1.1 Motivation
In the near future, there will be a lot cheep and smart home appliance in our home market. When customers need some new home appliance to replace their traditional stuffs, they can easily go into a shop store and bring some little digital controllable devices home. Surely they can online these new comers step by step follow instructions in the menu which comes along with the new comers and slowly try out all possible set up to let them cooperate with old smart guys, or we can provide some platform to make the whole process as easy as how customers pay for their new home servants.
Prior to my research, our lab has already established a platform called MHAP [1], which has made various kinds of electronic devices with different specifications able to communicate and work along with one another. Based on such a ideal foundation, I would like to build up a service-designing system, which can help its users to customize a desired home or office automation service. Briefly speaking, with a pre-built service library, the Service Matcher--which will be introduced thoroughly later in my thesis--will first detect what the devices in the specified environment are, and then it will automatically decide what the appropriate services are. Moreover, the Service Matcher will be able to detect the changes of the device environment and transform the service into a functional new service.
1.2 Objects and System Goals
As I started to consider about how to enforce a Home Automation for low-end
DIY user, I was wondering what kind of home services that people would really want and how do people think about intelligent equipment and home automation.
Since most people do not have the experience of DIY their home automation, I turn to give thought to a similar case: personal computer DIY users. The reasons that end users choose to make their home automated by themselves may list like fallows: 1.
Enjoy fun process. 2. Hold their home control power in their hands. 3. Save some money from manufactories and seller [2]. Not only the reasons looks similar to the why people DIY their personal computer and the drawback or so call “sweet burden”
are also alike – have to figure out what the real needed and take the responsibility of maintains and repair. In fact, due to the bigger scale and multi equipment involved, the job is harder. As all other DIY user would faced, they have to take care over every trouble which sometimes pop up with no alarm, figure out where the error started, then correct it or cover it…It’s a nightmare to anyone who does not have a leisure life.
I want to design a system that can help normal people to enjoy their interesting, modern, easy and light financial burden smart home environment.
1.2.1 Device-Location Oriental Service Template
To release the end user’s burden from making up services gradually, a home system should provide user some templates that have deferent purpose and still are modifiable.
The template not only describes how service work and what device and environment it needs.
1.2.2 Service Auto-Apply
With a database of templates can save a lot of time for DIY users, however, they
still have picked up services and decided what devices should work together for perform the job. A ideal system for DIY users give user a short cut to get what they want by ask some simple questions, like “if you want a light control service,” “how about a media control center?” or “Do you need whole package service for bedroom?”
then select suitable services templates and turn them into real services.
1.2.3 Service Auto-Recovery
If some devices fail, the system will have the ability to fix the problem first without effecting the user’s daily life.
1.3 Problems
MHAP is a well-designed mom-based communication platform. Appliances of different protocols can communicate each other through the MHAP. It also implements an interface for users to make a rule-based service and it give home appliance a location-embedded identity. However, location information does not work more than as an identifier for service and users. The interface help users ordering a service, however, they still have to communicate appliances and start up the whole process by themselves.
1.4 Solution
Concern the problem that DIY users may face and the ability of MHAP, here are three ways to support the new system.
1.4.1 Device-Location Oriental Service Template
Review the design of the system descriptions in MHAP, especially the service
and rule description structure. By adjusting and adding some new attributes to descriptors to strengthen the influence of environmental factors in home service and improve the usability of home service.
1.4.2 Service Template Database
Provide a service template database to home system. These templates can give DIY users a foundation to start up a service and they are modifiable, user can change it into want they want. The database should be portable, and user can take it to where they go then rebuilt their home service by the templates.
1.4.3 Service Matcher and Auto-Apply
Provide a service matcher that recommend service template for DIY users. The service matcher evaluates the condition of both system and home environment, and proposes a list of service template. System then modified these services into user’s requirement and put them on service.