1. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
An android based remote control framework
for smart home components
Prof. Dr. Hartwig Grabowski
hartwig.grabowski@hs-offenburg.de

2. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Smarthome
The home residential gateway is the core component
Residential Gateway:
 Core component
 Connecting devices /
appliances
 Controlling devices
 Offering (intelligent)
services
 Serving as a bridge to
the outer world
 Providing UI
 Support (hot) service
deployment
 …
Source: http://www.jvrb.org/4.2007/1110
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 2

3. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Smarthome
Many requirements must be fulfilled to pave the way to mass market
Residential Gateway –
a long way to go:
 (Open) platform for
building new services
 Widely accepted by
industry
 Godfather pushing the
technology
 SDK (emulator, etc.)
and community
 Market for services
 Low-cost hardware
through mass-market
Source: http://www.jvrb.org/4.2007/1110
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 3

4. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Smarthome
Android already fulfills the demands
Android provides:
 (Open) platform for
building new services
 Widely accepted by
industry
 Godfather pushing the
technology
 SDK (emulator, etc.)
and community
 Market for Services
 Low-cost hardware
through mass-market
Source: http://www.jvrb.org/4.2007/1110
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 4

5. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Smarthome
The residential gateway can be substituted
Substitute residential
gateway by
Smartphone +
WLAN-DSL-Router +
appliance controller:
Source: http://www.jvrb.org/4.2007/1110
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 5

6. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Smarthome
Three components build the “new” residential gateway
Smartphone The intelligence:
 Offers UI
 Implements the “smart” services
 “Low-cost” hardware (~100 €)
WLAN-Router
The connector:
 Connectivity: LAN and WAN
 “Low-cost” hardware, already available
Appliance Controller
The controller:
 Connectivity: Home Appliances
 “Low-cost”(?) hardware (~200 €)
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 6

7. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Smarthome
A large set of sensors and actuators is already available
actuators
HTTP FS20 power power blinds
heating
switch dimmer control
…
sensors
EZcontrol XS1 door
temp. wind water
contacts
…
FS20
Source: http://www.ezcontrol.de
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 7

8. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Smarthome
The android device can be used in-house and out-house
Laptop, PC, printer
multimedia
internet
home appliances
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 8

9. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
The android framework
There are three major domains for smarthome applications
power metering
surveillance
Security Energy
remote control
Comfort
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 9

10. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Energy
Smart metering is demanded
power metering
surveillance
Security Energy
remote control
Comfort
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 10

11. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Energy
Smart metering option 1: replace current power meters by smart meters
Limited acceptance:
 Cost intensive
 Lost of privacy
 Bound to energy
provider
 No open platform /
access to data
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 11

12. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Energy
Smart metering option 2: update current power meters
web-server
in the cloud
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 12

13. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Energy
All computation (UI, forecasts, etc.) is implemented on the android device
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 13

14. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
The android framework
Three domains for smarthome applications
power metering
surveillance
Security Energy
remote control
Comfort
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 14

15. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
The remote control app provides basic functionality
actuators
…
sensors
…
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 15

16. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
The remote control app implements the basic functions
The app serves as a interface to the appliance
controller
All available functions are to be implemented
 Remote control of actuators
 Receive data from sensors
 Add components sensors / actuators
 Remove components sensors / actuators
 Subscription service: Automatically inform
about new events
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 16

17. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
The remote control app offers intuitive user interface
With the remote control app, basic control function can be executed:
Login-screen: List all actuators List all sensors
configure once
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 17

18. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
The subscription service is implemented through chunked encoding
How to push information without having a server running on the mobile
device?
Use the HTTP chunked encoding:
- the Content-Length header is not
used
- server transmits response with
dynamically-generated “chunks”
- The size of each chunk is sent right
before the chunk
- The data transfer is terminated by a
final chunk of length zero.
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 18

19. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
The subscription service is implemented as an android service
Implementation of HTTP
chunked encoding:
 HTTP connection is left open
“endless”
 Implemented as an android
service, running in the
background.
 Service records the events in
a list
 Activity reads the recorded
list.
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 19

20. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
”Smart services” can be easily build on top of the basic functions
smart services
additional functions
set of basic functions
actuators
…
QR-Codes proximity macros
alert +
sensors
…
?
… timer
sensors
functions
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 20

21. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
Smart service example 1: QR-codes + power switch
smart services
You:
(web-interface)
Me:
(android app)
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 21

22. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
Smart service example 1: QR-codes + power switch
smart services
take picture extract tag, start app, toggle the
obtain switch-id jump to switch switch
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 22

23. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
Smart service example 2: QR-code + gravity sensor + dimmer
smart services
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 23

24. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Remote control
Multimedia
What about multimedia? - It’s all there already!
Samsung
Remote
LG
Remote
Grundig
Remote
… … …
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 24

25. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
The android framework
Three domains for smarthome applications
power metering
surveillance
Security Energy
remote control
Comfort
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 25

26. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Security
One stationary device is needed
Laptop, PC, printer
multimedia
internet
home appliances
Source: http://www.monitorhalterung.de/
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 26

27. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Security
The stationary device is used for computation and notification
home area
sensors
webcam
outside actuator
(fake) TV
push notification:
SMS or C2DM sensors
door contacts
motion detection
computation wind, humidity, …
&
notification actuator
binds, lights, etc.
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 27

28. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
The android framework
How to bring the bricks together?
Just start the external app
( LAUNCHER intent ) Security
Comfort
Implicit intents / open intents
( onActivityResult() )
Energy Multimedia
Programmatically
(source code available)
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 28

29. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Conclusion
Navigation systems are going to be substituted by mobile devices. Residential
gateways will be substituted, too. Android offers all we need.
14.2.2012 Hartwig Grabowski, droidcon Berlin, 2012 29

30. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Thank you!
30

31. Hochschule Offenburg University of Applied Sciences
Appendix
31