Home automation is an emerging trend in modern households. Through the use of a central control panel, residents can manage every aspect of their house at the touch of a button. Users can arm the security system, turn on the air conditioner, or simply turn off the lights in the kitchen easily and quickly.
	Our team is developing a demonstration of one such control panel. Our sponsor, Texas Instruments, wants us to show that their OMAP3 series processors are a powerful, yet economical way to run this kind of panel. Using Java Virtual Machine, we are creating a graphical user interface (GUI) that displays data about the house to the user and prompts for the next command. Using a series of easy-to-use menus, the resident can prompt action from various devices we are integrating into our design. These devices include:
•	A video camera, placed at the front door, which allows the resident to see guests before letting them in.
•	A radio receiver, which gathers data from the National Weather Service’s broadcast network, to get local weather information.
•	A basic climate-control system, which allows users to automatically switch a fan on and off.
	Our control panel will combine user-friendliness, aesthetics, and affordability in order to make this new technology standard in all new homes.


http://www.egr.msu.edu/classes/ece480/goodman/spring09/group03/