More than downloading : Visualization of data produced by sensors in a home environment

Abstract: A home automation system usually contains a set of tools that users use to control devices in their homes, often remotely. These devices often include but are not limited to light switches, thermostats, thermometers, window blinds, and climate controls. The potential for these kinds of systems is huge because of the sheer number of devices that could be controlled and managed with minimal and inexpensive extra hardware. Many of the appliances in a normal home could benefit from being connected to a system that allows the owner to manage and control the devices in their home. Thus the number of potential devices is orders of magnitude larger than the number of homes connected to the system. There are several systems on the market that provide systems to monitor and control a home environment, however these systems only support specific in system devices. This uncovers a problem where a homeowner only has the opportunity to use specific products that fit into these systems. By introducing an open platform for the public that are not bound to any system we can allow more devices to be integrated in the home and contribute to further development of smarter homes. The goal with this project was to provide a scalable open platform with the possibility of asynchronous updating. This has been done by implementing multiple logical parts to both provide a web interface for the user and to allow us to handle communication and storage of data. All these parts are linked together to form a system of servers that handles all background operations. This thesis discusses and presents implementations of all of these servers, how they are implemented, communicate with each other, provide secure connections and how they can scale with increasing usage. In this process we also discuss and present techniques that were used, how to use them and their benefits, to help us reach our goal.