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Custom Smart Home System: Designing Integrated Hardware and Software - Indeema’s Case

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Short Overview

The client, 'Home1' (name changed for confidentiality), a European-based company, partnered with Indeema Software to develop a custom smart home system with a strong focus on security and automation. The solution integrates essential features such as water leak detection, smart lighting control, smart door locks, fire alarms, and heating control. Additionally, this Internet of Things smart home offers all family members access to real-time data, detailed graphs, and analytics on home usage. This ensures seamless control and optimized management of their smart home environment. The solution aims to enhance security and energy efficiency.

Project Details

  • Industry: High-Tech, Smart Home, Consumer IoT
  • Team: 15 engineers
  • Lifetime: 2019 - Ongoing
  • Services: R&D Services, UI/UX Design, Mobile App Development, IoT App Development, Cross-Platform App Development, Firmware Development, DevOps Services, Cloud Software Development, IoT Development, IoT Consulting Services, Dedicated Team, Tech Advisory
  • Client’s Location: Europe (Scandinavia)

Project Background

The client has an inspiring journey that began with offering water leak detection solutions. Building a complex smart home solution was their next move, leveraging on their increasing knowledge. This custom smart home system combines several technologies to improve home automation, reflecting the client's transition from a niche service provider to a smart home industry leader.

What was the customer's request?

  • The client aimed to develop a custom smart home solution to help users reduce energy bills by monitoring key devices at home. Their initial request was directed to our DevOps team, focusing on efficiently organizing and managing the flow of commits to their repository. They emphasized the need for a robust CI/CD architecture to ensure smooth development and deployment processes.
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What did the client already have?

  • The client already had a successful water detection product on the market, with a growing user base. To develop a comprehensive smart home solution aimed at reducing energy costs, the client provided a list of popular smart home devices commonly found in Scandinavian homes. The smart home hub needed to integrate seamlessly with these devices, ensuring full compatibility and optimal functionality within the solution.
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Solution We Delivered

Where did we start?

Our journey began with the client's clear requirements. Indeema’s team initially focused on building a CI/CD prototype to streamline their development processes. At the same time, the client requested our UI/UX team to ideate and design the user interface for their smart home product. As the project evolved, our scope expanded to include backend development, embedded systems, cloud integration, testing, and mobile development.

  • Requirements phase

    The work began with thorough documentation of the requirements. In parallel. Requirements were gathered through regular interviews with the customer, and interim results were frequently demonstrated to ensure alignment between the team and the customer.

  • Prototyping and Wireframes

    On the UI/UX front, the team conducted a series of workshops with the client to develop detailed use cases and user flows for the app. These sessions helped outline the app's functionality and user journey. All ideas and design concepts were documented in Figma, and the UX requirements were further detailed in a comprehensive User Interfaces and Acceptance Criteria document, ensuring clarity on design expectations and the user experience.

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Our Development Process

  • Firmware/Embedded Development

    The embedded development phase began with a series of Proofs of Concept (PoCs) aimed at validating key technology choices and specific solution details. These PoCs included tests for Apple HomeKit compatibility and the integration of Alexa and Siri at the firmware level.
    Once the concept was approved, we created a comprehensive set of technical documentation for the embedded project, including the Functional Requirements Document (FRD), test plans, and failure mode descriptions. The development process then kicked off with several embedded projects running simultaneously—firmware for the main MCU, as well as firmware for the network processors and external sensor MCU.

  • UX/UI Design

    Our UX/UI team focused on designing a user-friendly and intuitive interface to elevate the customer experience. Special attention was given to ensuring seamless integration with smart home systems, allowing users to control devices effortlessly through the app. Additionally, custom graphs were incorporated to provide users with a clear understanding of energy consumption for each device, helping them make informed decisions and optimize their energy usage.

  • Mobile Development

    Mobile app development was a collaborative effort between multiple teams, with Indeema specifically responsible for creating the API to implement BLE connectivity features. Our mobile team also contributed their expertise in designing a user-friendly provisioning section within the app, allowing users to onboard their devices and ensuring stable communication with the cloud-based backend.

  • DevOps and Cloud Development

    The DevOps team played a crucial role in the development process. They implemented customized CI/CD pipelines tailored specifically for ESP-IDF builds, automating the compilation, testing, and deployment stages. This significantly reduced manual effort and streamlined the workflow. The pipelines also integrated SonarQube checks, which enforced code quality standards and identified potential vulnerabilities early in the development cycle.
    In addition to automating the integration tests to ensure that different modules and components worked together properly, the team established proper versioning practices. This enabled traceability and allowed for safe rollbacks when necessary. Beyond embedded firmware, the team extended their CI/CD expertise to backend services, creating a unified and consistent development framework across all platforms.
    They were also responsible for managing the AWS-based cloud infrastructure, where they set up multiple environments, including sandbox, development, pre-production, and production. Key responsibilities included managing IAM, OTA jobs, S3 storage, and monitoring resources—all critical for a project of this scale.

  • Maintenance

    During the maintenance phase, the DevOps team continued to monitor and manage the cloud infrastructure, ensuring its stability and scalability. They proactively addressed any emerging issues by closely monitoring resources and handling ongoing OTA updates to ensure the system remained up-to-date and secure. Regular audits of the IAM roles and permissions were conducted to maintain security standards, while the team also ensured that new features and improvements were smoothly integrated into the existing system without disrupting functionality.

The Team Involved In The Project

DevOps Engineers

3

UX/UI Designers

2

QA Engineers

2

Project Manager

1

Business Analysts

2

Embedded Engineers

3

Mobile Developers

2

Project Challenges And Our Suggestions

  • Compatibility with Various Devices:

    Developing a universal hub solution that seamlessly integrates with a wide range of smart home devices presented a significant challenge. To address this, our team conducted thorough research on the technical documentation of different products

  • International Team Collaboration:

    Coordinating between international teams posed its own set of challenges, including communication barriers and time zone differences. To enhance collaboration, we implemented recurring status meetings and established a clear process for timely identification and resolution of blockers. Additionally, we configured the CI/CD pipeline to streamline communication and automate testing, ensuring efficient progress tracking and integration.

  • Technical Challenges:

    The need for advanced logging was one of the primary challenges due to the involvement of multiple embedded processors and the large volume of data to analyze across different logging levels. To address this, we implemented a dedicated logging system to streamline data collection and analysis. Additionally, optimizing radio traffic became crucial, as multiple sensors were communicating with a single hub. We successfully implemented radio traffic optimization to ensure efficient communication and minimize latency.

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Impact

The partnership between "Home1" and Indeema Software has significantly transformed the client's business landscape, elevating their technological capabilities. Through the integration of IoT in smart homes, the client has successfully transitioned from a niche provider of water leak detection to a recognized leader in the smart home industry.

Before And After Cooperation With Indeema

Before:

  • Clear requirements for a complex Smart Home system

  • Water leak detection product with limited device integration

  • Basic logging across devices

  • Multiple sensors without optimized communication

  • International team collaboration issues with communication and time zones

After:

  • Comprehensive smart home solution with energy monitoring, smart lighting, fire alarms, door locks, and heating control

  • Robust CI/CD architecture with automated builds, tests, deployments, and SonarQube checks for code quality and security

  • Universal hub integrating multiple smart home devices (Apple HomeKit, Alexa, Siri)

  • User-friendly interface with custom graphs for energy consumption, seamless device control, and intuitive provisioning

  • BLE-enabled mobile app for easy device onboarding, stable communication with backend

  • AWS-based cloud infrastructure with multiple environments, IAM management, OTA jobs, and S3 storage

  • Advanced logging system for multiple embedded processors, efficient data collection, and analysis across different levels

  • Optimized radio traffic ensuring efficient communication between sensors and hub, minimizing latency

  • Improved coordination with recurring meetings, CI/CD pipeline to automate testing, and efficient progress tracking

  • Continuous monitoring, OTA updates, security audits, and seamless integration of new features into the system

Technical Highlights

Technologies

C++

ESP-IDF

Flutter

AWS IoT Core

AWS S3

AWS Lambda

AWS EC2

AWS DynamoDB

GitLab

Sonarqube

Customer Success Stories

As one of the leading smart home tech companies, Indeema invites you to explore more of our innovative projects.

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Facing home automation challenges? Discover how Indeema can help you overcome them by developing a custom smart home solution!

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