Luna: A Benchmark Project in the Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things for Home Automation

The fast growth of technology has increased the popularity and existence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in modern households. These devices include fans, lighting systems, door locks, and home appliances, all of which are intended to improve convenience, efficiency, and security. However, the sheer quantity of diverse devices and platforms introduces complexity, making it difficult for users to attain a genuinely integrated smart home experience. This paper investigates the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the building of a home automation system. The proposed system runs on a Raspberry Pi 4 and uses a Node-RED server to manage multiple IoT devices and speech-to-text (STT) functionality. This results in a centralized and streamlined experience where the user does not have to deal with multiple individual systems but can instead relay the request to the AI assistant and have it interpret the correct response to that query. The system will be compared to a benchmarked system that uses a locally executed STT algorithm. The proposed system utilized the CPU 6.78 times more than the benchmark system and responded twice as fast for appliance control and 1.66 times faster for voice output making it both faster and more power efficient.