, wires, thermostats. After installing the appliances in each room, one thermostat per radiator and one per boiler. You will also need a controlled unit, or the "brain" of the entire system. It is recommended to mount it on inlet pipe heating.
Photo - Smart home system
The easiest way to install a video surveillance and alarm system. Fundamental provisions for the installation of security systems:
- You need to connect sensors on the windows, doorways, there the electrician will be the most productive;
- The board is the most difficult to select, the smart home controller, the operation of mediocre parts, the level of signals depend on it;
- Many experts believe that indicators should be mounted at floor level. About 20 cm from the baseboard, this increases efficiency;
- It is desirable to establish permanent monitoring, to establish digital system contact with security. Often, responsible owners install a special program on their personal computer that allows you to control the operation of the system from anywhere where there is an Internet connection (this is what Elena Teslya and her book: “Smart Home: How to Do it Yourself”, also have other solutions ). You can enable SMS alerts.
Smart home is very convenient way make your life easier often whole system bought in full (Arduino, KNX, Linux).
The cost of each system is individual. The most popular brands are: beckhoff, gira, lpt, redeye, Smart Switch IOT screen, teleco. We recommend that before you build such housing, consult with experts, they will help you calculate the load level, calculate the power consumption.
Photo - Light control via phone
To get ideas, you can scroll through V.N. video instructions, read the advice of famous masters.
Today in Minsk you can find many offers from companies that are engaged in the automation of residential and office space"Full construction". But before widespread adoption new technology life is still far away, because most of these solutions have high price. Minsk programmer Alexander Bogdanovich independently designed and installed “smart automation” in his house with the help of the Belarusian manufacturer Nootekhnika. He shared his experience with the readers of KV.
- Alexander, tell us how much time did it take you to design and install the "smart home"?
I don't really like the name "smart home". In my opinion, this is more of a marketing ploy that does not really reflect the very essence of the system, but the essence lies in smart automation.
It all started with the fact that after long wanderings around rented apartments, my wife and I decided to build own house. Already at the time of the purchase of the site, I began to think about smart automation systems. I wanted something unusual, and besides, it was a great opportunity to apply my knowledge, because I am a software engineer by education.
I understood that even at the construction stage, it was necessary to lay the possibility so that in the future it would be possible to "screw" something, to automate where it would be reasonable.
About three years before construction started, I started designing everything on paper. I experienced a lot of things, roughly speaking, on my knee, collected, wrote code. Works good. Set it aside as a worked moment and move on.
Construction went on for three years, and about a year and a half ago we moved into our house, in which at that time only two rooms were ready. And so, when it came to practical implementation, some of the ideas “fell off” by themselves as unnecessary.
- What are the main elements of your system?
To date, my smart automation system includes four main elements.
Firstly - this remote control light with the help of Nootechnika Noolite solutions. This is a very important moment for me. For those who live in an apartment, it may not be clear, because the areas are completely different.
The possibility of wireless light control (Noolite systems control the lighting via a radio channel) immediately intrigued me, plus the price tag bribed me. I wanted from the very beginning that, in addition to comfort, my smart automation was also quite budgetary.
The switch, which, in fact, is a remote control radio transmitter, is battery operated. It can be placed anywhere, it can even be glued to furniture, the main thing is that the surface on which it is installed is non-metallic. One luminaire can be controlled by several switches at once.
Now we have absolutely no familiar mechanical switches at home. Sometimes the Noolite transmitter just lies somewhere in the room, and only six months later, when we decide that we really need it in this place, we glue it. At one time, I even had such a switch in the car so that I could turn on the light even at the entrance to the house.
Lighting control is not electrical network so there is no need to run wiring under each switch. The executive unit, which is used to turn on / off the light, is neatly mounted in my wall, you can also hide it under a false ceiling.
It is also possible to control the Noolite lighting system via a USB adapter, as well as, in principle, any load. And by controlling the load, you can control almost any electrical appliance, up to the fact that with the help of Nootechnics solutions you can turn on or turn off the TV.
Another plus was that the guys from Nootekhnika are located in Minsk, this is a Belarusian manufacturer. So during the design of my system, I talked a lot with them, and in general I was satisfied with everything. In the summer, Nootekhnika should release blocks with feedback, which I again plan to apply at home.
Next, I needed to know the temperature readings by room. I started looking for solutions. Wireless? At that time, to realize it, we needed a lot of money. One such sensor cost about 30 dollars, but you need more than one in the house. In the end, I found a bidirectional 1-Wire bus, which I ordered in England. With a line up to 200 m, it works even without any additional power.
Immediately from the computer, the wires exit through the USB adapter. Further, bought in China temperature sensors DS18B20 for $1 each, DS2408 for 8 channels for $8.
Another important element of my system is automated lawn watering. When I watered 5-6 acres from a hose in the summer, I realized that automatic watering was necessary. While it, of course, is in a semi-assembled state, but has already been tested - everything works. It is controlled through an 8-channel microcircuit and a key board that opens the solenoid valve.
CCTV. During the year I tested several video surveillance systems. I chose Xeoma: I won a key for 8 cameras from them for a promotion, and again I managed to save money.
- How is the system managed?
The system consists of the usual system block, servers with Ubuntu. All this works and communicates through a USB adapter using 1-Wire topology. From programming languages, I used Python plus MongoDB and the Flask microframework.
Several times I rewrote everything, made the system simpler, more convenient. Now you can manage it through the Web interface, which is used mainly for adding scripts, and the Windows Phone application - directly for management. I sketched it in a couple of days, and now I have all the necessary information displayed on my phone.
Any script can be run manually or automatically. Soon I'm going to connect to the Internet system, and it will be possible to control it from the outside.
What happens if the electricity goes out in the house?
If the electricity goes out, everything goes out. And in order to “re-raise” the work of smart automation after that, there is the Monit system, which monitors all processes, like a parent for children. If suddenly something “falls”, freezes, it simply restarts the service. Of course, Monit itself can “fall”, this is not excluded. But for almost two years of test work there were no problems. When the light is turned on again, the server itself automatically "rises". In a minute or two everything is up and running again.
- How realistic is it for a person who does not have an engineering education to assemble such a system?
When we buy a box and sensors for it, install the application, and everything works - this is one thing. In my case, the do it yourself system, and in it everything rests on the software. The 1-Wire protocol involves writing special software, through which communication with the devices of the system takes place, and not everyone can write it. Most likely, there are some frameworks based on 1-Wire. But these will be generalized solutions that need to be “finished” for themselves.
- How important requirements does "smart automation" answer in your home?
I have two criteria: my system should be comfortable enough and at the same time budget-friendly. The main elements - Noolite switches, temperature sensors - I can buy on my own without any problems. In addition, I was able to achieve the flexibility of the system because I designed, soldered, installed and wrote the code myself. I needed automation that would be convenient not only for me, but also for my family and guests. As a result, I can easily add new elements, change the system as I wish, which you will not get when buying ready-made expensive solutions.
Interviewed by Nadezhda Abramchuk