Home Automation, AI and everything else

A research was conducted in Colorado US. where a group of researchers equipped a house with an array of sensors which provide the information about the temperature, lighting, sound and motions in the house. This data is fed to a control unit which then automates different aspects of the house. With the help of an Artificial Neural Network that runs in the control unit, the system is able to reprogram itself by observing the lifestyle and desires of the inhabitants. It can then predict when the occupants will return home and determine when to start heating the house so that a comfortable temperature is reached by the time the occupants arrive; detect statistical patterns of water usage, such that hot water is seldom if ever used in the middle of the day on weekdays, allowing the water heater to shut off at those times; or determine where an occupant is, and what the occupant is doing and based on this information control the lighting or heating of different rooms. ref: http://www.cs...

  In this paper the author investigates the applications of ambient intelligence technology in houses. In the first part, the definition of different terms related to the field is given. A model that categorizes  different types of smart houses is presented. According to the model there are three types of smart houses. Controllable house Programmable house Intelligent house A brief description of each category is given. Author also refers to different research conducted under each category. In the second part of the project the author provides the details of a flash animation designed to simulate a smart house. From this paper one can conclude that each group of houses in the evolution model is better, more powerful than the previous one in the hierarchy. So, the intelligent houses that can “learn” and reprogram itself based on the home environment is considered the most advanced one.  The abstract of the paper can be found below   Engin...