The Intelligently Designed Engineering for Advanced Living (IDEAL) House is a large multi-disciplinary endeavour being launched by the School of EE&CE to provide students (and staff) with the opportunity to contribute to the future of human habitation on this planet. While this initiative can be broadly divided into the two major areas of sustainability and automation, it is meant to be inclusive of all aspects where electrical, electronic, and/or computing technologies can contribute to human well-being within a habitat.

Projects Available for Year 2011

Please see individual supervisors for specific enquiries about each project.

If you have ideas for another project topic not listed here, please contact Dr. Henry to discuss how your idea might be incorporated into the IDEAL House.

General:

The Intelligently Designed Engineering for Advanced Living (IDEAL) House is a large multi-disciplinary endeavour being launched by the School of EE&CE to provide students (and staff) with the opportunity to contribute to the future of human habitation on this planet. While this initiative can be broadly divided into the two major areas of sustainability and automation, it is meant to be inclusive of all aspects where electrical, electronic, and/or computing technologies can contribute to human well-being within a habitat.

 - Projects in conjunction with Faculty of ALVA (UWA)

The UWA Future farm located at Pingelly (Ridgefield) has a number of buildings being built and designed  currently - two of these are the SHEEP MOTEL and also the FARM MANAGER's HOUSE (SMART House).   Both of these buildings have a number of projects associated with them as well as general projects related to the overall control of the Future Farm.

Inside the Pingelly SMART Farm House

(soon to be completed)

Some of these are:

- An energy solution to power the new sheep motel/laboratory either supplementary to mains power or off grid.

- An energy solution to power the new sheep motel/laboratory either supplementary to mains power or off grid.

- An electrical system strategy (potentially supplementing Dynalite) to automate feeding, circulation, tagged data collection etc. of sheep passing through the sheep motel.

- Investigating suitable lighting and electrical solutions to the laboratory located within the sheep motel complex.

- A lighting plan to access ways throughout the farm, such as the entrance road leading to the new house. Designs can incorporate low output led lighting with movement sensors as proposed by Philips.

- Establishing a strategy of what infrastructure is required to link all the major components on the farm so that they are able to be controlled by the farm manager inside the house (again this is where consultation with Philips/Dynalite comes in).

-  investigate ideas for the farm in terms of alternative energy uses.

- Finally, but not least I also think there is a responsibility to understand how this can all be beneficial to the local agriculture industry in general.

- Following two design studios with final year architecture students, we have a number of proposals for a new sheering shed/laboratory on the farm. The intention at this stage is to use these proposals to inform the final design to be built on the farm. The passive design measures are incorporated in many of the schemes. There is also opportunity for Dynalite to do its work here too.

If you have any other thoughts or ideas please contact Dr Jasmine Henry

-EMC Issues in a modern domestic environment - Measurements in the IDEAL house

Supervisor: Dr Franz Schlagenhaufer (TEN)

email: F.Schlagenhaufer@curtin.edu.au

Ph: + 61 8 9266 9473

Un-intentional electromagnetic emission from electrical and electronic devices can affect the operation of sensitive receivers and communication systems. With the proliferation of sophisticated electronic equipment installed in a domestic environment this is of growing concern.

An important propagation path of interference signals is radiation from power lines. Electromagnetic noise is generated by a variety of devices such as switched mode power supplies, frequency converters, or data modems. Noise signals are injected in and propagate along power cables, change their characteristics, e.g. converting from differential to common mode signals, at discontinuities and radiate.

The project will investigate the correlation between conducted signals, either originating from existing power supplies and frequency inverters, lighting installations or modems. or artificially injected as part of the project, and electric and magnetic fields in and around the IDEAL house.

You will learn the basic EMC concepts of common and differential mode signals, and how to measure radio-frequency (RF) currents, electric and magnetic fields with state-of-the-art instruments. This topic is of great interest not only to the EMC community but also to the wider IT and power electronics industry. Results of the project might be published in the EMC Society of Australia Newsletter and/or be presented at the National Australian EMC Symposium. The project requires knowledge of Electromagnetic Theory fundamentals and is suitable for up to three students.

-Solid-State Lighting and Sensors for Managing the Home Environment

(Supervisors: Prof. Laurie Faraone, A/Prof Brett Nener, Dr. Gia Parish)

This area encompasses the use of semiconductor devices (solid state devices) such as photodiodes and LEDs for use in various sensing and control applications, such as lighting, motion detection, and temperature and atmospheric monitoring. Specific projects include, but are not limited to:

·      high-efficiency LEDs for solid-state lighting

·      Control of lighting, including multi-colour LEDs for custom and mood lighting.

·      Ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) photodetectors for air quality assessment.

·      IR detectors for motion sensing

·      UV detectors for UV level monitoring

·      Use of LEDs and sensors to enhance gaming experience (such as interactive lighting or sensors for human interface)

The following projects would be in conjunction with MRG and Bright Green Lighting.

 Colour temperature control- Goal: to provide a more liveable and multiuse house with a lower physical and environmental footprint. Project: Different colour temperatures set different moods in a setting from warm to cool that can increase the functional and apparent use for a room. The intent it to be able to control these manually and automatically. The automated function would be controlled by the ambient temperature outside the building. Below 20 degrees Celsius the colour temperature should be 100% 3000k. At 30 Degrees Celsius and above the temperature should be 5000k. From 20-30 Degrees Celsius there would be a linier relationship from 3000k -5000k   We would supply Led luminaries that will have a 13W 3000k and 13W 5000k LED packages that can be controlled independently.

 LED heat temperature monitoring and current control- Goal: to make products last as long as possible to reduce unnecessary consumption. Project: To monitor the junction temperature of a 13W down light and reduce its load to achieve L50 at 100,000hrs resulting in a light that will be guaranteed to last 15 years in average residential use.

Goal: To reduce unnecessary energy consumption. Project:  This involves sensing the amount of daylight in a room and then dimming the LED down lights to regulate a particular level of light that is adjustable. It could also be extended to include a motion sensor to automatically fade up the lights as someone enters a room.

Year 2010

Stephen Wilkins - IDEAL House: Weather Station design, implementation and monitoring

http://www.theidealhouse.net/weather.html

The aim is to install a weather station at the IDEAL test Site.   This weather station will have information pertaining to temperature, insolation levels, wind, humidity, air pressure.    The Dynalite Control system supplied by Light Application will be used to gather data from the weather station and collected and uploaded to web.

The weather station information can then be linked to the output of the solar panels currently installed on the Test Site roof.   Data will be collected all day, everyday, but data collected 22nd of every month to be reported, collated and easily accessible on a specific link on the website

Click here for Steve's presentation.
Supervisor: Dr. Jasmine HENRY

Michael Gadecki - IDEAL House:Automation of Auxiliary Electrical Water Heaters in Solar Thermal Water Heaters

The aim of this project was to design and implement a prototype control system that regulates the electric booster of a solar hot system more effectively and efficiently than the existing control systems.  Presently electric boosters work on a timer rather than on the actual conditions of the water in the tank or the weather conditions prevailing at the time.  This leads to the booster being switched on when not required or worse still, the booster NOT being switched on when water temperature is too low.    By basing the booster system on sunlight conditions, manifold temperature and outside temperature, a more energy efficient and better working system can be developed.

See Michael's presentation on this project:   Talk_Power_Point

Aaron Knight - IDEAL House:Thermal Studies at Perenjori

The aim of this project was to study the thermal properties of a custom built house designed to be energy efficient using the latest ideas and materials in solar passive design.

See Aaron's presentation on this project:   Perenjori_Talk

Stuart Wild - IDEAL House: Networking and Computing

Intelligently designed houses are becoming increasing relevant with our aging population and due to the energy efficiency benefits that come from automation. I will be evaluating the existing IDEAL house image capture framework and if suitable expand the image processing functionality of the house. Additionally, I will be simplifying the IDEAL house network, as well as providing remote access to internal and external cameras. Through this I aim to facilitate further advances in home automation while providing a method of observation of weather conditions to observe effects on photo-voltaic output."

Supervisor: Dr. Roberto TOGNERI

The IDEAL House test facility has 1.7kW of solar panels installed on its roof.  Currently, the panels are able to be tilted via a manual control switch regulating 4 actuators attached to the support struts.   The Dynalite control system, can be used to control and monitor any aspect of the housing environment including the tilt of the solar panels, power usage and management, lighting, ambient conditions.    This project will focus on using the Dynalite system to control the tilt of the solar panels to optimize power production.   Also, Dynalite is capable of automating the window coverings.  Since the solar panel tilt and the movement of the window covering will work on a similiar principle then this function should also be investigated and put in place if possible. 
Supervisor: Dr. Jasmine HENRY

Year 2009

Craig Hahn - Optimising Energy Usage in the IDEAL-ALVA House: A Roadmap for Concept to Reality

In 2009, a combined effort between the UWA School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering and Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts (ALVA) has resulted in the construction and development of a substantial timber framed dwelling which will be a farm manager’s house at the UWA Smart Farm in Pingelly.  The objective of the IDEAL-ALVA House project is to create a modern, comfortable habitat while incorporating sustainable practices.  The focus of this project is to map out the pathway of making this objective a reality through clever design, consumer awareness of energy usage and suitable choices of housing fixtures and appliances.

Topics covered will include the possible renewable power generation options for the house, energy usage control strategies and the solar-passive design principles. The IDEAL-ALVA House will be connected to the electricity grid but it is planned that the house will eventually be autonomous.   As such, renewable power generation options such as solar photovoltaic or wind, or a combination of the two will be considered.   Energy maximisation strategies, such as intelligent lighting, will supplement the power generation.   Also occupant education on energy utilisation via smart metering will give them greater control over their energy expenditure.

Supervisor: Dr. Jasmine HENRY

Year 2008

Yogish Bhuvaneswara - Voice Activation and Sound Monitoring for Ideal House

This Project aims at controlling the electrical/electronic home appliances inside "IDEAL HOUSE" through voice commands recognized by Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.5 SDK client Edition (DSC) application loaded on IDEAL HOUSE Server machine. The recognized voice commands are then programmed to interact with the existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) control system using the "Ethereal" Network Protocol Analyzer.  (MEICT Project)
Supervisor: Dr. Roberto Togneri

Michael Eastwood - Renewable Energy System

Solar panels have been identified as the most appropriate renewable
power technology for the IDEAL House.  The renewable energy system will
comprise two independently-controlled solar arrays that will alter
their configuration depending on the time of year and input from the
House's occupants.  Solar power will be connected to the electricity
grid to reduce the House's power bill.  Automatic tilt adjustment will
position the arrays for optimum sunlight exposure on a seasonal basis.
User-controlled shade adjustment will extend the arrays over the north
face of the House, shading the windows according to the occupant's
taste for natural light.  These two systems together provide the means
to allow the arrays to be self-furling: in high winds or during
transport, the arrays will move flush to the roof and secure themselves
in place.
Supervisor: Dr. J. Henry

Joel Cheong - Speaker Identification for the IDEAL House

Presently, speech recognition has been implemented into the home via
the use of Dragon Naturally Speaking Software by Scansoft. This
software, like any speech recognition software, is speaker dependant.
As a work around, Scansoft has made use of speaker profiles, by
training each profile to be customised for different users. While this
has proved effective on a desktop environment, its efficiency drops in
a home environment due to the fact that it is not feasible for
occupants of the home to be switching profiles manually every time they
want to give the house a command. This project aims to overcome the
above problem by automatically switching profiles by use of speaker
identification technology.
Supervisor: Dr. R. Togneri

Mark Liew - Sound Monitoring in Homes

This project dwells into the search and experimentation of using sound
to monitor events that occur within a home. This project is intended
for the exploration of the use audio recognition over visual sensing in
an IDEAL Home enviroment. This form of monitoring looks into events
such as opening and closing of doors, cabinets, fire alarms going off
etc. This may finally be used to replace visual monitoring which may
prove invasive at times and implemented in homes for the aged as well.
Supervisor: Roberto Togneri

Year 2007

Timothy Wong – Wireless Home Automation for the IDEAL House

The aim of this project is to implement a wireless transceiver module suited to the needs of the Ideal House automation. This involves the programming of a wireless transceiver module to transmit and receive data, interfacing with a Micro controller Unit (MCU) which will initiate action such as turning electrical appliances on or off.
Supervisor: H. Iu

Zhen Xu – Micro Controller Unit (MCU) design

This project will interact with Timothy Wong's project (above). It involves the design and construction of an MCU to control the electrical appliances. Depending on the complexity of the processing required and the processing capabilities and memory available on the transceiver module, the processing will be performed either internally onboard or on an external computer. This project can be further extended to obtain readings from wireless sensors.
Supervisor: H. Iu

Matt Harley – Vision Processing in a Smart House Environment

The vision processing project for the IDEAL house has the aim of acquiring visual data, performing analysis and acting on critical events. Common applications of vision processing in the home of the future may include motion sensing, object tracking and behavioural recognition. These functions aid in important aspects throughout the house such as security, home automation and occupant care.

My project aims to investigate and design a self-sufficient sustainable power system for a home which will derive all its electrical power from sustainable sources in the most post-effective manner possible. This house will have adequate appliances to be habitable.
Supervisor: G. Bundell

Brent Chadwick – SCADA system for IDEAL House

The Intelligently Designed Engineering for Advanced Living (IDEAL) House is a project by the School of EE&CE to develop technology for the advancement of human habitation. The envisagement of the electrical aspect to the IDEAL House is to incorporate large sensor arrays to monitor occupant activities and provide a response to these activities. How to integrate these inputs and responses together into a practicable user friendly system is the principal aim of this sub project.

To achieve this goal, this project aims to develop a control system for the IDEAL House. This incorporates assisting in the selection of control system devices, their integration into the control system, and the management of these devices to provide a real time system response to events. Event logging, status monitoring, and optimisation of control processes are also tasks to be undertaken in the design. This is all encompassed by the development of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which will run the IDEAL House.
Supervisor: G. Bundell

Julie Cheng – IDEAL House Solar Group

The main focus of the renewable energy investigated here will be solar power. In depth investigation will be made into solar electric systems and solar thermal systems to find the most feasible arrangement and components to be used. In addition, experimentation with the school's solar panel will be undertaken to measure solar output under varying weather conditions so that the design of the electric system can accommodate for days with less sunlight. A feasibility study will also be taken to see whether stand-alone solar systems for individual homes will be more cost effective compared to having solar power plants providing electricity for a community. Where extra power is required, other cost-effective renewable sources will be investigated, such as fuel cells and biogas, to encompass the sustainable power system.
Supervisor: J. Henry

Jason Liew – IDEAL House Power Options

One of the aims of the IDEAL House project is to produce a habitable and comfortable room using innovative technologies and renewable energy sources.

The objective of this specific project is to investigate, design and potentially build a self-sufficient sustainable power system or components of that system for a home which would derive all of its energy from sustainable sources in a cost-effective manner. The main focus is on solar power but wind and biomass will also be explored.

Part of the investigation will include experiments with solar panels to measure the solar output power spectrums. Also, the power requirements of a typical room will be gathered and projects from other universities will be examined.
Supervisor: J. Henry