Application of Sensor Networks in a Smart Apartment

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APPLICATION OF SENSOR NETWORKS IN A SMART APARTMENT
Omid Salehi-Abari*, Furkan Alaca*, James R. Green, and Rafik Goubran
Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University
*O. Salehi-Abari and F. Alaca contributed equally to this work
INTRODUCTION
Home-based health monitoring systems provide
an opportunity to enhance the quality of life for older
adults by allowing them to live independently and
improving doctor-patient efficiency. These systems are
more cost effective than constant medical supervision
in an institutional setting and will help in reducing the
load on the healthcare system [1]. Studies show that
people aged 75 and older are significantly more likely
to require health care services than other adults [2].
In this paper we propose a number of non-invasive
applications of low-cost and low-powered wireless
sensor networks aimed to monitor various aspects of a
user’s health, daily activities, and environment. Our
goal is to increase the perceived level of privacy by the
subject as compared to more invasive monitoring
technologies such as video cameras. Our approach is
to place the sensors in an unobtrusive fashion and to
avoid using imaging sensors.
Measurements from simple temperature, humidity,
and light sensors can be combined to ultimately aid in
health monitoring and detecting medical emergencies.
A number of other initiatives have used diverse
sensors to track human health and emergencies (e.g.
[3], [4], [5]). In the present study, we investigate the
use of low cost, low power wireless sensors for
tracking indicators of human health. As discussed
below, we have actually implemented these systems
and conducted a number of proof-of-concept
experiments.
We propose algorithms which can be used to help
detect shower usage, monitor exposure to natural
sunlight, and collect data on day-to-day activities such
as refrigerator and bathroom use. The information
collected can then be forwarded to health care
professionals or emergency contacts. This work was
completed during an 8-month senior design project.
Although this is a pilot study, we aim to deploy the final
sensor network and data fusion system in an
instrumented Smart Apartment as part of the TAFETA
initiative [1].
METHODS
Wireless sensor hardware
In this study, we have employed the Crossbow Iris
mote. The mote uses an IEEE 802.15.4 compliant RF
transceiver and uses the unlicensed 2.4GHz band.
The mote has a maximum indoor range of 50m, which
is appropriate for a one-bedroom apartment. One of
the motes was configured as a base station by
connecting it to a desktop computer via a USB
connection and loading the appropriate software. The
other motes can then wirelessly transmit data to the
base station using the specified sampling rate. The
base station automatically saves the data from the
sensors into an SQL database. This allows us to
analyze the data in real-time. MATLAB was used to
retrieve the data from the SQL database and to
perform the required operations on the data.
Overview of application areas
We explored a number of possible applications
where the sensors can be used either independently
or in conjunction with other instrumentation. Figure 1
shows the floor plan of the one bedroom apartment
used by TAFETA and our proposed sensor locations.
Figure 1: Proposed sensor locations in the one
bedroom apartment
Toilet usage
Toilet usage can be monitored by placing a
temperature sensor inside the tank, as shown in
Figure 2. Since flushing the toilet expels the tepid
water from the tank and replaces it with colder water

from the pipes, there will be a measureable drop in
temperature. Therefore, by collecting periodic
temperature measurements and applying a
differentiator to the raw data, we can detect toilet
flushing events.
Figure 2: Photo of temperature sensor in toilet tank
Shower usage
Shower usage can be detected by monitoring the
humidity in the bathroom. A significant increase in
humidity typically indicates that the shower is in use.
Shower detection can be helpful for two purposes.
Firstly, keeping a record of shower usage can help
ensure that the subject is maintaining their personal
hygiene activities. Secondly, abnormally long showers
can be detected if the humidity remains high for a
prolonged period. Before this can be accomplished,
sufficient training data must be collected to establish
the average time which the person typically takes in
the shower. An excessively long shower could indicate
that the person requires assistance.
Refrigerator usage
Refrigerator usage can be monitored by using a
light sensor inside of the refrigerator. When the
refrigerator door is opened, there will be a significant
increase in light intensity. Since the light intensity
reading will be zero when the fridge door is closed,
even the ambient light from the room will be enough to
detect an open door. Using a light sensor could have
advantages over other methods, such as magnetic
switches, since it may be easier to install and it does
not change the external appearance of the refrigerator.
The light sensor also proved to be more accurate than
the temperature sensors as discussed below.
Monitoring the refrigerator door can give an indication
of whether or not the subject is following their regular
eating pattern. In addition, it can help to identify cases
where the door is accidentally left open. Note that the
refrigerator usage could perhaps be more simply
monitored by using a contact sensor in the door. The
current solution is preferred for two reasons: 1) we are
using the same commercially available wireless sensor
mote for all applications and have avoided the need for
specialized hardware for each monitoring application;
2) our solution is suitable for retrofitting on any
refrigerator and does not require any modification of,
nor integration with, the appliance.
Exposure to natural light
It has been shown in studies that older adults are
more likely than others to have vitamin D deficiencies
due to lack of exposure to natural light [6]. Therefore, it
is of benefit to track a subject’s exposure over time.
Light measurements can be taken throughout the
day to determine the subject’s exposure to natural
light. To differentiate between artificial and natural light
sources, temperature sensors can be placed adjacent
to lamps, which can determine whether the lamp is on
or off based on the heat relative to room temperature.
By combining light and temperature data, we can
detect whether the room is lit by artificial or natural
light. Also, if the subject leaves their lights on during
the day, they can be advised to open their curtains.
Room temperature measurements
The sensor network could help determine whether
a window is open or closed. For example, temperature
measured near the window could be compared with
the aggregate temperature from the sensor network. In
an experiment involving three sensors, the state of the
window (open/closed) was clearly discernable from the
temperature data. While this approach will only work
when a significant temperature differential exists
between indoors and outdoors, this is precisely when
window status information is most useful.
The sensor network can also help determine
whether this is an appropriate time to open the
window. Temperature and humidity data could be
collected from both inside and outside. This
information could then be compared in order to inform
the subject of whether or not it is an appropriate time
to open the window for fresh air. This could be of
particular benefit to patients suffering from reduced
mental acuity or dementia. A number of proof-of-
concept experiments were successfully conducted to
demonstrate the feasibility of this approach.
RESULTS
Data was collected and analyzed for each of the
aforementioned applications. The sampling rate for

each mote was chosen based on the application and
the type of sensor (1min for toilet, 1min for shower,
15s for refrigerator, 5min for natural light). For all
experiments, the ambient room temperature was 25ºC.
Different types of data can change at different rates
depending on their time correlation. For example, light
intensity can change almost instantaneously, whereas
changes in temperature and humidity are more
gradual. Consequently, using temperature sensors
allows us to use a lower sampling rate without missing
any events. Lower sampling rates result in fewer
transmissions, which allows for lower power
consumption and longer battery life.
Toilet usage
Figure 3 shows the water temperature in a toilet
tank. As it can be seen, the water temperature falls
suddenly when the toilet is flushed. This permits the
detection of flush events by using a differentiator and a
threshold algorithm. Many hours of data were collected
in order to test the algorithm. As a result we were
successfully able to detect toilet flushes which were at
least 20 minutes apart. This value is reasonable
assuming that only one person is living in the
apartment. Toilet flushes which were closer than 20
minutes were undetectable due to the slow recovery of
the tank water to room temperature.
Figure 3 : Water temperature in toilet tank (flushes are
indicated by arrows)
Shower usage
In order to detect the shower usage, we placed the
humidity sensor 1m away from the shower. We found
that the humidity rose sharply after approximately one
minute. However the drop in humidity had a large
delay after the completion of the shower. These delays
depend on factors such as bathroom size and sensor
location. The state of the exhaust fan (i.e. on/off) also
impacts the rate of decrease in relative humidity
following a shower (but does not delay the increase in
humidity at the start of at the shower). The shower
detection algorithm worked regardless of the state of
the fan. Although we were not able to detect the exact
shower duration, we were still able to detect the
shower usage event. In addition, it may be possible to
detect excessively long showers provided that delays
are constant for a given installation. An excessively
long shower could be an indication that the subject
requires assistance.
Refrigerator usage
Figure 4 shows the light intensity measured by a
sensor placed inside a refrigerator door. The peaks in
the plot indicate the events where the refrigerator door
was opened. The sampling rate for this application
needs to be relatively high in order to capture all of the
events. This is due to the abrupt nature of the changes
in light intensity. Initially, we tried to detect these
events by measuring the change in temperature in the
refrigerator door when it was opened. However, this
was found to be impractical due to the insignificant
change in temperature when compared to the
temperature oscillations caused by the refrigerator
compressor turning on and off.
Figure 4: Refrigerator light (light is zero when
refrigerator door is closed)
Exposure to natural light
Figure 5 shows the light intensity and the lamp
temperature during night hours. When the lamp is
turned on, there is a sharp increase in both the light
and temperature readings. For low sampling rates,
which allows for better battery life, we found that it is
more favourable to monitor the lamp using
temperature measurements. Since changes in
temperature are more gradual with respect to time, it is
more reliable to detect the events based on
temperature rather than light. As can be seen from
Figure 5, relying solely on the light sensor may lead to
undetected events if a low sampling rate is used. By
combining the light and temperature data, we will be
able to monitor whether the light is on or off throughout
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the day. When the light is on, we will see a rise in both
temperature and light measurements. On the other
hand, if the subject opens or closes the curtains, a
sudden change will result in the light intensity graph
without any observable change in the temperature.
This is illustrated in Figure 6, which shows the light
intensity of the room and the lamp temperature during
daytime and evening hours.
Figure 5: Room light and temperature at night (Arrow
shows undetected event using light sensor; sampling
rate of 5 minutes used here.)
Figure 6: Room light and temperature during day-time
hours. (Closing and opening of curtains are indicated
by arrows. The unmarked peak is due to an artificial
light source.)
CONCLUSIONS
The system presented in this paper is designed to
monitor the health and day-to-day activities of the
subject. By using the temperature and humidity
sensors, we were able to monitor room temperature as
well as toilet and shower usage. Adding the light
sensors to the system allows us to monitor refrigerator
usage, room lighting, and the subject’s exposure to
natural light. The algorithms used in this study have
relatively low complexity. While more complex pattern
classification algorithms such as neural networks or
decision forests may be investigated in the future, the
low complexity of the current approach increases the
likelihood that the results will generalize to new
patients and new locales [7].
Future work will focus on integrating this system
with other smart home technologies. For example, light
measurements can be combined with bed occupancy
to monitor sleeping patterns (which is of great interest
for patients with senility). Lastly, while the Crossbow
mote hardware used here is convenient for rapid
prototyping, ultimately we plan to develop custom
hardware with only the subset of sensors required for
this specific application. For example, complex
sensors such as GPS are supported by the Crossbow
mote platform but are not required in the Smart
Apartment, and therefore a simpler microcontroller
may be selected for the final system. Through
optimization of parameters such as sampling rate,
choice of microcontroller, and choice of wireless
communication frequency band, we hope to achieve
lower cost, smaller size, and lower power
requirements.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was supported by a grant from the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
of Canada.
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