Home automation

My large interest and specialization when I started my career was automation. I worked many years as a Service Engineer for a big Swedish-Swiss company commissioning automation and robotic systems to the industry.
My son is now developing apps for iPhone and likes his job very much.

Combining our interests and skills to make a family business

The other day we were talking about future and possibilities. We realized that if we could combine our interests and skills, we could actually provide good home automation solutions to people. I could do the home automation installation and commissioning and he could customize the app that the home owner will use to get a remote control of the home. We actually chose to use the term home instead of house, because we can do plenty of automation also in a condo or a flat or apartment, not only on a house.
What could we then make more automatic or convenient for a home owner with this setup?

What could we do?

We had a little brainstorming around the subject and came up with a variety of things that could get more automatic and presented or controlled on your smartphone. First we could divide the possibilities into a couple of categories:

  • Comfort & Energy
  • Security
  • Lights
  • Routines
  • Servant
  • Entertainment
  • Pets
  • Garden

In each category, we then listed everything in a home that could be automated, remote presented and remote controlled.

 Some examples:

  • Boiler and Radiators
  • Ventilation
  • Door locks
  • Windows
  • Cameras
  • Wake-up routine
  • Home coming routine
  • Coffee machine
  • Dish washer
  • TV
  • Voice control & Talk back
  • Pet feeding
  • Grass cutting
  • Pool

The list is much longer, just some examples of things that could be accessible on your smart phone and more automatic.

Some key important points before designing an automation project

The very important thing is the following:

  • Everything should work even if internet is down
  • The automation should be done locally without internet
  • Everything should also work manually, if you choose to override the automation
  • The system should only be accessible from a safe platform with username and password, same safety as an internet bank account.
  • The access should be possible to multiply to all family members and friends, but with different authorities, depending on the user.

The next step

We realized that this is something that we easily could do together, For us to actually start our family business, we have to do some homework and better understand the present market, the demand, the technical side and the pricing. I guess that I have to come back on this topic more in the future when I have collected some more facts around this.

What do you think?

Would you be interested to let us do a home automation project in your home? Do you have any further suggestion on what could be done automatic or presentable or controlled remotely? Let me know in the comments section below.

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