Smart homes are swiftly evolving into intelligent, autonomous ecosystems that improve home comfort, security, and energy efficiency. The integration of intelligent sensors, aided by the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and sophisticated wireless communication protocols, is key to this change. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the types, functions, and applications of intelligent sensors in smart homes, including motion detection, energy management, indoor air quality monitoring, moisture and leak detection, and flame and dangerous gas detection. Edge/fog computing, cloud platforms, and federated learning technologies that enable intelligent sensing are rigorously studied, along with system-level architectures that support seamless automation. Despite the potential, issues such as data privacy, interoperability, system stability, and the limitations of low-cost sensors remain. This study emphasizes on future research approaches focused on robust security frameworks, decentralized intelligence via federated learning, and improved sensor accuracy, all of which aim to achieve scalable, resilient, and truly intelligent smart homes.
Benfor et al. (2026) studied this question.