Home Automation History
Automation means that a machine or system can perform a task to some degree without you. In science fiction things have been fully automated for a long time but if we look around us in the real world usually there is an interaction where some things are done by machines and some things are done by a human person.
In industry and manufacturing there are many examples of high degrees of automation while our homes is not yet that smart. Historically we could divide the home automation into three categories:
- Machine appliances makes our home more comfortable during the 1940s and 1950s such as refrigerators, cooking aids, dish washers and toasters. But you still had to do load them and push the buttons.
- In the 1970s and 1980s attempts where made to put automation into the appliances through time relays and early computers. These products where difficult to configure (thick manual anyone?) and most of the times operated stand alone.
- Now during the 2000s we can see technology that allow the smart home to become a reality though machine connectivity and easy monitoring and control with smartphones, tablets or computers. Both appliances as well as security, doors, lighting, entertainment and climate control systems can interact with you and be set up to your liking.