Voice Controlled Home Automation System Using Arduino

Vikas Pal*1, Sumit Kumar*2, Virender Kumar*3, Gunjan Jha*4, Peeyush Pant*5
1,2,3,4,5
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engg., Bhagwan Parshuram Institute of Technology,
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Delhi, India

Abstract—Establishing home automation system to enabling controlling and monitoring automated home
improve comfort, convenience and quality of life has appliances by smartphones anywhere from the globe.
gained popularity and effectiveness during last decades. Several home automation systems have emerged by using
This has encouraged researchers to develop flexible smartphones with microcontrollers. Various wireless
techniques for home automation systems which are user communication techniques viz IoT, GSM, ZigBee, and
friendly and cost effective. For home automation utilizing EnOcean have been utilized for the same and proposed
smartphone with microcontroller and application platform by the researchers [7]-[9]. Variety of home automation
seems attractive option. Among various schemes proposed systems have been proposed to offer flexible functions,
by researchers voice controlled home automation is seems services and controls. Typically the common features
effective since it reduces human efforts and errors with may include appliance control, thermostat control, remote
improved efficiency. These systems also addresses problem control lighting, live video surveillance, monitor security
of elderly/ disabled people else they require dedicated camera, real time text alerts [10]-[13].
human assistance to control the household appliances. In Several investigations proposed by the researchers are
this paper a voice controlled home automation system is focused on technologies which incorporates features
designed and implemented using Arduino UNO, bluetooth like flexibility, easy operation and low cost. Accordingly
HC-05 and smartphone. The Bluetooth module transmits Smart GSM based hhome aautomation ssystem has
data for controlling receives input signal from a device been proposed [14]. However the system was sluggish
having bluetooth compatibility viz smartphone with with limited operational features. Also, simple web
interface software Arduino-Uno. The system prototype is controlled home automation system with fault detection
operated by the voice commands for household electrical is proposed [15]-[17]. Investigations were also made on
appliances electric lamp and table fan. sensor network for home automation [18], [19]. Courreges
Keywords: Home Automation, Electrical Appliances, Voice et.al. reported investigations to evaluate Performance
Recognition, Arduino, Bluetooth Module, Smartphone and interoperability of radiofrequency home automation
Application. protocols and Bluetooth low energy for smart grid and
smart home applications [20]. Voice controlled home
I. INTRODUCTION automation system has scopes for development of reliable,
effective and flexible systems.
Improvement in comfort level, convenience to control
appliances and quality of life by installing home In this paper voice controlled home automation system
automation system has increased its popularity and by using bluetooth technology has been proposed. The
effectiveness. Modern home automation systems aim system enables user to control the home appliances from
to deliver easiness to the users including elderly and humane voice by microphone of a smartphone. This
disabled peoples by reducing human effort and labor system has been integrated with electrical appliances and
[1], [2]. A typical modern home automation system uses controls them by using voice commands. The proposed
single controller for connected appliances viz power system uses Bluetooth module for transmitting data
plugs, lighting devices, temperature and/or humidity for controlling the operation of electrical appliances.
sensors, detectors installed for smoke, gas and fire besides The system interfaces on/off switches of electrical
regulating emergency and security systems [3]-[5]. Latest appliance by solid state relay to control the device. The
home automation devices also embed renewable energy voice command is sent by using software designed for
based systems offering advantages of flexible control and controlling the system which integrates microphone and
easy management through smartphone, tablet, desktop voice recognition system implemented in device such as
and laptop [6]. Growth in wireless technologies has also Arduino Voice Control application. A micro-controller
boosted development of home automation systems by ATMEGA320P (Arduino Uno) is embedded in the system.

IITM Journal of Management and IT 102 Volume 12, Issue 1 • January-June 2021
The systems user interface device is a smartphone and C. ZigBee Based Wireless Home Automation System
software which interface with Arduino Uno to execute
commands of user. The proposed smart home automation
can also offer support personal by eradicating the issue
to turn on/off electrical switches and controlling by
voice commands. The system is so designed that user
can control all appliances at once or can control each
appliance separately.

II. METHODOLOGY
Methodologies employed in a home automation system
are rigorously analyzed to identify the gap for developing
a platform by using proposed voice automation system
[21]. The schemes are summarized as follows.

A. Bluetooth Based Home Automation System

Figure 1: Block Diagram of the proposed System
Home automation systems use smartphone and Arduino
BT board. The communication between Arduino BT These systems consist of three main modules as handheld
board and cell phone is made wirelessly using Bluetooth microphone, central controller and the appliance
technology. The range of Arduino BT board lies in 10-100 controller. The Handheld microphone module uses ZigBee
meters with 3 Mbps data rate and 2.4GHz bandwidth. protocol and whereas the central controller module are
Accordingly the home appliances are connected to the based on PC. Microsoft speech API is used as a voice
Arduino-BT board with a relay circuit. The cell phone has recognition application and the wireless network is
a software platform allowing user to control the device. established using RF ZigBee modules. These offers low
These systems can use password protection enabling power and cost efficiency. The system records voice at a
system security. Also the advantage of easy setting into
sampling frequency of 8 KHz. The encoding frequency
homes and automated system with low cost user friendly,
range lies in between 6 Hz to 3.5 KHz. Differential pulse
smart living system. The system suffers from issue of
code modulation technique compresses data from 12 bits
having limit to control the home appliances within the
Bluetooth range. to 6 bits. The data bits are sent from the microcontroller
to the RF ZigBee module at the
B. Voice Recognition Based Home Automation maximum baud rate of 115200 bits/s. The ZigBee
A voice recognition based home automation system communication protocol offers maximum baud rate of
consists of Arduino UNO and smartphone. Bluetooth 250 Kbps, but 115.2 Kbps was used for microcontroller
technology is employed for the wireless communication for sending and receiving data. Accuracy of this system
between the smartphone and the Arduino UNO. Since is restricted in the range of 40 meters and the recognition
Android operating system has voice recognizing feature system is accurate, up to 80m.
which is utilized to develop an application capable to
control the home appliances from the command of user D. Global System for Mobile communication
voice. Conversion of user voice command into text and Based Home Automation System
its transmission to message via Bluetooth module is
made. The bluetooth is connected with Arduino UNO. The hardware architecture of the system by using global
One advantage of such voice controlled home automation system for mobile communication (GSM) consist GSM
system includes the fact that user only pronounce the modem, PIC16F887 microcontroller and a smartphone.
appliance name in smartphone microphone and telling The system used a GSM modem controls the electric
it to switch ON or OFF the appliances, in this way the appliances through SMS. In schemes PIC16F887
users can control home appliance easily without any effort. microcontroller is interfaced with a GSM modem and it
The main issue of this system is of having limited range is used to read and decode the received SMS to execute
due to Bluetooth. However the range can be increased the specific command. Home appliances are connected
using internet instead of Bluetooth. Also the system is with microcontroller and relays. RS232 is used for serial
not effective in a noisy environment. communication between modem and microcontroller.

IITM Journal of Management and IT 103 Volume 12, Issue 1 • January-June 2021
The process of sending and receiving commands
executes within 2 seconds. This system permits users
to get feedback status of household appliances via SMS
on their smartphones. The wide availability of GSM
network assures users can get worldwide accessibility
to control appliances for maximum security and
reliability.

E. EnOcean based home automation system

The EnOcean is a new technology for developing
energy harvesting and used in transportation, building
and home automation systems. These devices utilize
315 MHz band and provides convenient ways for home
automation system. Home automation system can be built
up by utilizing internet, router, automation controller,
duckbill-2 and EnOcean and devices. This system can
effectively work as a stand-alone automation controller
inside building automation systems.
Figure 2: Configuration of proposed circuit
III. SYSTEM DESIGN
The block diagram of the proposed System is shown in
Fig.1. The voice-operated android and Arduino home
automation system uses an android based bluetooth
enabled phone for its application and the Arduino Uno
as the microcontroller. The key components of this
system included android smartphone, Bluetooth module,
arduino Uno and relays. The brief description is as
follows.

a) Android based smartphone

Android is a mobile operating system (OS) based on the
Linux kernel and currently developed by Google. With a
user interface based on direct manipulation, the OS uses
touch inputs that loosely correspond to real-world actions,
like swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to Figure 3: Arduino Voice Control Application
manipulate on-screen objects, and a virtual keyboard. The
voice recognizer which is an in built feature of Android
phones is used to build an application which the user
can operate to automate the appliances in his house. The
microphone button is tapped and the voice command is
given to switch the corresponding device on/off. The
voice recognizer listens and converts what is said to the
nearest matching words or text. The Bluetooth adapter
present in the phone is configured to send this text to
the Bluetooth module on the Arduino Uno board that
would in turn control the electrical appliances through
the relay boards.
Figure 4: HC-05 Blutooth Module

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 C. ARDUNO UNO
The Arduino Uno as depicted in Figure 6 is a
microcontroller board based on the ATmega328p. It
has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be
used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz
ceramic resonator, a USB connection, a power jack, an
ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything
needed to support the microcontroller. We either need to
connect it to a computer using a USB cable or power it
with an AC-to-DC adapter. The Arduino circuit acts as
an interface between the software part and the hardware
part of the project.
Figure 5: HC-05 Bluetooth Interfacing with Arduino UNO
The automation system connects with the smartphone
through Bluetooth. The smart phone sends control signals
to switch home appliances ON or OFF by an android
app through Bluetooth interface. The project is built on
Arduino UNO and is used to control LEDs and four
home appliances connected to the Arduino through relays.
(Refer Figure 2). Application in an android smartphone
as shown in figure 3.

B. Bluetooth module
The pictorial representation of the deployed Bluetooth
modules is shown in Figure. 4. The Bluetooth technology
for exchanges data over short distances (using short- Figure 6: arduino uno
wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to
2.485 GHz) from fixed and mobile devices, and building
personal area networks (PANs). The Bluetooth module
being used allows us to transmit and receive signals. It
receives the text from the Android phone and transmits it
to the serial port of the Arduino Uno. HC-05 module is an
easy to use Bluetooth SPP (Serial Port Protocol) module,
designed for transparent wireless serial connection setup.
Serial port Bluetooth module is fully qualified Bluetooth
V2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) 3Mbps Modulation
with complete 2.4GHz radio transceiver and baseband.
It uses CSR Bluecore 04-External single chip Bluetooth
system with CMOS technology and with AFH(Adaptive
Frequency Hopping Feature). It has the footprint as small
as 12.7mmx27mm. Hope it will simplify your overall
design/development cycle. HC-05 Bluetooth Module
Interfacing with Arduino UNO is compulsory for the Figure 7: Prototype of proposed voice controlled home
data or command transmission. Default settings of HC- automation
05 Bluetooth module can be changed using certain AT The Bluetooth module transmits the text to the Arduino
commands. As HC-05 Bluetooth module has 3.3 V level Uno serial port. The text is matched against the various
for RX/TX and microcontroller can detect 3.3 V level, combinations of predefined texts to switch the appliances
so, there is no need to shift TX voltage level of HC-05 on/off. The appliance name and a command for on/
module. But we need to shift the transmit voltage level off are stored as predefined command. For example, to
from microcontroller to RX of HC-05 module. switch on a television the user needs to say “television

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on” and to switch it off he needs to say “television off”. user gives the command to microcontroller by using
The appliances are connected via the relay boards to speech recognition system of smartphone and system
pin numbers 2, 3 and 4 of the Arduino Uno. When the software application via Bluetooth module HC-05. The
matching text is detected the corresponding pin number is microcontroller acts accordingly to the command give user
given a high or low output signal to switch the appliance and controls the functionality of mechanical relay. The
on and off respectively. Arduino Uno is programmed using Arduino IDE which is
software; the user interface application is Arduino Voice
D. Relays Control. As the figure 8 shows it is is the home automation
The mechanical relay have capability for acting as switch system or we called Voice Controlled Home Automation.
for turning on and off electrical loads. They Woks simply
by providing small electrical power in form of electrical V. IMPLEMENTATION AND TEST
signal. This allow high power loads controlled by using PROTOTYPE
small amount of power. The mechanical relay uses
electromechanical coil to open and close the circuit. When A low cost and efficient smart home system is presented
small amount of current passes through coil it excites the in the proposed design shown in Fig.8. This system has
coil and generates magnetic field and either pull the bar two main modules: the hardware interface module and
or release the bar which is used for opening and closing the software communication module. At the heart of
the circuit, here opening and closing means restricts flow this system is the Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller
of current and vice versa respectively.(Refer Figure 7) a which is also capable of functioning as a micro web
relay is an electromagnetic switch. In other words it is server and the interface for all the hardware modules. All
activated when a current is applied to it. Normally a relay communication and controls in this system pass through
is used in a circuit as a type of switch (as shown below). the microcontroller.
There are different types of relays and they operate at Using the above mentioned components we implement our
different voltages. When a circuit is built the voltage system on a breadboard. The microcontroller device with
that will trigger it has to be considered. In this project the Bluetooth module and relay circuit needs to be attached
the relay circuit is used to turn the appliances on/off. with the switch board. Then we need to launch the android
The high/low signal is supplied from the Arduino Uno based application-“ARDUINO VOICE CONTROL” on
microcontroller. When a low voltage is given to the relay our Smartphone. Through the application we can instruct
of an appliance it is turned off and when a high voltage the microcontroller to switch on/off an appliance. After
is given it is turned on. The relay circuit to drive four getting the instruction through the Bluetooth module the
appliances in the Voice-operated Android and Arduino microcontroller gives the signal to the relay board.
Home automation system is shown below. The number The application first searches for the Bluetooth device. If it
of appliances can be modified according to the user’s is available then it launches the voice recognizer. It reads
requirements. the voice and converts the audio signal into a string. It
produces a value for each appliance which will be given
to the microcontroller device. The microcontroller uses the
port in serial mode. After reading the data it decodes the
input value and sends a signal to the parallel port through
which the relay circuit will be activated. In this work we
use Bluetooth module. We can also attach a GSM module
to do the work, using which the application can be used
anywhere where a mobile network is available.

VI. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Figure 8: Relay
Arduino based device control using Bluetooth on
Smartphone project can be enhanced to control the speed
of the fan or volume of the buzzer etc. Home automation
IV. PROPOSED SYSTEM MODEL and Device controlling can be done using Internet of
The system is designed by using three main components, Things – IOT technology. Replacement of Bluetooth by
first is microcontroller Arduino Uno, second is Bluetooth GSM modem may achieve device controlling by sending
module HC-05 and third is mechanical relay. Firstly SMS using GSM modem.

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VII. CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES
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Figure 9: System flow chart
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