Home Automation refers to the automatic control of a process or device via a control system.  A common example would be a garden watering system that waters lawn morning and night.  Home Automation systems are open in design and are able to control any device from any control point with any amount of programming logic.  For example bring the front door lights on at dusk, except if the alarm is set, in which case don’t bother because nobody is home, but if the driveway beam is broken then light up the drive and turn on the front door lights.