A simulation environment for the analysis of home automation systems

Using multiple agent system theory, a paradigm for modeling and analyzing home automation systems has been introduced in previous papers. In order to tackle the problem of developing systematic design and validation procedures for control strategies, a rich, versatile simulation/emulation environment is constructed. Global performance indices for the system are introduced and simulation is shown to be an efficient way to estimate them in realistic situations. Relating the indices to suitable control parameters, it is possible to evaluate the efficacy and the efficiency of distributed control strategies and to tune accordingly the control algorithms.