One embodiment can provide a home-automation system. The home-automation device can include a mechanical supporting structure and a plurality of components mechanically coupled to the mechanical supporting structure. The plurality of components can include a central controller, one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs), and a plurality of sensors mounted on the one or more PCBs. The central controller can be configured to detect a user event based on output from multiple sensors, with each sensor being configured to sense parameters in a different physical domain.