Ferdinando Grossi, Valentina Bianchi, Agostino Losardo, Guido Matrella, Ilaria De Munari, and Paolo Ciampolini
Ambient Assisted Living, Smart Homes, Remote Monitoring
In this paper, design, implementation and test of a framework aimed at supporting Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications is discussed. A suite of HW/SW tools, was developed, aiming at versatility, interoperability, accessibility and low cost. Such features were sought for by strictly relying on most diffused standards: TCP/IP protocols are exploited to implement communication among ambient devices and toward the external world, allowing for monitoring and remote control purposes. A hierarchical/modular approach is implemented both in the hardware and in the software structure, resulting in an open framework and easing the deployment of additional modules or functionalities: a wide range of sensors, appliances, actuators can be straightforwardly controlled, as well as many different kinds of user’s interfaces, some of which explicitly suited for people with impairments. The framework encompasses environmental safety devices, as well as wearable devices for monitoring of multiple personal vital signs. Additional modules allows for internet access to every system function, and for statistical processing and behavioral analysis. Operating rules can be arbitrarily defined, referring to abstract views of the actual environment, independently of actual physical features. The system is conceived for scalability, and region-wide tests are being carried out on a set of networked elderly houses.
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