Voice-operated Home Automation Affordable System using Open-source Toolkits

Abstract

This report details the development process for a voice-controlled–home-automation system. Manually controlling various devices found in one’s home might be tiresome and for others nigh impossible. This system is able to ease a user’s interaction with home equipment by providing a new, easy to use, interface. The initial phase of the development involved surveying the current field by conducting studies on speech-recognition software and the needs of potential users. These studies provided a foundation for the prototype requirements that acted as the goal for the implementation phases that followed. The report also presents the finished prototype, which is a system capable of interpreting speech as commands. These commands can be formulated in several different ways to make the interaction more natural. After a command has been interpreted an appropriate action is taken on the correct home equipment. In order to control a number of different equipment the control is achieved through radio-controlled outlets. The use of outlets enables the prototype to control most equipment that is controlled with on and off switches. The prototype can also be used with a graphical user interface for any case when the user has problems using his voice.