The term home automation is quite generic and may have a lot of different meanings: a timer controlling ambient lights, an intelligent system that takes actions in response to events coming from the outside, or a programmable device responsible for accomplishing repetitive tasks.

These are all valid examples of home automation as they share the same key concept making us able to manage house work and activities even when we are not at home. Home-automated devices usually operate on public or private networks to communicate with each other, as well as with other kinds of devices such as smartphones or tablets, taking commands or exchanging information about their status. But what happens when we need to automate simple appliances or electronic components such as light bulbs? A common solution to address this problem is by developing a sort of Control System device, physically connected to the appliances we want to manage; being the Control System, a home-automated device,...