Just from the dawn of science fiction in pop culture, we all always wanted a fully modern, robotic home to stay in like the home from Riche Rich or the Jetsons where everything will be done by saying something or with a press of a button. After all these years we have finally all the Technologies that we need to make that possible but what exactly is home Automation using IoT capable of? also, how can you implement that for yourself and what are the benefits you can reap out of it? let’s talk about that here in our Ultimate Guide To Home Automation Using IoT.

It’s been quite a while since the smart mirror, smart assistant speaker, smart lights and smart speakers have popped out. It is expected that by the end of 2022 number of the IoT devices will cross the 53 Billion mark. The funny part is most companies didn’t bring home automation at first instead the concept came as individual pieces of technologies that would act upon gestures, voice commands or automatically depending on how it was set. Eventually, the customers tried looking for more connected devices to come together. From here the companies started going to the direction of an all-around connected future and home automation.

History Of Smart Homes

If we think about it home automation is not a new thing it came at least a century ago. Wondering how that happened? The automation of homes came with the introduction of electricity. The first light bulb that took us away from healthy natural light was the first version of home automation.

Later things got more advanced, cleaning robot Rooms became a thing battery became the power supply. The purpose of some simpler automated appliances was to buy some more time for the users to spending time to spend with family members. Some advertisements also included offering free time for housewives to pursue their careers.

Now, in the current era, it is providing limitless convenience and no need to get up from the couch even once a day. IoT and AI go hand in hand in the current day of home automation but at what cost? there is no way to deny that it puts user information in danger. Though currently many technologies are under development to sort this issue out still even the smallest of users’ faults put the system under threat.

Difference Between IoT and Home Automation

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an amalgamation of different technologies that are embedded with connected hardware and software to make them work together like a smart bulb that can turn on and off or change colour from the phone. All home automation devices are IoT devices some of them are implemented with Ai, Machine Learning and Computer Vision all of them are capable of turning on and off each other. Like turning the lines on makes the automatic blinders of the window come together. So IoT refers to dispersed small pieces of technologies and home automation is when all of the come together to bring convenience to your house.

Examples of Components in Home Automation

Smart Lighting– These kinds of lights adapt their power usage depending on different circumstances. It can also turn on and off by itself. They work by calculating and sensing human movements and changing the lights accordingly.

Smart Appliances– Examples of smart appliances can be smart A.C. or Fridge that provides status information from and place and at any time. Smart washer and dryer tell how much work is left and send a notification when done. Also, tell what items need to be brought more or it all of the food items’ conditions are ok in the fridge.

Intruder Detector– This technical item is not a single unit part instead it contains multiple different parts of technologies like security cameras, and night and day vision. Sensors to detect moving objects and actuators trigger alarms. The more advanced systems are capable of sending text messages, and video clips about the details of the intruder if he is armed or not.

Gas and Smoke detector– With so many electrical devices in the house one has to install this system into their home automation pack. Carbon Mono-oxide poisoning, fire from short circuits and more deadly the smoke from burned plastic and rubber from wires are all so dangerous for each and every person living in the house. A smart gas and smoke detector and early signs of any of these. It uses optical detection as well as ionization or Air to check if the air has any impurities. It can detect gases like Co2, Co, Leaked LPG, etc. From here it raises alerts to the people living there.

Smart Bathrooms– Here some technologies can be, smart mirrors, smart-showerhead, and smart water heaters. Mirrors can recognize the face of the family member and from here it shows what kind of information that certain person is interested to see based on that person’s preferences. The showerhead can limit the time people take under the shower saving water. A smart water heater smartly heats the water keeping the power consumption low.

Smart-Gardens– Gardens are a part of the house. It’s called home automation using IoT, not room automation. For the gardens, IoT provides devices equipped with sensors that measure it the plant in proper temperature, getting enough sunlight and is hydrated enough. It sends a notification to the owner and if set to do things it can take action automatically to solve problems. Like if the plant is getting dehydrated it will start the smart irrigation system.

Smart Kitchen– When there is home automation using IoT the kitchen also comes under its wings and implements IoT technologies that make the process of cooking safer, easier and cost-efficient. It also includes a gas and smoke sensor to check if everything is working fine.

Temperature Control– Home automation in India is incomplete without the IoT smart temperature control system. Once you have set the decided temperature here it checks the surroundings and manipulates the temperature itself based on how many people are in a house or if this needs to be turned off it there is no person in the house. It can also change the temperature depending on the activity of the people inside.

Doors and Windows– Doors in the future will not need keys as well as the windows which will not need to be opened or closed manually. They can get signals from other devices and can work from here automatically. With the arrival of facial recognition, doors can open when you come near and coles when you leave. It connects to other devices such as lights to turn on after you enter in the room. Windows on the other hand can be scheduled or be set on automatic to open and close based on weather and time.

Benefits of Home Automation In India

Remote Monitoring and Control

The first benefit of developing IoT for home automation will definitely be the ability to monitor things inside your house from any place in the world. We can also turn on or off the things when we are in a completely another part of the earth. They are also capable of calculating how many things your household needs and taking out the monthly average on how many things you need to buy per month.

Spending Resources Properly

In order to cut down your monthly expenses the first step, you need to take is measuring everything. IoT enables transparency to your household and the resources you have used. So that you can clearly see where your resources are getting wasted and where you can save your money.

Here at Kotai Electronics, we have built IoT solutions that are capable of turning your old traditional house from the past into a state of a art automated house from the future. Contact us and get a free quote and consultation.

Saving The Environment

Everyone knows how all kinds of energy are getting more expensive and fuel prices are going up. We are near to exhausting all the fossil fuels. Home automation in India will enable homeowners to spend electricity accurately and reduce the carbon footprint of every member of the house. Things like autonomous LED lights, power consumption managers and IoT powered smart grid helps cut down power wastage and pollution and keeps the pollution pure.

More Security

Kotai Electronics provide top of the line IoT powered security solutions including a smart camera and smart object detector all working together to enhance security in your house. Home automation using IoT also comes with monitoring systems for households that are able to detect power surges, recognize leakages using water or gas sensors, warn about dangerous air pollution and send timely notifications to prevent complications or even a catastrophe.

By the way, we have experience working with energy consumption monitoring, management and storage tools. Are you building a home automation system using IoT technologies? Contact our team if you need help with software design and development on your project.

Challenges of Implementing Home Automation

There is nothing in this world that comes without any bad or weak sides, IoT, even though is one of the most advanced technologies we ever had and also have very few complications but home automation using IoT does come with some limitations for example.

• All the technologies are new they haven’t been tested properly so suddenly bugs appear
• IoT is an amalgamation of many technologies which come from different manufacturers and with different connectivity protocols so sometimes cross-platform compatibilities cannot be found
• So many connected devices mean too much attack surface so it gets quite hard to make secure the extensively large IoT powered home automation systems.

How Kotai can Help You overcome

Kotai Electronics has solid experience in smart home automation projects, which include IoT design and development, big data analytics and data science. Together with one of our clients in a University, we have developed a system for power monitoring and control that gives a wide range of benefits to the whole campus.

Using our solid technical expertise, business understanding and market knowledge, we help companies implement their ideas, design and develop IoT systems for smart homes, launch their projects and ensure successful returns. Here’s how we can help you build an IoT controlled smart home:

We build IoT devices for smart homes and build unified ecosystems where every element operates at the top of its potential and enables consistent, secure and efficient performance.

Use our experience in cloud platforms and big data solutions and choose the best technology stack and tools to meet the performance and scalability requirements of the future system.

Build an IoT system that is actually smart and autonomous. Using machine learning, computer vision and NLP technology, we introduce intelligence and automation into data analytics and equip users with the interfaces they actually enjoy.

Create beautiful web and mobile applications for the residents of smart homes, build easy-to-use and understand dashboards and fill these dashboards with meaningful insights that help businesses and their clients make data-driven decisions.

Disadvantages of IoT Home Automation In India

Initial Cost– IoT can save a lot of money and that’s true but for that, you have to first implement it in your house and depending on the size of the house and complexity the cost of IoT development can go quite high.

Security Issues– With all the complex wireless computerised technologies cyber security can become at risk as everything is on the wireless system.

Dependency Increasing– The IoT needs a strong internet connection without this IoT is just bricks made of plastics and metals this way we get more and more dependent on the Internet.

Increasing sedentary– Scientific Research has proven again and again that sitting on a couch all day long is bad for health. Obesity, diabetes and back pain are a few health issues that are caused by sitting alone. IoT increases convenience and decreases the need to stand up and walk. It can increase certain health issues.

Ways To Make IoT Secure

• Secure your router from a company other that your internet provider
• It can be super boring but DO READ the terms and conditions of your service provider on what data they will collect
• Change the name of the router
• Choose a strong encryption method for your solutions
• Choose a Strong and Unique password
• Choose a password that is not used anywhere else
• Do not keep your devices in the default setting customize them according to your needs.
• Update software as soon as you get the notification
• Use VPN to hide your IP address

Conclusion: Is smart home automation worth it?

Yes, certainly a smart home is worth every penny you will spend on the planning, purchase, layout, and installation. If you are not convinced, go through that article again and contact us if you won’t want to know more and make your home super convenient. Connect all technologies together and enjoy the capabilities you have never seen before.