Home lighting control using an XBee wireless-communication module

The subject of this diploma thesis is the implementation of a simple anti-burglary solution to protect homes. The solution would creates the illusion that a house is inhabited even when its owners are not at home. We came up with this idea after a discussion about the thesis. Initially, we intended to focus on a home alarm system, but since there already are a multitude of similar products on the market, we decided to focus on a wireless automatic lighting control module that allows the user to set up in advance the order in which the lights in a house will automatically turn themselves on and off. The creation of the final product that is the subject of this thesis was a gradual process. First, we mastered the use of the Arduino programmer and of the Arduino 1.0 programming environment, after which we started upgrading and adding the components which were used in the final solution. The programmer uses a microcontroller from the ATMega family, namely ATMega32. For wireless communication, we used XBee modules. Once configured for proper operation, communication between the modules is quite straightforward. We assembled the product on a testing board, which allowed simpler incremental development of elements to the final solution