ABSTRACT

Today, various “intelligent” appliances are set to realize the concept of a smart

home. Technological advancements have given rise to a personal area network in home

environment, where all the automated appliances can be interconnected and monitored

using a single microcontroller. This study aims to develop a system that is able to control

lights and home appliances via Wi-Fi and SMS. The integration of wireless technologies

in the system allows the user to remotely control and monitor lights and home appliances

hence creating a space that is more comfortable, safer and a more independent life for the

elderly and for the handicapped people. The interfacing of the system to home appliances

is achieved by the use of Arduino Uno microcontroller and some peripheral devices. The

ESP8266 Wi-Fi Shield that is based on the ESP11 Wi-Fi module adds Wi-Fi

functionality to the Arduino Uno. The microcontroller processes all of the incoming data

and acts accordingly to switch the connected home appliances. The GSM Remote I/O Kit

is a highly configurable SMS based board that adds SMS remote control functionality to

the system. The GSM module is based on SIM800 which has a complete Quad-band

GSM/GPRS feature to transmit Voice, SMS and data information with low power

consumption.

Overall, the system works properly with two modes working in parallel. A

number of home appliances were switched ON and OFF with little to no time delay using

Wi-Fi connectivity. The SMS control suggests a way of controlling lights and home

appliances from remote locations where Wi-Fi connectivity cannot handle the switching

of output devices. The use of a router is recommended for stabilizing and extending the

range of the Wi-Fi connectivity.

Keywords: Android, ESP8266, Arduino Uno, Wi-Fi Shield, GSM Module

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