article published in the student edition of Deccan Herald on 13th December 2018
There was a time when kids like you were fascinated when they heard the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The part where the hero goes to the cave door screened by the waterfall and mumbles “Open Sesame” was the favourite of most youngsters. Today children like you must have seen glass doors in hospitals, malls, high end showrooms and homes which sense that you want to enter and quietly open up without expecting you to say anything at all!
At present, there are several such instances of man’s fertile imagination that have been translated into reality through science. Movies, science fiction and detective novels have acquired a charm of their own, especially as they showcase a lot of plethora of gadgets that function at the push of a button or the mere waving of the hand.
We must thank science and technology for having helped man to realise his fantasies, for now, we have truly arrived because we live in an era of automation. Automation in homes is the latest fad in the world of gadgets. Why don’t you read the rest of the story and check out how many of the gadgets are you using , have seen or heard about?
Simply put, home automation is anything that gives you remote or automatic control of things in & around the home. The systems that you can control include: Lighting, Appliances, Heating and cooling, Security and monitoring systems, Entertainment (home audio and video), Communications (telephones and intercoms, internet), Lawn sprinklers, Curtain movements, Pool filter pump, Spa heater, Filtration unit, Gate/garage door motor, Shade motor control, Roof sprinklers, Electric strikes, Keyless entry etc.
The concept of home automation is to connect all of these systems and devices to a central controller so that they can be controlled from anywhere and react to one another. For example, as you arrive home, your home-automation system can automatically turn off the sprinklers, open the garage door, unlock the front door and disable the alarm, light the rooms as and when you enter, and turn on the TV. Or if you have a home theatre, it might automatically dim the lights, draw the shades, and direct all calls to voicemail so that you can watch your movie in peace.
This central controller can be accessed and controlled through interfaces like keypad, wired or wireless touch-screens (with/without video), universal remotes, mobile devices such as a cell phone or PDA, any PC, at home, in the office, or on the road.
The central controller has various peripheral devices connected to it so that it can receive and send signals to them for appropriate controls. These peripheral devices can be Lighting Controllers, Switches, Lighting Dimmers, Wireless security transmitters, Door contactors, PIR sensors, Infrared key fobs, Fire/smoke detectors, Sprinklers, Sirens, audio controllers, speakers, temperature sensors, thermostats, cameras, televisions, CCTV, appliances etc.
In other words if any premise is fitted and wired well with some or all of these devices they can be animated and programmed to be your slave at your will. And the best part is that technology has made all these magical possibilities come alive because some scientific minds have been working overtime on the subject. While it is all right for you to enjoy the fruits of the hard work of scientists, it will do you a world of good if you are able to add on the treasury of inventions and improvisations. Applying your minds and stretching your imagination will egg you on to experiment and explore further. Perhaps, at some later date you might actually end up enlarging the world of automation.