AN OCCUPANCY-AWARE IOT-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR REAL-TIME MONITORING AND OPTIMIZATION OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN SMART HOMES

Abstract

The swift development of the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing conventional living conditions to smart ones. The present study deals with the issue of critical concern of manual control of appliances, large energy wastefulness, and safety hazards in traditional residential houses which specifically affect the aged and handicapped. We introduce a comprehensive IoT-powered Home Automation System created on the basis of ESP32 microcontroller, which is intended to achieve the best energy consumption and ease of use. The system has a multi modal system of control, with users being able to control the appliances in the house with voice assistants (Amazon Alexa and Google Home), the ESP Rainmaker mobile app, and conventional infrared (IR) remotes. One of the innovations of this project is that it can be configured to be able to perform the so-called Hybrid Control, that is, it will provide reliability to the system when supported by physical switches, as well as by offline IR control in case of a lack of internet. Moreover, the system also involves real-time energy monitoring and feedback system to enhance sustainable consumption. As acknowledged by experimental testing, the suggested solution will offer a smooth, reactive, and affordable method to modernize the homes and to decrease the amount of energy overhead and to increase the level of life quality among the vulnerable user groups