Building automation through web interface

Abstract

It is quite common to forget switching off appliances which are not in use and we may not be within the vicinity to do so when we realize it. With building automation and remote control, appliances can be switched on or off without physically switching them on by their switches. Hence, an embedded web server is developed to achieve remote control of switches and autonomous control with predefined rules. A web server is used instead of conventional approach where the controls of switches are performed through the web browser via local area network or the internet. The embedded server is developed from a Microchip PIC24FJ256GB106 16-bit microcontroller together with an Ethernet controller ENC28J60 using TCP/IP stack provided by Microchip and utilizes USB flash drive as storage medium. This paper discusses the testing of components that make up the system, together with problems encountered and methods to solve the problems. Performance of the embedded webserver is obtained and documented. Optimizations were performed to increase the system's performance. The system is designed to use JavaScript to emulate HTTP digest authentication by using a one way hash function to encode the salted username and password for user authentication purpose. Power control modules were designed and developed to control AC power devices. AC light bulbs were used to demonstrate the capability of the system to operate in AC environment.