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A Building Automation System Demonstration

Conference Paper · November 2015

DOI: 10.1109/ELECO.2015.7394650

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 A Building Automation System Demonstration

Selahattin Gökceli, Halim Bahadır Tuğrel, Sinem Pişirgen, Güneş Karabulut Kurt, Berna Örs

Wireless Communications Reserach Laboratory

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
{gokcelis, tugrel, pisirgen, gkurt, siddika.ors}@itu.edu.tr

Abstract it is suitable for pet feeding. Similarly, all domestic activities

can be adapted to automation concept by the help of facilitat-
This paper presents a building automation system based on ing the electronic components [3]. The remote access renders
the Arduino hardware and Android software. The system it more practical and useful in the home environment. When
supports various sensor functions with a very practical and all of hardware based services and user friendly interface are
low cost system configuration. Android blocks that control combined in a system, the rise of building automation system
the Arduino components and sensors are developed with is inevitable [4]. For such combination, security is a significant
MIT App Inventor 2 software. Additionally, all Arduino issue. As an exemplary solution of this problem, in our sys-
components and sensors are put into an unique demonstra- tem, motion sensors and door controls are utilized in order to
tion model with the purpose of test of the system and the get information about unusual activities like a burglar at home.
presentation in real-time. With this model, smart building Moreover; gas, smoke and fire sensors give constant informa-
environment is animated and correspondent functions be- tion about extraordinary situations and raise alarm. Hence; a
come more understandable. Presented system that supports home accident and maybe massive disaster can be prevented.
comprehensive functions has also potential for educational Due to all of these reasons, building automation systems are fa-
usage and teaching activities due to its practical configura- vorable and feasible in terms of answering to user requirements.
tion.
According to the market research results, about building
automation market, revenues from this concept is estimated to
1. Introduction over 12 billion $ by 2020. The growth in this area is expected
In recent years, smart home concept has emerged and to increase of 11.36% from 2014 to 2020 [5]. The growing and
gained popularity with the technological developments. Build- advanced developments in wireless technologies bring exces-
ing automation systems offer many applications in the house sive increase in innovations about building automation systems.
that ensure the comfort and efficiency. The importance of the In line with the efforts in BaaS, we are also aiming the overall
Internet of things has an incontrovertible effect on the develop- management concept in building automation systems. In this
ment of this concept. In daily lives, intelligent household appli- paper we manage some of mentioned services in overall fash-
ances and furnishings save the time and effort, increase the life ion and present results with a demonstration model in real-time.
standards and provide the security in different ways. Addition- In this work, building automation system is developed by
ally, building automation systems have high levels of simplicity composing Arduino circuit that includes smart home function-
and availability through smart devices. alities via connected sensors which are controlled by an An-
Building automation systems are the smart systems that droid based application via serial Bluetooth connection. The
involve combination of suitable software and hardware which fundamental controls like lights, door, temperature, moisture,
are used for automation of electrical systems [1]. These sys- fire and gas alarms are all included in this project. Moreover,
tems ease usage of important functions such as heating, cooling, system’s functionality is shown in real-time by an unique de-
lighting, fire extinction and security. Some building automation veloped demonstration model which indicates system proper-
systems can also provide emergency evacuation service. How- ties clearly and possible benefits of building automation system
ever, current applications have a common problem, such com- in a modeled home environment.
prehensive functions operate in isolation, can not be managed
in overall fashion although overall management’s huge poten- 2. Related Works
tial in future applications. European Union funded Building as
a Service (BaaS) project deals with this problem which aims In literature, there are various building automation imple-
to provide a comprehensive software platform for current and mentations that mainly involve Arduino and Android based
future commercial building management and building technol- configurations. In [8], a home control and monitoring sys-
ogy, with flexible and cost efficient integration of mentioned tem that is implemented using an embedded Arduino Ethernet
services, a overall management concept is targeted [2]. based micro-server with IP connectivity for realizing control-
As rising concept, building automation integrates many ap- ling functions with Android based Smartphone app. System’s
plications which can support different usages. For example; a functions include light switches, power plug, temperature sen-
servo motor can be used to control the door; on the other hand sor and current sensor. Authors of [9] have developed a sys-
tem using Android to ease disabled people’s daily life activi-
This work has been supported by 9140003 ITEA BaaS/Tubitak. ties. Application offers wireless control, switch on or off func-

56
tions for electrical devices. System is implemented with PIC
microcontroller, PIC16F877A. Application is managed with se-
rial Bluetooth connection between microcontroller and applica-
tion. In [10], a low cost, flexible and secure automation system
is demonstrated. System is implemented Arduino BT(ATMega
238) board and an Android application is generated. Connec-
tion between board and application is provided by wireless se-
rial communication over Bluetooth. Moreover, a Linux based
web server is used for usage from outside the house. System
is able to control TVs, fan and tube lights via Android phone.
Target device can be turned on or off and correspondent sta-
tus is shown. Furthermore, with timer functionality, device can
be switched on for specific time. In study [3], a low cost and
flexible smart home system has been developed. Home sys-
tem functionalities are controlled via an Android app with Ar-
duiono Ethernet based micro-server communication. Functions
like light switches, power plugs, temperature sensors, humidity
sensors, current sensors, intrusion detection sensors, smoke/gas
sensors and sirens are offered and managed by Arduino micro-
controller. A building automation system is shown in [11]. Ar-
duino microcontroller is used as main controller and Android is
used for application. System provides both wireless Zigbee and
wired X10 technologies. System also offers a scheduling algo-
rithm for more functionality. Switches that are sending environ-
mental information and actuators that perform specific tasks are
managed by this system. In [12], a low cost and wireless remote
control supported building automation system is shown which is
designed for disabled and elderly people. System provides the
physical switches with modified low voltage activating method.
PIC Microcontroller, PIC18F2550 is used as main controller
and an Android app is developed as user interface. Commu-
nication between hardware and app is provided via Bluetooth
connection. Sensors that are used for measurement of room
temperature and humidity level, are managed with this system. Figure 1. Block diagram of the designed and developed appli-
A building automation system that supports two user friendly cation.
interfaces such as an Android application and a web application
is shown in [13]. The system includes three components as local
hardware, web server and mobile smart device. Google Cloud
Messaging is used for connection of system with the local hard- 3. Implementation
ware and the mobile smart devices. An Android application is
also developed as user interface tool. Prototype implementation In this section, details of the proposed Arduino and Android
supports control of smoke sensor, automatic switch and an air- based building automation system via Bluetooth connection ap-
conditioner. In [14], for cost efficiency and preventing electrical plication’s implementation are explained. Project’s progress
hazards at home, a real time power monitoring system based on and followed steps are showed in Figure 1.As it can be seen
an Android application and wireless sensor network that is mon- from figure, project consists of three subprojects called as An-
itoring electricity usage characteristics continuously. Accord- droid, Arduino and Model respectively. In Android part, we
ing to algorithm, to measure electrical usage, sensors measure constitute Bluetooth connection firstly, then smart home func-
voltage, current and temperature, if measurements are higher tions such as lighting, entry permission and sensor implementa-
than threshold levels, sensors share this information to a mas- tions are implemented. In result an Android app is created. In
ter node. A graphical user interface is provided to the monitor Arduino part, part is determined by analysis of literature usage
and log sensor events. An Arduino based home and building and available products in market. After selection of Arduino,
automation system that targets practical electronics teaching is HC-06 module’s connection is provided, circuit and compo-
demonstrated in [15]. The system is developed as an outcome nents are connected and by completion of Arduino program-
of a comprehensive project. System’s functionalities are access ming, Hardware Implementation is done. In Model part, smart
control, climate control, lighting control, energy management, home demonstration model is designed and created. In result,
technical alarms and integration with mobile technologies. In all of the subprojects are combined as targeted project. Appli-
project, four subprojects are implemented such as energy effi- cation’s content and options for users are explained in block
ciency, comfort, security and communication subprojects that diagram in Figure 2. After application is opened, firstly Blue-
include lighting and energy management, control of air con- tooth connection is asked, if answer is no, then HC-06 module
ditioning systems, design of alarm management system, RFID takes responsibility and if connection is provided main screen
access control system and assistance and surveillance control is opened as in the case of result of answer as yes. Then three
system, finally embedded web, i0S and Android app design. options are provided to user. If Lighting is chosen, user can
open LEDs by choosing Led on or can close by choosing Led
off. If Sensor Information is chosen, then sensor information are

57
shown in screen and information can be monitored by user. As
last option, if Entry Permit is chosen, user can monitor whether
doorbell is ringing or not and can decide to opening door by
choosing Open Door or closing door by choosing Close Door.

3.1. MIT App Inventor 2

MIT App Inventor 2 is a block-based programming tool that
provides functional Android programming [6]. It differs from
other text-based Android tools due to low complexity of the
programming method. A programmer can prepare code easily
with MIT App Inventor 2 tool without dealing with any text-
related programming errors, moreover; user can focus on algo-
rithm more efficiently than other text-based programming tools
users.
MIT App Inventor 2’s programming method is executed
by creating algorithm by connecting blocks which include em-
bedded Android libraries’ codes. Without any downloading re- Figure 4. Application’s Screen 2’s view.
quirement. It’s through its website. MIT App Inventor 2’s pro-
gramming interface consists of designer and blocks sections.
By selecting designer section, user can see how application in- A user can have access to other screens according to his/her
terface will be. In designer user can change interface config- selection. Bluetooth connection is controlled in every screens to
urations like font setting or button shapes. In blocks section prevent errors. Screen 2’s view can be seen by Figure 4. In third
application’s code is prepared by using blocks from different screen, LEDs that are connected to the Arduino are controlled
libraries on the left side of the interface. by Lighting on and Lighting off buttons, which open LEDs or
An example of the MIT App Inventor 2’s view is showed in close LEDs respectively. Door is controlled by forth screen. It
Figure 3. In our project, we used MIT App Inventor 2 for pro- includes Open Door and Close Door options to open or close
gramming of Android application. With this method, significant the door respectively. It also includes a text box to inform user if
practicality is provided to the system. door is ringing by receiving ringing information by Arduino via
Bluetooth connection. This is provided by constant refresh of
the Bluetooth connection between phone and Arduino to check
whether ringing information is coming or not. In fifth screen a
sensor is controlled.

4. Results
We designed Android and Arduino based building automa-
tion system application by using Arduino Uno and MIT App In-
ventor 2. Firstly, we prepared our Android program in MIT App
Inventor 2 which includes commands to control Arduino and
connected pieces. Secondly, we prepared an Arduino code to
control Bluetooth connection with phone that runs application
Figure 3. An example of the MIT App Inventor 2’s view. and elements connected to Arduino. In the end, we brought all
together in a demonstration model. Android application of the
system’s screen views can be seen from Fig. 6a and 6b whose
3.2. Arduino details were explained in Implementation Section. Arduino cir-
cuit is prepared with necessary sensor, lighting and Bluetooth
Bluetooth connection between phone that runs application module connections. Circuit model can be seen from Fig. 7.
and Arduino that controls smart home functions are provided Building automation system’s unique demonstration model
by HC-06 Bluetooth Module. HC-06 is used for wireless serial is shown in Fig. 5. Model was built with foamboard and a sam-
connections. It can be used with Arduino easily. It operates at ple home environment is modeled. Lighting system of sample
2.4 GHz and supports Bluetooth 2.0, moreover; its connection home is modeled with LEDs. Door controlling is modeled with
range is up to 10 meters [7]. In our configuration, HC-06 is a sample door that is controlled by servo. Also some sensors are
controlled by Arduino as slave. placed in model. With building automation system application,
we can control LEDs by ”Lighting” screen, servo controlled
3.3. Application door by ”Entry permit” screen and sensor information by ”The
Android based building automation system via Bluetooth sensor information of the home” screen. As explained in Imple-
application is prepared in MIT App Inventor 2 with Android mentation Section, building automation functions are realized
software development kit. Application contains 5 screens. In successfully in all automation options.
first screen, Bluetooth connection is set up and if it is actualized As shown in Table 1, system’s maximum load to network
without any problem, application allows user to pass to other has length of 2871 bits. These configurations are not changeable
screen. Second screen is the main screen of the application. It due to Bluetooth module’s settings; however, baud rate can be
includes options to choose one of the three smart home func- changed, in our system its default value is 9600 bps. Although
tions which are LED lighting, sensor and door controlling. maximum network load is quite high, our system does not work

58
 Figure 2. Block diagram summarizing the process flow.

(a) (b)

Figure 6. Lighting and sensor information screens’ views re-

spectively.

Table 1. System’s maximum network load values .

Figure 5. Building automation demonstration model. Baud rate 9600 bps

Maximum packet bit capacity 2871 bits
Access code 72 bits
with this capacity. For example, when a command of Android Header 54 bits
application of the building automation system is run, it is only Payload header 8 bits
sent with 5 bits. Thus it can be said that building automation Payload 2712 bits
application is quite efficient in the by means of network usage. CRC portion 16 bits

5. Conclusion
tem is shown in real-time. This model improves system’s visu-
Building automation is a novel concept that offers a lot
ality and shows the details of the functions. With very low net-
of services to improve people’s daily comfort in home envi-
work usage, system is implemented successfully. In future, this
ronment. Building automation systems’ importance for com-
work can be extended with more building automation functions
mercial buildings is increasing day by day due to their very
and can be used in more general scenarios.
beneficial services like climate control, visual comfort, per-
sonal safety and building security. In line with the objectives
of the BaaS project, in this paper, an Android and Arduino 6. References
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