Abstract: This paper presents Base Cube One (BCO), an architecture for smart environments that organizes devices and functionality in a location-addressable service-oriented schema so that the complex interplay between sensors, actuators and intermediary computing modules can be organized and set up in a structured and effective manner. We show how this can be used by smart components to adapt their generic behavior in order to control individual smart environments such as smart homes with heterogeneous hard- and software components. Additionally, a common ground between smart components and occupants is addressed by sharing the same spatial organization of smart things within the environment. This acknowledges the fast pace at which smart environments are evolving and our approach aims to provide a solid basis for later iterative refinements as new devices are included or removed, or the inter-connectivity is structurally changed. We will present the new architecture in detail and exemplify it using our Cognitive Service-Robotics Apartment project in the context of which this architecture has been developed. The discussion will touch in particular on the requirements for an architecture to both provide a stable foundation for the smart environment yet offer a plasticity for ongoing iterative refinement and supporting the overall system adaptation to the resulting changes.
Keywords: Smart environment, smart home, architecture, location-based, service oriented architecture, SOA, service discovery, hardware abstraction layer, Base Cube One, BCO, cognitive service robotics apartment, CSRA
