A Low-Cost Multi-Node Architecture with ESP32 Microcontrollers for Assisted Home Automation of Elderly and Disabled Residents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4108/eetiot.12871Keywords:
home automation, Internet of Things, ESP32, embedded systems, publish-subscribe protocol, assistive technology, elderly care, low-cost prototypeAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Elderly and disabled populations worldwide are growing faster than care systems can absorb them, creating strong demand for affordable home-automation tools that let residents remain safe at home without continuous caregiver presence. Most low-cost IoT prototypes reported in the literature cover only one or two functional subsystems and send alerts to a single recipient, leaving a practical gap for multi-subsystem, multi-recipient solutions.
OBJECTIVES: To design, build, and test a modular home-automation system that brings together four specialised sensor nodes—radio-frequency access control, ultrasonic proximity detection, combustible-gas monitoring, and rain-triggered physical protection—plus a fifth node combining multi-recipient alert coordination with remote lighting control across five areas of the dwelling, all over a coordinated wireless network with real-time alerts sent to multiple users simultaneously.
METHODS: A waterfall lifecycle combined with test-driven development guided component selection and firmware coding. Five ESP32 microcontrollers exchange data through a lightweight publish-subscribe protocol; each node handles its own control logic and actuator independently, while a companion mobile application allows remote supervision and manual override.
RESULTS: All four subsystems were functionally validated through virtual simulation followed by physical demonstration on a scale dwelling model: the RFID module granted or denied access correctly for authorised and unauthorised cards, the ultrasonic module opened and closed the back door in response to detected presence, the gas sensor triggered visual, audible, and remote alerts above the configured threshold, and the rain sensor activated the laundry-protection servo on detected precipitation. The Telegram notification channel delivered alerts to the user with an observed average response time of under two seconds. Total component cost came to approximately 73 United States dollars, far below comparable commercial products.
CONCLUSION: The five-node distributed architecture demonstrates functional feasibility and meets the cost target needed for practical use in urban homes in developing countries, and offers a reproducible testbed for future assistive-technology research that includes controlled reliability and latency testing.
Downloads
References
[1] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Ageing 2023. New York: United Nations; 2024. https://doi.org/10.18356/9789213586747. https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789213586747.
[2] World Health Organization. Ageing and health [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2022 [cited 2025 Apr]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health.
[3] Wang Y, Sun H, Xu S, Xia Q, Ge S, Li M, et al. Smart home technologies for enhancing independence of living and reducing care dependence in older adults: a systematic review. J Adv Nurs. 2025;81(6):2885–2912. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16569.
[4] Jamwal R, Jarman HK, Roseingrave E, Douglas J, Winkler D. Smart home and communication technology for people with disability: a scoping review. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2022;17(6):624–644. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1818138.
[5] Poyyamozhi M, Murugesan B, Rajamanickam N, Shorfuzzaman M, Aboelmagd Y. IoT—a promising solution to energy management in smart buildings: a systematic review, applications, barriers, and future scope. Buildings. 2024;14(11):3446. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113446.
[6] De la Cruz Severiche Maury Z, Fernández Vilas A, Díaz Redondo RP. Low-cost HEM with Arduino and Zigbee technologies in the energy sector in Colombia. Energies. 2022;15(10):3819. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15103819.
[7] Ezugwu IM, Ukpai UO, Chima-Chukwu CU, Ugwuanyi JO, Emeghara GC. Smart homes of the future. Trans Emerg Telecommun Technol. 2025;36(1):e70041. https://doi.org/10.1002/ett.70041.
[8] Adhikary A, Halder S, Bose R, Panja S, Halder S, Pratihar J, et al. Design and implementation of an IoT-based smart home automation system in real world scenario. EAI Endorsed Trans IoT. 2024;10. https://doi.org/10.4108/eetiot.6201.
[9] Stolojescu-Crisan C, Crisan C, Butunoi BP. An IoT-based smart home automation system. Sensors. 2021;21(11):3784. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21113784.
[10] Froiz-Míguez I, Fernández-Caramés TM, Fraga-Lamas P, Castedo L. Design, implementation and practical evaluation of an IoT home automation system for fog computing applications based on MQTT and ZigBee-WiFi sensor nodes. Sensors. 2018;18(8):2660. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18082660.
[11] Park Y, Han J. Smart home advancements for health care and beyond: systematic review of two decades of user-centric innovation. J Med Internet Res. 2025;27:e62793. https://doi.org/10.2196/62793.
[12] Esposito M, Belli A, Palma L, Pierleoni P. Design and implementation of a framework for smart home automation based on cellular IoT, MQTT, and serverless functions. Sensors. 2023;23(9):4459. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23094459.
[13] Chang YH, Wu FC, Lin HW. Design and implementation of ESP32-based edge computing for object detection. Sensors. 2025;25(6):1656. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25061656.
[14] Hercog D. Design and implementation of ESP32-based IoT devices. Sensors. 2023;23(15):6739. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23156739.
[15] Okokpujie K, Jacinth D, James GA, Okokpujie IP, Vincent AA. An IoT-based multimodal real-time home control system for the physically challenged: design and implementation. Inf Dyn Appl. 2023;2(2):90–100. https://doi.org/10.56578/ida020204.
[16] Easterline LM, Ferdiansyah C, Anggoro O, Isnanto RR, Somantri M. Smart air monitoring with IoT-based MQ-2, MQ-7, MQ-8, and MQ-135 sensors using NodeMCU ESP32. Procedia Comput Sci. 2024;245:815–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2024.10.308.
[17] Mota A, Serôdio C, Briga-Sá A, Valente A. Implementation of an Internet of Things architecture to monitor indoor air quality: a case study during sleep periods. Sensors. 2025;25(6):1683. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25061683.
[18] Jabbar WA, Kian TK, Ramli RM, Zubir SN, Zamrizaman NSM, Balfaqih M, et al. Design and fabrication of smart home with Internet of Things enabled automation system. IEEE Access. 2019;7:144059–144074. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2942846.
[19] Dinmohammadi F, Farook AM, Shafiee M. Improving energy efficiency in buildings with an IoT-based smart monitoring system. Energies. 2025;18(5):1269. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18051269.
[20] López Heredia RR, Ravelo Batista AA, Benítez Pina IF. Sistema de uso doméstico para monitorear el consumo energético combinando el uso de las plataformas Arduino y Android. LADEE. 2022;3(1):25–30. https://doi.org/10.17981/ladee.03.01.2022.2.
[21] Villegas MD, Paredes ED, Arévalo JA, Quito Carrión A, Pillajo R, Cuenca Sánchez A, et al. Smart automation for residential spaces with PLC-ESP32 architecture. Eng Proc. 2025;115(1):7. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2025115007.
[22] Chandrashekar G, Vaishnavi P, Neeharika D, Suchitha N, Rohith T. Smart building management system using ESP32. IRJAEM. 2025;3(5):1962–1966. https://doi.org/10.47392/IRJAEM.2025.0308.
[23] Hutajulu OY, Mendoza MD, Simamora Y. Feasibility study of smart house design with ESP32 and Telegram. In: ICIESC Conference Proceedings; 2022 Oct 11; Indonesia: EAI; 2022. https://doi.org/10.4108/eai.11-10-2022.2325332.
[24] Attar A, Redekar M, Khan N, Kumar A, Phule S. Smart home security and air quality monitoring using Telegram chatbot. IRJMETS. 2023;5(5):3397–3399. https://doi.org/10.56726/IRJMETS39197.
[25] Mohamed A, Ismail I, AlDaraawi M. IoT-driven intelligent energy management: leveraging smart monitoring applications and artificial neural networks for sustainable practices. Computers. 2025;14(7):269. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers14070269.
[26] Wijanarko Y, Alfarizal N, Pratama MR. Implementation of an RFID RC522 and IoT-based automatic door security system in an electrical engineering laboratory. Indones J Artif Intell Data Min. 2025;8(2):478–488. https://doi.org/10.24014/ijaidm.v8i2.37007. https://ejournal.uin-suska.ac.id/index.php/IJAIDM/article/view/37007.
[27] Pakpahan DMN, Purwadi H, Wajiansyah A. Arduino-based automatic door opener design using ultrasonic sensors. J Eng Electr Inform. 2026;6(1):17–24. https://doi.org/10.55606/jeei.v6i1.6663.
[28] AG Electrónica. OKY3435: Sensor detector de lluvia [Datasheet]; Pololu. MQ-2 smoke/gas sensor datasheet. https://agelectronica.lat/pdfs/textos/O/OKY3435.PDF; https://www.pololu.com/file/0j309/mq2.pdf.
[29] NXP Semiconductors. MFRC522 standard performance MIFARE and NTAG frontend [Datasheet]. Rev 3.9. Eindhoven: NXP; 2016. Available from: https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/MFRC522.pdf.
[30] Prasetyo Tulodo R, Indah Fitria R, Sofyan A, Budiraharjo E. Penggunaan simulator Wokwi untuk meningkatkan literasi pemrograman mikrokontroler dalam proyek Internet of Things. EDUSAINTEK. 2024;12(1):72–81. https://doi.org/10.47668/edusaintek.v12i1.1442. https://journalstkippgrisitubondo.ac.id/index.php/EDUSAINTEK/article/view/1442.
[31] Widianto MH, Cahaya Putra VH. Utilization of Wokwi simulation application in supporting Internet of Things learning. In: 2023 International Conference on Information Management and Technology (ICIMTech); 2023 Aug; IEEE; 2023. pp. 807–812. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIMTech59029.2023.10277981.
[32] Atanasković A, Dimitrijević T, Ilić NM, Čabarkapa M. Empowering IoT education utilizing free online Arduino simulators. In: 2024 59th International Scientific Conference on Information, Communication and Energy Systems and Technologies (ICEST); 2024; IEEE; 2024. pp. 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEST62335.2024.10639688.
[33] Dzahir MASM, Chia KS. Evaluating the energy consumption of ESP32 microcontroller for real-time MQTT IoT-based monitoring system. In: 2023 International Conference on Innovation and Intelligence for Informatics, Computing, and Technologies (3ICT); 2023 Nov 20; IEEE; 2023. pp. 255–261. https://doi.org/10.1109/3ICT60104.2023.10391358.
[34] Espinosa-Gavira MJ, Agüera-Pérez A, Palomares-Salas JC, Sierra-Fernández JM, Remigio-Carmona P, González-de-la-Rosa JJ. Characterization and performance evaluation of ESP32 for real-time synchronized sensor networks. Procedia Comput Sci. 2024;237:261–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2024.05.104.
[35] Martinez-Blanco M del R, Cesar Soriano-Romero J, Serrano-Muñoz A, Hernan Escobedo-Barajas M, del Rio de Santiago A, Alonso Guerrero Osuna H, Ortiz-Rodriguez JM. IoT based smart electrical meter for smart homes. EAI Endorsed Trans IoT. 2020;6(21):e2. https://doi.org/10.4108/eai.13-7-2018.165672.
[36] Kanna RK, Pradhan NR, Panigrahi BS, Basa SS, Mohanty S. Smart assist system module for paralysed patient using IoT application. EAI Endorsed Trans IoT. 2024;10. https://doi.org/10.4108/eetiot.5315.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Paulo Cesar Pérez-Ayala, Lendy Delims Salvador-Boza, Michael Anderson Lopez-Lopez, Carlos Alejandro Soto-Oroya, Maritza Raquel Cabana-Cáceres, Cristian Castro-Vargas
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0 license, which permits unlimited use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium so long as the original work is properly cited.
