INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS AND
HOUSE AUTOMATION (i-HOME)

Intelligent Buildings and House Automation Solution can be implemented to a single building as well as a large number of buildings spread on large scaled areas and even House Estates

System is mainly composed of two components;

a-Control and Command System (CCS):

It is a centralized command and conrol sytem working in interaction with separate control centers in each building which enables to manage the whole system from a single centralized point. It controls, records and monitors all parameters of the system.

A special software, named SCADA, runs on the main computer. System is composed of special hardware (PLC _ Programmable Logic Controller, Relay Drivers, Channel Control Units etc.) which is tightly integrated with SCADA software and communicates with every single sub-system on each building providing remote measurement (telemetri), monitoring (supervising) and other control ( turn on/off, regulation, alarms and functions triggered by these alarms etc.) functions.

SCADA software shows all real time operations with the help of diagrams, tables and curves on a Graphical Interface (GUI). All past operations can be stored in the desired format on a desired interval of time. System can produce necessary reports and statistics of these past operations to be able to implement its decision support feature.

A Subscriber Management System which can operate in interaction with SCADA software is also avaiable. This software has below features;

• Subscriber Records of each building/flat user (named subscriber) parameters ( electricity consumption, water usage, internet, TV, optional services etc.)
• Measuring and reporting the usage amounts in the desired time interval on any time
• Records of these amounts
• Composing invoices according to the unit prices
• In pre-paid systems generating alarms about the remaining credit amounts and functions triggered by these alarms ( turn on/off etc )

A Subscriber Management System  is an interactive system which also appears as a menu item on the LCD screens of subscribers' buildings/flats enabling them to monitor their own past and real time usage amounts of electricity, water etc. and current debts.

b-Intelligent House Automation System (IHAS)

It controls, commands and records different parameters of a house. It is composed of high a number of input devices (sensors) placed in different points in the house and output devices (relay drivers, walves etc.) again placed in different points of the house.

A microcontroller based PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) unit (which operates independently in itself) controls these input and output devices.

The user interface of the system is provided on a 15"  touchscreen LCD display with a very user-friendly software. Though the menus are simple to use they have high visual features. The user can easily select each main menu (Lighting, security, heating, cooling) and sub menus set the desired settings (setting of each room' s heat levels etc.) or can select predefined scenarios pratically without getting into details.

IHAS transfers the control data and information of each input/output unit to the CCS from a copper wire (twisted pair), fiber cable or wireless (GPRS, WiFi, RF)

IHAS can also be integrated with smartcard solutions. Each subscriber with his/her photo and identity information on the smartcard can use this card

• For ID / access (as house and garage keys, turnovers etc.),
• For authentication and encryption,
• As electronic wallet for electronic commerce (e-wallet),
• As a discount card etc.

In this case Subscriber Management System can be customized for smart card usage.

IHAS can be divided into four categories;

• Lighting Automation
• Climate Control ( Heating, Cooling ) and Ventilation
• Security (Burglary Alarms, Access Security, Fire)
• Internal Communication (intercom, video camera)

Main purpose is to control all the lighting armatures inside and outside (outdoor, balconies, garden lighting etc.) the house from a single point.

Sensors that detects the daylight and lighting level inside the house, approach and motion detectors control all the buildings lighting system with the help of remote controllers, adjutable dimmers according to the lighting scenarios set by the user.

Turning on the lights automatically when the doors are opened or a car approaches the house, turning of all the lights except night lambs with a single touch of a button
while going to sleep (night scenario), setting the optimum lighting level according to the daylight (economical scenario), in case of an emergency (fire, burglary etc.) turning on/of the specific locations lights (alarm scenario), Minimizing the lighting level while leaving house (leaving scenario) are some examples of the probable lighting scenarios.

User can also set up a time table about the lighting to be used in different time intervals in a day.

All these features can also be used for the whole residental area (group of houses, retail centers, café-restaurants etc.). In this case it is not  controlled by IHAS but controlled by CCS.

2) Climate Control ( Heating, Cooling ) and Ventilation

There are heat sensors placed in the different points in the building. Besides these sensors outside temperature is also measured and in centralized heated systems the temperature of the center heating water is also measured. These sensors are main input control units.

Relay drivers that control the turn on/off operation of the air conditioner, solenoid walves and 3 way walves that resides in the entrance of the building are the main output control units.

System automatically compensates the night and day temperature differences.

Moisture and dust sensors can easily be integrated into the system. This time just like heating and cooling features, user can set the enviroment's moisture levels for any place of the house.

For any reason when the quality of the air decreases system automaticelly recognizes this and ventilates the relevant place of the house.

The scenarios that can be chosen can be just for heating-cooling features or the full scenarios that involves the whole automation features.

3) Security

IHAS security systems can be examined in a few subjects

Firstly there are 3 scenarios for the burglary alarm. These are;

• The whole system is turned off (off scenario)
• Only the magnetic contacts are online (night scenario)
• The whole system is turned on together with the motion and appearance detectors. (leaving the house scenario)

There are magnetic contacts on all of the windows and doors. System can recognize the positions of the doors and windows (on/off) itself.

On the other hand there are motion sensors placed on the stairs, holes, corridors etc. These motion sensors can also be placed outside the building like the entrance door.

The same security sytem is also valid for the whole residental area. Motion detectors and

Another important subject is the fire alarm.

Smoke detectors which are connected to the fire santral sub-unit are used.This sub-unit reports the probable fire situation that is detected by smoke sensors to the CCS. In these cases the situation is also checked one more time from the data that has been sent from the heat sensors in the relevant area. If a fire situation occures the system immediately overtakes the fire alarm mode.

• Loud and silent fire alarms are generated in and outside the building.
• SMS and telephone messages are sent to the relevant centers.
• All air conditioning units are turned off in order to prevent the fire and smoke to spread out.
• Lighting system is also passes to the alarm mode and can be shut down if desired.

Lastly access security is a part of the system which ensures that relevant and authorized people accesses to the relevant points. Numerical keypads, RFID tags and smartcards are used here.

The most prefered systems are active smart card-RFID systems which can operate remotely. A very effecive parking management system also can be implemented with these units. 

4) Internal Communication

IHAS may include an effective internal communication system if desired.

a-) Voice (telephone) and visual (video cameras) communication (café, restaurants, sportscenters, other users, entrance and leaving doors etc. )

b-) Wireless Technologies
With the help of miniature cameras a specific room' s images can be monitored by authorized users ( by passwords or smartcards ) over internet.