Home automation has achieved a lot of popularity in recent years, as day-to-day life is getting simpler due to the rapid growth of technology. Almost everything has become digitalized and automatic. In this paper, a system for interconnecting sensors, actuators, and other data sources with the purpose of multiple home automations is proposed. The system is called qToggle and works by leveraging the power of a flexible and powerful Application Programming Interface (API), which represents the foundation of a simple and common communication scheme. The devices used by qToggle are usually sensors or actuators with an upstream network connection implementing the qToggle API. Most devices used by qToggle are based on ESP8266/ESP8285 chips and/or on Raspberry Pi boards. A smartphone application has been developed that allows users to control a series of home appliances and sensors. The qToggle system is user friendly, flexible, and can be further developed by using different devices and add-ons.
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has affected our day to day life and the global economy and is far from being over. COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly around the world, more with the relaxation of restriction measures imposed by most countries. Limiting the further community spread of the epidemic has become a crucial issue, as employees return to office buildings. Technology, and especially intelligent building technology, can help to this purpose. Smart devices will have an important role to play in determining how the new normal workplace will function from now on. In this paper, we propose a solution for avoiding touching various objects and surfaces in offices, based on IoT. The system is called qToggle and provides a framework for efficiently and effectively interconnecting smart devices, equipping them with intelligence that helps automating many of the everyday activities in offices. Most qToggle devices are based on ESP8266/ESP8285 chips, Raspberry Pi boards and smart sensors. A mobile application allows users to control a series of appliances and sensors.
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