Daniel Arvo, William Hall, Matt Krysiak, and Nicole Watts

1
Home Automation System
Daniel Arvo, William Hall, Matt Krysiak, and
Nicole Watts
dja032000_at_utdallas.edu, whh041000_at_utdallas.edu,
mpk031000_at_utdallas.edu, nmw044000_at_utdallas.edu
Department of Electrical Engineering Erik Jonsson
School of Engineering Computer
Science University of Texas at Dallas Richardson,
Texas 75083-0688, U.S.A.
Project Results
Project Goals

• Improve efficiency and control of power
  consumption in the home.
• Design a power metering device to monitor wall
  outlets.
• Build a sensor node to detect when and where
  electricity is needed.
• Create a wireless network to connect all nodes to
  a control unit.
• Construct a control unit to process data input
  from the nodes.
• Create a user interface for the control unit.

Project Overview
The Home Automation system will be able to
monitor power usage for outlets and lights and be
able to control these systems to minimize waste
power in the home. To do this, the project is
divided into three major components the control
unit, interface program, and various nodes.   The
Interface Program   The purpose of the interface
program is to give the customer easy control of
the entire system in a user friendly format. The
system will be designed to run on the users
computer. However, the project is set up such
that at a later date the software can be adapted
for a home gateway.   The Control Unit   The
purpose of the Control Unit is to effectively
control communications between the user and the
nodes. It can act independently of a computer
which not only makes this system autonomous but
also more power efficient. The Control Unit is
responsible for maintaining the schedule of all
the nodes. This includes turning the nodes on and
off as well as requesting power consumption data
at a preprogrammed time. The power consumption
data can then later be transferred to the PC upon
request. It is also responsible receiving sensor
node interrupts to change the status of other
nodes in that room. For example this entails
turning on lights when you walk into a
room. Nodes   There are three types of nodes
Outlet Node, Lighting Node, and the Sensor Node.
Both the Outlet Node and Lighting Node monitors
power consumption which can be turned on and off.
The Sensor Node monitors temperature and motion
that can be used by the control unit to turn on
and off the other two types of nodes.
Project Conclusions/Outcomes

• Design of all parts of our project.
• Goals for next semester
• When parts arrive, construction/assembly will
  begin.
• MSP430-eZ430-RF2500 ordered February, expected
  in July 2008
• MSP430FE427 expected early May
• All other parts readily available.
• After assembling the outlet node, calibration and
  testing will begin.
• Establish wireless connectivity between nodes and
  control unit.
• Create user application for PC.