A voice-controlled multi-functional Smart Home Automation System

Current availability of interactive technologies infrastructure such as internet bandwidth, increased processing power and connectivity through mobile devices at affordable costs have led to new concepts related to human living. Smart cities, smart life and internet of things etc. are few such evolving research domains. A prominent concept among these is `Smart Home´, which involves automation and interactive technologies. This paper proposes a multi-functional `Smart Home Automation System´ (SHAS), where users can use voice-commands to control their home-appliances and gadgets, for different functionalities and purposes. The proposed system can be adapted to a user´s voice and recognise the voice-commands, independent of the speaker´s personal characteristics such as accent. The system is aimed to be cost-effective, flexible and robust. The voice command recognition is achieved using a dedicated hardware module and an Arduino micro-controller board for commands processing and control. Performance evaluation is carried out by developing a multi-functional miniature prototype of the SHAS. Results of the experiments conducted are quite promising. The prototype SHAS can be used for converting existing homes into smart homes at relatively low cost and with convenience.