Smart home

EBV - Light, H and B - Smart Home (MM)

The comfort expectations that people have for their homes are higher than ever. The advent of voice-activated digital assistants and mobile apps for controlling heating systems is just the beginning of a home automation revolution. NFC is being widely used in door access systems, with FiRa likely to become even more popular for this purpose in the coming years. 3D imaging will also have a part to play, enabling facial recognition/authentication.

EBV - Light, H and B - Smart Home - Sensors, Connectivity and Security Static HTML

There is an array of further innovations that are now emerging. IR-based ToF or UWB will provide occupancy detection, so heating and lighting systems can be activated when residents return home. The pressure and flow sensors being integrated into HVAC systems, will enable checking of the filter function - so that it can be flagged if the filter cartridge needs changing. Inclusion of UV-C technology in these systems will help to safeguard against the transmission of infections. There are three main facets of smart home operation. These are:

Sensors Connectivity Security

Sensors

Sensors will be needed to undertake all manner of different monitoring tasks in the homes of the future, among which are temperature, light levels, air quality, and human presence. They will also be needed for the human machine interfaces (HMIs) that home occupants utilise to control automation systems. Rather than pushing buttons or turning dials, a new breed of HMIs will be implemented. These will mainly rely on gesture and voice recognition.

To attend to these requirements, EBV has a comprehensive inventory of sensor devices. These cover all the different types of ambient monitoring, including light, temperature, pressure, and CO2, plus the ToF technology required for gesture recognition and the microphones for voice control.

Connectivity

Among the most widely used wireless home area network (WHAN) technologies are Bluetooth, Matter and Thread. Delivering data rates of up to 250kbps, these support ultra-low power operation, making them highly suitable for connecting with remotely located sensors distributed around the home such as those for notifying if windows are open or closed, plus thermostats and lighting controllers. When higher data capacity is needed, Wi-Fi will be used.

Another connectivity protocol intended for home automation is power line communication (PLC). This mainly serves metering applications. There are also DALI and DMX protocols, both of which relate to lighting control. DALI offers a decentralised architecture that enables multiple control interfaces, while DMX is centralised with a single point of control.

Security

To accompany wireless hardware, it is increasingly important that secure element devices are included within home automation set-ups. Supplied through several EBV vendors, these will prevent security breach opportunities from arising. GDPR regulations mean that manufacturers need to be much more aware about the privacy information stored on IoT devices or other items of equipment. More stringent regulations are likely to emerge in the coming years, so it will be important to be fully prepared.