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SmartHome Server

The SmartHome Server is the easy way to turn your home into a Smart Home. We can teach your home a few new tricks and make your life better. The SmartHome Server is the central part of the entire SmartHome ecosystem. The ecosystem includes individual devices in a home connected to the SmartHome Server and an optional Web-App to control and manage your home from anywhere in the world. All these devices and the webapp are connected to the central SmartHome Server in your home which provides online and offline access to the devices.

The architecture of the SmartHome Server includes:
  1. MQTT broker to handle all the communication between devices and other components of the server
  2. a logic engine to process the incoming request and get the response from other home devices
  3. a database to store all the device data and user data
  4. a visualisation module to display the device information and let the users interact with their devices
The Server has two sub components including:
  1. an interactive floorplan
  2. a graphical programmable rule system

The interactive floorplan (to be uploaded as a graphics file by the owner) contains an icon for all SmartHome devices that indicates the current status of the device and allows further details to be displayed and configuration options to be adjusted. All devices are auto configured on installation and use WiFi to communicate with the Server.

The graphical programmable rule system allows the owner to define rules that combine the inputs and outputs of the system to create the smarts of the system. It makes use of the voice inputs and outputs from the SmartAssistant module together with emails to announce or warn occupants at home and away if certain definable conditions are met. The SmartHome Server comes with several default templates to demonstrate the functionality of this feature and to allow the owner to build upon.

Server unit
The compact SmartHome server unit including a display.

This project is being undertaken by UQ ITEE student Ali Maan under the supervision of Dr Alex Pudmenzky.

UQ SmartCampus