IoT-BBMS: Internet of Things-Based Baby Monitoring System for Smart Cradle

The current number of working mothers has greatly increased. Subsequently, baby care has become a daily challenge for many families. Thus, most parents send their babies to their grandparents’ house or to baby care houses. However, the parents cannot continuously monitor their babies’ conditions either in normal or abnormal situations. Therefore, an Internet of Things-based Baby Monitoring System (IoT-BBMS) is proposed as an efficient and low-cost IoT-based system for monitoring in real time. We also proposed a new algorithm for our system that plays a key role in providing better baby care while parents are away. In the designed system, Node Micro-Controller Unit (NodeMCU) Controller Board is exploited to gather the data read by the sensors and uploaded via Wi-Fi to the AdaFruit MQTT server. The proposed system exploits sensors to monitor the baby’s vital parameters, such as ambient temperature, moisture, and crying. A prototype of the proposed baby cradle has been designed using Nx Siemens software, and a red meranti wood is used as the material for the cradle. The system architecture consists of a baby cradle that will automatically swing using a motor when the baby cries. Parents can also monitor their babies’ condition through an external web camera and switch on the lullaby toy located on the baby cradle remotely via the MQTT server to entertain the baby. The proposed system prototype is fabricated and tested to prove its effectiveness in terms of cost and simplicity and to ensure safe operation to enable the baby-parenting anywhere and anytime through the network. Finally, the baby monitoring system is proven to work effectively in monitoring the baby’s situation and surrounding conditions according to the prototype.