IoT or the internet of things is characterized as a forthcoming innovation that empowers us to control equipment gadgets through the Internet. Homes of the next generation will become more and more self-controlled and mechanized because of the solace it gives, particularly when utilized in a private home.
Many existing, well-established home automation systems are based on wired communication. This doesn’t represent an issue until the framework is arranged well ahead of time and introduced during the actual development of the structure. However, for previously existing structures the execution cost goes extremely high.
As we all know, our country is facing the biggest Pandemic situation known as Covid -19 nowadays. Most people get infected due to contact with others. So it is our duty to have contactless communication in order to avoid these Epidemics. So Contactless switches have become an absolute necessity in public places, especially after COVID-19. Regularly, the surfaces of switches and doorknobs in public places come in contact with many people. After touching those surfaces, one can easily contract the virus.
This IoT project aims to build a gesture-controlled switch that can be used in homes and public places. The system comprises of Arduino Uno, LCD Display, Channel Relay, Gesture Sensor, and a bulb. The gesture sensor senses movements in its immediate vicinity and converts them into commands for controlling the light bulb or other electric home appliances. It is a simple yet interesting project.
PROPOSED SYSTEM:
As the technology is developing day by day, switches require updating with current times. To avoid the risk of contracting COVID-19, it has become necessary not to touch surfaces of buttons and keys that have been often utilized by other people. This leads to the new innovative switching technology for replacing a hand-operated switch, with an automatic contactless switch.
In this paper, we adopt the contactless linear gesture sensor for the navigation of smart lighting systems. In this system, the user can swipe through the gadgets by moving a finger in the left or right direction and switch the appliance ON or OFF by moving a finger in an upward or downward direction. For gesture recognition, the APDS-9960 gesture sensor is utilized. The module used in the project comprises a small breakout board sensor with a built-in APDS-9960 sensor. The sensor has ambient light detection, color measuring, proximity detection, and gesture sensing features. The sensor has on-chip UV and IR blocking filters, four separate diodes sensitive to different directions, and I2C compatible interface for communicating with embedded controllers.
The project is built on Arduino UNO and has an LCD module for the user interface, an APDS-9960 gesture sensor for user input, and a relay circuit to drive appliances ON or OFF, interfaced to it. An open-source library for interfacing the APDS-9960 gesture sensor with the Arduino is utilized in the project. The Arduino code is written on the Arduino IDE and burnt to the board using AVR Dude. The relay circuit controlling the appliances is hard-wired with the Arduino-based remote control.
Once the circuit is powered, the Arduino board loads the required libraries. Initially, the appliances are switched OFF by passing a LOW logic at the Arduino pins connecting the relays. Some initial messages are passed to the LCD module and the module starts displaying the horizontal list of appliances. The user can swipe through the appliances by hovering their finger left or right over the gesture module. On hovering the finger upwards, the selected appliance is switched OFF by sending LOW logic at the respective Arduino pin connecting the relay that controls the respective appliance. On hovering the finger downwards, the selected appliance is switched ON by sending HIGH logic at the respective Arduino pin connecting the relay that controls the respective appliance.
The proximity detection feature allows the module to control all the appliances together. If the finger is placed near the sensor module, all the appliances are switched ON and if the finger is taken away from the sensor module, all the appliances are switched OFF.Â
COMPONENTS REQUIRED:
- Arduino UNO:
Arduino Uno is an open-source based on the Microchip ATmega328P developed by Arduino. cc. The current version of Arduino Uno comes with a USB interface, 14 digital I/O pins, 6 analog pins, an ICSP header, 16 MHz ceramic resonators, a power jack, and a reset button. And an Atmega328 microcontroller is used to connect with external electronics circuits.
- Power Supply:
In the circuit, the Arduino board and LCD module need a 5V regulated DC while relays need 12V regulated DC for their operation. The AC mains is used as the primary source of power. The supply from the mains is stepped down by a transformer and rectified by a full-bridge rectifier. The rectified output is regulated to 5V and 12V using 7805 and 7812 ICs. Â
- APDS-9960 Gesture sensor
In this paper, the APDS-9960 gesture sensor is used for gesture recognition. The module consists of a small breakout board sensor with a built-in APDS-9960 sensor. The sensor has ambient light detection, color measuring, proximity detection, and gesture sensing features. The sensor has on-chip UV and IR blocking filters, four separate diodes sensitive to different directions, and I2C compatible interface for communicating with embedded controllers.
- Toggle Switch:
A toggle switch is an electrical switch that opens and closes an electrical circuit by moving a lever back and forth.
- LCD DISPLAY
Displaying information is one of the crucial steps in electronic projects. So using LCDs has always been one of the most popular ways to display information. This 1602 LCD module is a very popular display. 16*2 LCD module consists of 16 columns and 2 rows, so it has 32 (16*2) characters in total.
- Relays:
The 12V 2A relays are used to switch the AC appliances ON or OFF in the project. A relay is designed as an electrically operated switch. Many relays operate with an electromagnet to mechanically operate a switch. Relays functions where it’s necessary to regulate a circuit by a low-power signal. This is performed with complete electrical isolation between control and controlled circuits, or several circuits that should be controlled by one signal. This 12V Relay is an automatic control circuit and to control a high-current using a low-current signal.
CONCLUSION:
This proposed system is an IoT-based Gesture-Controlled Contactless Switch for Smart Home to promote contactless communication using a microcontroller-based circuit. This system is a cost-effective, practical, eco-friendly, and safest way to protect ourselves from contacting others. Moreover, in this system, the underground information can be accessed anytime and anywhere. It clearly tackles the challenges that the world is facing today.
In short, this no-touch switch works entirely on hand gestures. Our smart contactless switch includes a sensor that is capable of detecting hand movements and translates them into commands for controlling lights, fans, and various home appliances.