Smart home system using a Wireless Sensor Network for elderly care

Abstract

Elderly people who are staying alone require some form of assistance since they might forget minor things which could lead to a major security threats. Aged people can easily get sick and if they are alone at these situations they cannot get help in time. This project proposes a Wireless Sensor Network based smart home monitoring system for such elderly people to monitor their health and provide them with a safe and secure living. The Wireless Sensor Network deploys various sensors to identify the occurrence of specific events. By placing wearable sensors on the waist of the person, the sensor values are computed and assessed. Temperature, Heartbeat and Pressure sensors are used to determine the health parameters of the person. The contact sensors are used to determine if a door is open or not. The fall detection system consisting of an inertial unit includes a tri-axial accelerometer and a gyroscope for efficient data fusion. The fall detection algorithm is used to monitor the activities of the elderly people and determine whether or not a fall has occurred. Starting with raw data, the implemented orientation filter provides the correct orientation of the subject in terms of yaw, pitch, and roll angles. In case of any emergency, SMS will be sent to the caregiver and the nearby hospitals using GSM modem to take preventive action.