The Hindu : New Delhi News : IIT students design wireless home security gadget

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Monday, Apr 21, 2008
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New Delhi

IIT students design wireless home security gadget

Parul Sharma

Can alert the owner through a pop-up message on a computer or SMS

NEW DELHI: Life would be much safer if a unique security apparatus could be installed in homes that can detect any unwanted presence inside the house and alert the owner through a pop-up message on a computer or a SMS on a cell phone anytime and anywhere.

An innovative “Home Security Application” has been indigenously designed by a team of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, that uses a wireless sensor network to provide security for homes.

The system that was on display at the Annual Open House of IIT, Delhi, this past week deploys different sensors at different positions in the house, which are all controlled by a single remote point.

The various sensors at work are a PIR proximity sensor that senses heat and hence motion of a living body within a radius of 3 metres; a glass break sensor that detects high-frequency impact sounds in case someone breaks into a house; a smoke detector; a wireless camera to take pictures; and an appliance power control.

This chip that is interfaced with different sensors in this “user-friendly” model has been developed in IIT, Delhi, itself.

All these sensors which are wireless and operated by batteries are then further connected to a base station that collects data provided by them and acts as a gateway. It can be integrated with GSM networks and internet.

“The base station further communicates either to a computer or a mobile equipped with an internet connection and alerts the owner through a pop-up message or a SMS whenever an event occurs,” explained Prof. Subrat Kar, a faculty member at the institution.

The pilot product of “Home Security Application” has been developed under Elfsys Embedded Solutions Private Limited, a start-up company launched by Prof. Kar and his colleague Prof. Santanu Chaudhury. The company is promoted by IIT, Delhi, which is its major funding agency.

Apart from the two faculty members, four M. Tech. students of Electrical Engineering -- Praval Jain, Arpan Phull; Robin Jacob and Vipul Kumar -- have worked on this model.

The prototype now waits funding from the industry so that it can be made commercially available.

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