ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 19.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538 19.2 Our Smart-Home Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
19.2.1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542 19.2.2 Real-Life Requirements and Lab Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
19.3 Common System Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543 19.4 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
19.4.1 Wireless Sensor Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546 19.4.2 Mobile Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548 19.4.3 Radio Frequency Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549 19.4.4 Gateway/Mobiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
19.5 Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552 19.6 Implementation Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553 19.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
The quick evolution of technology has enabled us to bring many things to reality in short periods of time. Thus, the vision of smart homes will become more feasible in the near future. Technologies such as wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and radio frequency identification (RFID) have attractive characteristics that make them great candidates to be engaged in this environment and they can greatly benefit from each other. The term “smart home” comprises various approaches engaged in living and working now and in the future. The objectives of the various approaches range from enhancing comfort in daily life to enabling a more independent life for elderly and handicapped people. The term “ubiquitous computing”, coined by Mark Weiser in his essay, The Computer for the 21st Century, describes the ubiquity of computer and information technology. The task of “smart objects”, implanted into everyday items, is to sense the immediate environment using various types of sensors, and to process this information. This functionality assigns a kind of artificial intelligence to common, well-known objects and enables comprehensive information-processing and interconnection of almost any kind of everyday object. The (preferably) transparent and hidden technology ranges from “wearable computers” and “smart clothes” to “intelligent” artificial replacements. It supports the user in almost every part of his life by extending his cognition and information-processing capacity and tries to compensate for certain handicaps. The challenge regarding smart homes, especially for supporting the elderly and handicapped, is to compensate for handicaps and support the individuals to give them a more independent life for as long as possible. In this chapter, a common architecture for smart-home environments is developed, mapped to an experimental setup, and finally evaluated. This architecture primarily consists of a sensor network that is functionally enhanced by mobile robots and passive RFID tags, which in turn complement the functionality of the sensor network.
