Problem Statement: NTU Dorm Smart Lighting Automation

At Nanyang Technological University (NTU), student dormitories are implementing energy-efficient automated room lighting.

Current Challenges

• Lights left ON overnight or during the day, wasting electricity
• Inconsistent usage habits across students
• No centralized management or automation

Solution Stack

• Philips Hue smart lights (Zigbee devices)
• MQTT broker for communication
• ROS 2 orchestration layer

Your Task

Build a ROS 2 Python package that acts as a scheduled lighting controller for a dorm room.

Requirements

The system must automatically:

• Turn lights ON at 8:00 PM (students return to rooms)
• Turn lights OFF at 8:00 AM (save daytime energy)

Node Responsibilities

• Send commands to the light via MQTT
• Receive current light state from MQTT
• Publish light state into ROS 2

Other Comments

The submission must include a proper README.md or quick start guide.

The README should clearly explain:

1. How to install dependencies
2. How to build the ROS 2 package
3. How to run the MQTT broker
4. How to run the ROS 2 node
5. How to test ON/OFF commands

The submission must also include an architecture section explaining how the system works.

What We Want To See

We want to see how you:

1. Break down a problem
2. Structure a ROS 2 Python package
3. Use Git
4. Write clean Python code
5. Work with MQTT
6. Think about system architecture
7. Explain your work clearly in a README

How to submit

1. Clone the repo
2. Complete the assignment
3. Push to your own GitHub repo
4. Share the repo link