Smart thermostat
In 2011, Nest Labs developed the Nest Learning Thermostat. The Nest Thermostat attempted to reduce home energy consumption by addressing the problems with programmable thermostats through the use of better technology. This new technology included the implementation of sensors, algorithms, machine learning, and cloud computing. These technologies learn the behaviors and preferences of the occupants, and adjust the temperature up or down to make the occupant comfortable when they are home and to save energy when they are away. Additionally, the Nest Thermostat connects to the home Wi-Fi. This allows users to change the temperature, adjust the schedule, and check energy usage from a smartphone or laptop. All of these features were part of Nest's goal to create an easy to use thermostat that saves users energy and money.
Engineers for a Sustainable World
The idea of the AutoSwitch is to save electricity in a household setting without the users having to think about it every time. The device will be a power strip that is using a micro controller, in our case an arduino yun, to control a relay switch built into the strip. This micro controller will be connected to the homes wifi and will be able to tell when a pair device connects or disconnects to the same wifi. If the device is connected then the controller will flip the relay switch, turning on the power strip and everything plugged into it. And when the device is not in range of the wifi (disconnected) then the micro controller will turn off the power strip saving energy.