<p id="isPasted">For the length of human history, technology has played an important role in preventing theft. Before car keys, Henry Ford had to chain his car to a lamppost to avoid anyone with the strength to turn a physical crank from stealing it. Anti-theft technology has moved on significantly since Ford&rsquo;s day, but so too have the criminals, and it&rsquo;s not just cars they have in their sights.</p><p>One unlikely crime wave currently in vogue with enterprising thieves is utility access cover theft. These cast iron utility access covers can weigh upwards of 130 kilograms, but are a relatively easy target for a well-organized gang and can fetch $30 each when sold for scrap. In Worcestershire, U.K, more than 200 drain covers were pinched within a few weeks last year. 250 km away in another English county, Essex, they go missing almost daily. It&#39;s not just a U.K. problem either. In India 10,000 utility access covers disappeared without a trace in Kolkata within a two-month period.</p><h2>The great drain robbery</h2><p>While it may not seem like the worst crime in the world, the problem is surprisingly serious. For starters, there are safety risks to cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, particularly at night. Secondly, while the covers may only fetch $30 when scrapped, they cost a lot more to replace, up to several hundred dollars in some instances.</p><p>Some cities have begun placing locks on their utility access covers to deter the scrap metal bandits. Others are trying to partner with scrap metal merchants to incentivize identifying the criminals. Unfortunately, locks are an inconvenience to thieves rather than a foolproof prevention method. There is always another scrap metal dealer willing to turn a blind eye to where certain goods have been acquired. Another potential solution is replacing cast iron utility access covers &nbsp;with ones made of composite materials, which are just as strong but have no scrap value. In time this will happen, but with an estimated 20 million utility access covers in the U.S. alone, that is a lot of infrastructure to replace.</p><h2>A wireless alternative</h2><p>Another solution to the problem of municipal hardware theft lies with wireless technology. Cellular IoT and Bluetooth LE solutions are already widely deployed to prevent theft of everything from bicycles and animals to goods in transit. Paired with sensors and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), the technology can also be used to instantly detect if a utility access cover&nbsp;has been removed and to where. It can also provide meaningful data on water levels and temperature that utility companies can use to schedule and log service requirements and events.</p><p><span data-hs-drop="true"><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/cs/c/?cta_guid=d7970a3e-6ba4-46ff-9bc1-02a8248e53ba&signature=AAH58kF3O69h3RCen-vwL3LyeCir_euOxA&pageId=85448622652&placement_guid=08ba5b84-e247-49ce-838a-2832dba894e3&click=e47b23ef-b0fe-4216-a516-7f8b21c98dc5&hsutk=63206dd4f6958be20ab12d3982aa434a&canon=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.nordicsemi.com%2Fgetconnected%2Fwireless-tech-keeps-criminals-in-check&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.nordicsemi.com%2Fgetconnected%2Fwireless-tech-keeps-criminals-in-check&portal_id=1961165&redirect_url=APefjpHgUBsg17toply-CRLhDbOqOsQe6hzGlFIQeqrAqVNpwKaSC5tZG7-suZXPFVxs2W8qaVHLhwkJb3HAW2wrIkpuQ0wYiZlhEqdMqEVRMTInNPCsFNwMALsAibO6_0iAjXL-oVSgK2GGrI-eQm2uIAtvpcT7irVVxGCKcPCDm6DMCT7i7t7guymXMDK982bBHA8ZOmv4nhlrFHsedwMglwU0eJWK0tmZuilHl8Nv8TLZOVG4ugYupeJyV-Trt88SznYdY6VgVFU0A6w4_8JpMTfMh6VYp3Y42QEIA2yRJuRxzqKRLmWE1gvI9-rG1JOdKjB9QTgY&__hstc=8439722.63206dd4f6958be20ab12d3982aa434a.1639788356964.1664543468594.1665145393774.38&__hssc=8439722.3.1665145393774&__hsfp=2525672310&contentType=blog-post" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="Click here for access to the nRF9160 Development Kit ">Click here for access to the nRF9160 Development Kit&nbsp;</a></span></p><p>Cellular IoT devices such as Nordic Semiconductor&rsquo;s now power SiP with integrated LTE-M/NB-IoT modem and GNSS can track and monitor the condition of assets across cities, countries, or even the globe by wirelessly connecting to existing infrastructure. Cellular IoT is also as reliable and secure as wireless tech gets and, depending on the application, multiyear battery life can be expected. Battery life is important for all smart city infrastructure and also the millions of utility access covers that can&rsquo;t realistically be regularly serviced for battery replacement.</p><h2>Dual connectivity benefits</h2><p>Cellular IoT offers NB-IoT and LTE-M versions. NB-IoT is recommended for static applications where modest throughput is an acceptable trade-off for battery life. It offers up to a 15 km range and has been purpose-designed to conserve bandwidth and energy. If your device needs to roam&mdash;which your utility access covers shouldn&rsquo;t or at least not far &ndash; then LTE-M provides a better solution. LTE-M is perfect for medium-throughput applications requiring low power, low latency, and/or mobility,</p><p>LTE-M- and NB-IoT-enabled devices can be easily teamed with Bluetooth LE transceivers and paired with relatively inexpensive Bluetooth LE-powered sensors. With the long- and short-range wireless protocols working together seamlessly, near real-time monitoring of smart city assets combined with movement, impact, orientation, and environmental data is entirely possible.</p><h2>Detecting missing utility access covers</h2><p>One firm taking the fight to would-be utility access cover&nbsp;thieves is Jian-IOT. The company recently launched a smart utility access cover that can detect when the cover has been opened or closed, records water level and temperature data, identifies any damage and includes an anti-theft system that tracks its current location.</p><p>The cover employs Nordic&rsquo;s nRF52832 SoC to provide Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity between the device and a smartphone app operated by service personnel. By including Bluetooth LE connectivity, the company can allow municipal authorities to keep track of multiple utility access covers and aid traceability. Future use of the technology promises to help keep track of other city assets.</p><h2>Tomorrow&rsquo;s world</h2><p>Smart utility access covers are one small (but heavy) solution that will make up tomorrow&rsquo;s smart city. By 2050, seven-out-of-ten people are expected to live in a city. If those cities are to be smart, we will rely on billions of wireless IoT devices to go about our daily lives, and we will need to deliver seamless connectivity at an unprecedented scale. The technology exists, the roll out is now the issue. When it happens, the new urban populations will unquestionably benefit from a higher quality of life.</p><hr><p>This article was first published on Nordic&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>.  &nbsp;</p>

For the length of human history, technology has played an important role in preventing theft. Before car keys, Henry Ford had to chain his car to a lamppost to avoid anyone with the strength to turn a physical crank from stealing it.

Wireless tech keeps criminals in check

<p id="isPasted">Building automation solutions can help reduce a building&rsquo;s carbon footprint, optimize energy consumption, improve maintenance scheduling, make better use of available space, and reduce waste and operating costs.</p><p>As such, IoT technologies for smart buildings are enjoying a surge in popularity, with the smart building sensors market expected to reach almost $32 billion by 2028 according to analyst, Emergen Research. However, with opportunity comes challenges, particularly for the engineers and system integrators looking for a one-size-fits-all connectivity solution.</p><h2><strong>The need for wireless interoperability</strong></h2><p>For example, to install an HVAC system in a building requires the interconnection of multiple nodes and components. That means temperature, humidity, and CO<sub>2&nbsp;</sub>sensors, thermostats, occupancy sensors, and demand-controlled ventilation systems. These are all required to collect data so the central system can automatically perform a specific action in any given room or on any given floor. Some of these sensor nodes will be running on mains power, some on battery.</p><p>At the same time, the building owner will want the installation to be quick, low cost, and future-proofed, all of which points to a scalable plug-and-play wireless solution that eliminates cabling, enables moving of sensors when floor plans change.</p><p>Interoperability is also key. Once a wireless network of IoT devices is installed, adding wireless protocol compliant devices from any vendor should be easily manageable.</p><h2>Thread checks all the boxes</h2><p>For building automation installations demanding a wireless Internet Protocol (IP) mesh network optimized for constrained IoT devices, that is easy to deploy, and runs on a global frequency to make the design and production of devices simpler, Thread covers all bases.</p><p>Thread is 2.4 GHz IPv6 wireless mesh network technology for connected products in homes and buildings. Every mains-powered device in a Thread network extends its coverage and resilience by forming the mesh topology. At the same time, Thread is designed to support low power devices ensuring battery-powered devices operate efficiently and securely. Initially targeted at the smart home, the release of Thread 1.2 squarely targets smart buildings with the introduction of new features that enable further scaling of these networks.</p><p>Beside scalability, Thread provides interoperability thanks to IP support and defined provisioning mechanisms that allow any device that is Thread compliant to be easily added to the network.</p><p>More recently, Thread Group announced version 1.3.0, which brings &quot;full functionality of IP routing and service discovery to Thread networks&quot; and prepares the way for future releases targeting support for Building Automation protocols (KNX IoT, DALI+, etc).</p><h2><strong>Long life to Thread</strong></h2><p>Given the great features that come with Thread, it is no accident it is backed by industry leaders from both the consumer and the industrial world. On top of this, Thread has been chosen by the Connectivity Standard Alliance (CSA) as one of pillar technologies on top of which Matter can run. Matter is an initiative started in 2019 by Amazon, Apple, Google, and others, including Nordic Semiconductor. The purpose is to agree on a unified application layer standard for connected things at home.</p><p>Thread is therefore set to be a widely adopted technology for many years to come. This is also key for companies set to choose a standard protocol for interconnecting their IoT devices in the building automation space. These companies can now focus on their core business, rather than developing costly custom wireless mesh solutions. Thread will ensure every device is interconnected wirelessly, has an IP address, and can co-exist with other Thread devices, potentially even from different vendors.</p><p>These features have pushed other traditional building automation protocols (e.g. KNX, DALI), which are adding IP support, to select Thread as wireless mesh protocol to meet some of their connectivity needs.</p><h2><strong>Setting up and deploying a Thread network</strong></h2><p>When deploying an HVAC system or IoT devices in a smart building, installation time and simplicity are essential. Companies or organizations using Thread can decide how to best use Thread features to suit their needs. For instance, Matter defines the use of Bluetooth LE for adding new Matter devices to the Thread network, using a smartphone. This is great for home use case, where users have access to local Wi-Fi on the smartphone.</p><p>For more industrial applications, Thread already has standard mechanisms that enable companies to build and quickly deploy large-scale networks of IoT devices within a building. Companies can leverage these to create standalone Thread networks, similarly to how Wi-Fi is used today.</p><p>To set up a Thread network the deployment should start with a Thread Border Router, the Thread equivalent of the Wi-Fi router at home. Its main role is to connect the Thread network to other IP-based networks (i.e. it is at the &#39;border&#39;, as the names suggests). In some cases, the supplier of the HVAC system and sensors may provide this Border Router, but the most flexible approach would be to choose a standard off-the-shelf third-party solution. The Border Router can be deployed in one place of the building and connected using Ethernet/Wi-Fi/LTE to a local network or the Internet. By configuring it&mdash;if there is no pre-existing Thread network to join&mdash;it can form a new Thread network.</p><p>There are numerous provisioning mechanisms for adding devices to the Thread network. One option is to use &#39;the &#39;Pre-Shared Keys for the Device&#39; (PSKd) that comes with each IoT device to be added to the network. By scanning a QR code on the device using a smartphone app or by adding the key directly into the Border Router interface, the installer can easily add the new device to the network. The communication will be encrypted. As new devices are added to the network, the wireless mesh adapts and extends coverage, depending on the role of each device.</p><p>For a more extensive deployment, it is sensible to deploy some nodes in key locations of the building that scale the mesh network to cover the complete floor plan. These nodes are called Router nodes (they &#39;route&#39; the traffic within the mesh) and they need to be mains-powered. They can be both IoT products used by the HVAC (like a thermostat) or just simple low cost extenders with the sole purpose of extending the wireless network across the building.</p><p>Once in place, you have a building-wide wireless infrastructure on top of which other Thread devices can be added in the future without major network planning. If the network capacity or coverage is insufficient, there is always the option to add new Border Routers and interconnect to the existing mesh.</p><h2><strong>Easy does it with Thread</strong></h2><p>By installing the Border Router and extenders first, deployment is simplified dramatically. The installer will not need to worry about coverage while additional devices are added to the network. It is, in effect, plug-and-play. Once nodes are added to the network, each device has an IP address and can communicate over IP technology.</p><p>Some nodes may communicate locally, like a temperature sensor sending an instruction to an actuator to open or close a valve. Others can communicate with the cloud, e.g. over UDP, as demonstrated by <a href="https://blog.golioth.io/build-a-customized-thread-network-using-off-the-shelf-components/" target="_blank">Golioth</a> or Nordic Design Partner <a href="https://hooriicn.feishu.cn/docs/doccnErGUqDmcqarCaQhrDX5D3b#7kZqeA" target="_blank">Hoorii</a>. The Thread network is application layer agnostic without care as to how this communication will happen and to whom each node will talk, as long as it uses IP transport protocols supported by Thread. Potentially there could be two Matter devices talking to each other while other nodes are talking directly to different clouds.</p><p>This is not far from how Wi-Fi networks are built and used in smart buildings and offices today, where first the network is built to make sure coverage is everywhere, and then multi-vendor devices (PC, tablets, printers, security IP cameras, etc) are added later, all co-existing together, each communicating over IP to different clouds/servers. This is the beauty of IP technology, it brings true end-to-end interoperability.</p><hr><p>This article was first published on Nordic&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>.  &nbsp;</p>

Building automation solutions can help reduce a building’s carbon footprint, optimize energy consumption, improve maintenance scheduling, make better use of available space, and reduce waste and operating costs.

Thread and IPv6: The smart protocol for tomorrow's smart buildings

In this article, we look at how Super Low power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE enable smart locks to be more agile and reliable by demonstrating these features with a case study from Renesas. 


Super Low Power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE Unlock Smart Locks

<p><em>OKdo is a component supplier and electronics consulting company based in the UK. They are on a mission to inspire and enable customers to generate new ideas and turn them into commercial reality.</em></p><h2><strong>The state of the semiconductor sector&nbsp;</strong></h2><p>Semi-conductor chips are so important across all industries. They are the key component in electronic devices, inside everything from cars to appliances to factory equipment. For OKdo, all our products will contain these types of components as we specialise in hardware for computing power and connected devices.&nbsp;</p><p>Many of our component manufacturing suppliers and industry partners continue to be in allocation, which means there is no free stock currently and prices are higher than normal. We must give at least 12&ndash;18-month forward forecasts to those suppliers to get in the queue to receive stock, and for new purchases from the main silicon brands, we&rsquo;re often quoted lead times far exceeding 12 months, extending well into 2023.&nbsp;</p><p>However, we are seeing some indications of change. It has been announced just this week the UK is officially in recession, with rising energy prices pushing inflation above 13%. The picture is similar in most countries around the world. Consumer demand is generally in decline, due to rising costs of living and record interest rates, increasing loan repayments. As consumer demand falls, we would expect ramifications across manufacturing demand for products which require semi-conductors, resulting in greater availability of components early in 2023.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>What&rsquo;s caused the supply constraints over the last 18 months?&nbsp;</strong></h3><p>The events of last 2 years have meant global supply chains have been hit extremely hard. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, we saw a huge demand increase for semi-conductors due to the global pandemic. This demand stemmed from increased demand for consumer electronics, home computing, and the automotive industry, which has been increasing electrifying.&nbsp;</p><p>Automotive production and manufacturing lines all over the world halted, not only because of the lack of supply of chips, but because of labour shortages due to the pandemic. Uncertainty in the market driven by geo-politics, extreme weather events, logistics capacity shortages only compounded the affect. It was evident quickly that semi-conductor suppliers could not cope with even a small increase in demand.</p><p>70% of the global foundries are concentrated across 2 or 3 locations and struggled to increase capacity and required huge billion-dollar investments to do so. This exposed a weakness in the supply chain and through years of optimisation of &ldquo;just in time&rdquo; manufacturing, no-one seemed to be prepared to handle extreme events. As demand outstripped supply, price&rsquo;s increased, shortage queues grew and margin-driven customer allocations (with all previous commitments null and void) became the norm.&nbsp;</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 758px;"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img width="600" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjYxMzMwNDI1NzgwLXNodXR0ZXJzdG9ja18yMDc2Nzk5MzMwLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" alt="inside an electric vehicle battery pack shop at a VinFast factory in Haiphong, Vietnam on Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021." class="fr-fic fr-dii"><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false">Image 1: The electrifying of the automotive industry contributed to the semiconductor demand.&nbsp;</span></span></span></p><h3><strong>What do you think will be next &ndash; when will people start to see a change?</strong>&nbsp;</h3><p>Over the last 12 months, we&rsquo;ve seen global powers of USA and Europe put the semi-conductor supply chain issues at the top of the political agenda. Foundries have invested Billions on programs of increasing capacity and strengthening resilience in the supply chain by near-shoring new facilities in the US and others in Europe. This effort could easily be in vain, impacted by any number of geo-political issues emerging right now, so time will tell.</p><hr><h3><strong>What can OKdo offer as a solution to customers who are struggling to find supply of SBCs or other connected devices, or who need a reliable manufacturing and design partner?</strong></h3><p>At OKdo, we offer the following key services to our customers and ecosystem partners to cover the whole product life cycle through to end-customer delivery:&nbsp;</p><ol start="1" type="1"><li><strong>Design Stage:&nbsp;</strong>component selection and rapid PCB/PCBA prototype and EVT</li><li><strong>NPI/Proto/PVT/Ramp Up:&nbsp;</strong>agile manufacturing in global locations&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Mass Production:&nbsp;</strong>scale up volume in global locations, with cost optimisation by OKdo supply chain and procurement professionals and CMs</li><li><strong>Box Build/Kitting:&nbsp;</strong>to get the product customer ready, fully assembled or added value options to end-customers</li><li><strong>Global warehousing and distribution:&nbsp;</strong>via a network of RS Group warehouses and OKdo managed 3PLs we offer drop ship or local distribution services to the end-user as well as global inventory availability and fast delivery options.</li></ol><p>We have a resilient supply chain and an agile design and manufacturing offer for our customers. Our internal supply chain expertise can help our partners navigate the enormous supply chain risks and challenges to the macro-economic climate today. Manufacturing today is entirely different from a few years ago, and we are ensuring we have coverage, capacity, and supply chain plans to manage uncertainty with our world-class team, and partners.</p><p>Our manufacturing partners have world-class procurement and sourcing teams, ensuring continuity of supply of components to keep our promises to our customers. We have invested in internal resources within OKdo in procurement and supply chain to work alongside our CMs to ensure we negotiate and procure critical components to minimise risk of supply chain disruption for our customers.&nbsp;</p><p>Our manufacturing services are based on the below 6 principles to benefit our ecosystem partners and to drive meaningful revenue growth for OKdo;</p><ol start="1" type="1"><li><strong>Customer Orientated:&nbsp;</strong>The OKdo Technology, Manufacturing and Procurement Team are dedicated to our customers every step of their design to manufacture journey, fully equipped at a global and regional level for speed of execution and driving value</li><li><strong>The Right Choice of CMs:&nbsp;</strong>Global contract manufacturing (CM) partnerships offering regional/local manufacturing capability, with a strong account management team with a range of languages to suit OKdo and our customers</li><li><strong>ESG &amp; Sustainability:&nbsp;</strong>Our CMs have sustainability and ESG at the heart of their values and supply chain; aligned to the OKdo ethos and ethics</li><li><strong>Living with Supply Chain Risk:&nbsp;</strong>Our CMs aid our endeavour for a flexible and agile supply chain, with global distribution options including direct to customer at a global and regional level and local buffer stocks&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Smart Procurement:&nbsp;</strong>Strategic component partnerships directly managed, with multiple procurement approaches from direct through to using Letters of Authority to CMs to purchase turnkey</li><li><strong>Equitable Relationships:&nbsp;</strong>Fair and balanced commercial frameworks for all parties based on trust and respect.</li></ol><h2><strong>Is there any alternative SBCs we can offer our customers?</strong></h2><p>We know there has been a shortage of single board computers due to the semi-conductor market. However, we have been working on a solution to this.</p><p>We&rsquo;re introducing a new product range called OKdo Rock which has been designed around component availability, with the customer in mind in terms of ability and capability and we&rsquo;ve put in safeguards across the supply chain to ensure continuity of supply.</p><p>Rock is an advanced SBC designed to empower engineers, students, and developers all around the world to create digital making by providing open, free, versatile hardware. What&rsquo;s more, the ROCK range of boards can be customised. The ability to depopulate SBCs without compromising their integrity brings huge financial and environmental benefits, allowing professional design engineers to leverage cutting-edge technology for developing high-volume end products that meet their exact needs and work towards reducing e-waste. This position it as an important play to our industrial customers.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 302px;"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjYxMzMwNTYwNzMwLU1pY3Jvc29mdFRlYW1zLWltYWdlICg1KS5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false">Image 2: new product range called OKdo Rock &nbsp;</span></span></span></p><p>Visit us on our website <a href="https://www.okdo.com/solutions" target="_blank">https://www.okdo.com/solutions</a> to find out more. </p><p>Find Sarah Fawcett at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahangelafawcett/" target="_blank">linkedin.com/SarahFawcett</a>. </p>

Article #4 Electronics Innovation Series. Alternative SBC’s and customer-orientated manufacturing will ease supply chain conditions. 

Chipping in on the SBC Supply Chain - predictions for the future.

<p id="isPasted">From a simple roof over our heads to a suitable place to work, travel, and shop, we spend so much of our lives indoors that creating the best possible environment is key to human wellbeing. Wireless technology can help.</p><h2>Creature comforts in the smart home and building</h2><p>Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for well-being has become even more pressing. This is because we&rsquo;re spending more time inside than ever, making things like good lighting, comfortable temperatures, and decent air quality essential to long-term health.</p><p>However, a good indoor environment is not just limited to health. Lighting, temperature, humidity, general air quality, and access can affect several other factors, including productivity in a work environment, protection of manufacturing assets and perishable goods, and even consumer spending patterns in a retail environment.</p><h2>Environmental impacts of the smart home and building</h2><p>The environment can also benefit from effective building management. Optimizing electricity and water through actions such as fixing leaks, turning off lights when no one is present, or turning down air conditioning units in offices between certain hours is important. And the impact can be significant; according to <a href="https://architecture2030.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">architecture2030.org,</a> building operations are responsible for up to 27 percent of total annual carbon dioxide emission.</p><p>In addition, wasted energy can affect the operational costs of buildings. These expenses can also be substantial; architects recommend allocating around 4 percent of the original cost of a new building each year for maintenance and repair &ndash; and even more as the building ages.</p><h2>The power of wireless</h2><p>Introducing a wireless IoT solution provides automatic and precise centralized control of a building&rsquo;s services, including HVAC, electrical systems and lighting, access&nbsp;control, safety systems (such as emergency lighting and fire detectors), and smart building sensors (such as those for occupancy, asset tracking, and desk usage).</p><p>Wireless building automation solutions are easier to install than wired equivalents and eliminate the failures associated with hard-to-access wiring, connectors, and switches. Moreover, wireless design can enable new business models and services, such as flexible co-working spaces or 24-hour gym access.</p><p>Wireless networks also support sensors to monitor the status of building infrastructure such as detecting leaks, lighting that&rsquo;s about to fail, inadequate insulation, or break-ins. Such predictive maintenance eliminates the cost of sending out maintenance personnel at scheduled intervals. It saves money by allowing problems to be fixed before serious damage has occurred and limiting energy bills.</p><p><strong>Smart building solutions</strong></p><p>Minut&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/News/2019/05/Battery-powered-all-in-one-smart-home-alarm-uses-LTE-M-cellular-wireless-technology" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Point</a> is an example of a smart home alarm that enhances safety. It uses temperature, motion, and humidity sensors, as well as sound recognition and air pressure detection to alert the user through their smartphone if anything out of the ordinary occurs.</p><p>A second example of a current commercial safety device is Level Home&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/News/2022/01/Level-Lock-employs-nRF52840-SoC-to-enable-keyless-entry-for-authorized-users" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Level Lock</a>. This wireless smart lock can be activated remotely, and used without the need of a physical key. Authorized guests can also be issued with their own &lsquo;digital key&rsquo;, or&mdash;using the &lsquo;Party Pass&rsquo; feature&mdash;several nominated guests can be admitted within a specified period. This device is compatible with both Apple HomeKit and Amazon Sidewalk.</p><h2>Unifying building automation</h2><p>Until recently, there has been a largely piecemeal approach when implementing wireless building automation. There is a wide range of standard and proprietary wireless protocols to solve the problem. Each offers a satisfactory solution but lacks interoperability and a large vendor ecosystem, leading to market fragmentation.</p><p>Matter&mdash;a new connectivity standard developed by Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA)&mdash;offers the best hope for unifying wireless building automation. It works by building on top of the existing wireless connectivity technologies Thread and Wi-Fi (plus Bluetooth LE for commissioning), and the Ethernet wired protocol. Matter is Internet Protocol (IP)-based, providing developers with a common and well-established foundation for communication. Key to its future commercial success is a unifying application layer that ensures compatibility and interoperability between building automation products now and into the future.</p><p>Thread is a secure IPv6 wireless mesh network developed for the smart home, tuned for reliability and low latency, and now expanded to commercial applications, thanks to the new 1.2 features. It works particularly well for lower-power devices such as building sensors and door locks, and it is scalable to support large networks.</p><p>In a typical building automation setup, simpler or lower power devices would typically run across a Thread network, while devices with higher power and data bandwidth needs will use Wi-Fi.</p><p>Read more: <a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected/an-introduction-to-thread?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">An introduction to Thread</a></p><h2>The start of a revolution</h2><p>Buildings are expensive undertakings and are designed to last for decades. It is difficult for architects to predict what technology is round the corner and then make provision for it in the building design. But the beauty of wireless technology is that it can be added to a building after it&rsquo;s built, and the wireless tech firmware can be updated over-the-air throughout the hardware&rsquo;s life to add new features and security. And low power wireless technology sensors don&rsquo;t even have to be wired into mains power because battery-power is sufficient to operate them for years.</p><p>The final piece of the puzzle is unification across the popular wireless protocols, Bluetooth LE, Thread and Wi-Fi. That is now coming following the adoption of Matter by more than 200 companies, including some of the largest in the world, and by recognizing IPv6 and Bluetooth LE as the foundation of IoT.</p><p>That means the revolution in building automation is now underway.</p><hr><p>This article was first published on Nordic&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>.  &nbsp;</p>

From a simple roof over our heads to a suitable place to work, travel, and shop, we spend so much of our lives indoors that creating the best possible environment is key to human wellbeing. Wireless technology can help.

Creating smart homes and building automation that are good for people and the environment

<p><em id="isPasted">This is the third article of a&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/building-electronic-products-with-resilience/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>6-part series</em></a><em>&nbsp;looking at innovation in the electronics industry.&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;</p><style type="text/css" id="isPasted">
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</style><p>The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic brought many changes to the way we live, not least of which to the way we work. While we&rsquo;re all familiar with the shift to remote and hybrid work, the office continues to be the most important place for organizations to meet, collaborate, and get work done. And as employees return to the workplace, they&rsquo;re expecting a different experience of their working environment: the smart office.</p><p>During the pandemic, many workers got used to remote work and working-from-home, with <a data-lf-fd-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" href="https://futureforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Future-Forum-Pulse-Report-January-2022.pdf" target="_blank">recent research from Slack&rsquo;s Future Forum</a> finding that 78% of workers continue to have the flexibility to work where they want to. However, for many companies, the experiment in remote work is coming to an end, with a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index" target="_blank">Microsoft survey</a> finding that 50% of companies want workers back in the office 5 days a week. Yet with a tight labor market and low unemployment, employers are finding they need to accommodate workers&rsquo; demands and a new model of hybrid work is arising, supporting employees working both on-site and remotely.&nbsp;</p><style type="text/css" id="isPasted">
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</style><h2>Bringing Employees Back to a New Era of the Workplace</h2><p>For organizations who want employees back in the office, the office as it was isn&rsquo;t good enough. While employees were getting used to the comforts of working from home, they were also evolving what those comforts include. The pandemic&rsquo;s stay-at-home and work-from-home lifestyle gave people a reason to try out new smart home tech &ndash; sparking a boom in the adoption of IoT-enabled smart home devices. <a href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS49051622" target="_blank">Research firm IDC reports</a> that the smart home market grew by 11.7 percent in 2021, and that &rdquo;consumers have shifted their spending priorities from other areas like vacations and going out to eat to focus on adding more comfort, conveniences, and entertainment at home.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p><p>Consumers have come to enjoy smart home devices for use cases such as smart lighting, smart thermostat control systems, home security, ambient air quality, water conservation, and many more, with multi-device platforms serving as a hub to connect and coordinate devices and have 360 degree view into the data they capture. Increasingly, users expect to use their phones as a means to customize more than just their experience of information and entertainment, but of the environment around them.&nbsp;</p><h2>Empower Users with the Next-Generation Smart Office</h2><p>As employees become accustomed to the features and benefits of smart home products, they increasingly want the same level of access and control these products provide while in the office. &nbsp;</p><p>A smart office is a technology-optimized space designed to improve the experience of employees, allowing them to work smarter, better, and more efficiently. Just as smart homes improve comfort, convenience, and efficiency with connected devices, the smart office uses connected equipment to bring these benefits to the workplace &ndash; providing a whole host of benefits for both employees and businesses alike.&nbsp;</p><p>At the core of the smart office concept is a range of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, particularly sensors and edge devices which gather data about the environment. This data is then connected to a centralized system, which can display it to users and allow them to make changes. Sensor data can also be connected to analytics tools in order to find meaningful patterns for improving facilities management, or even connected to action-based automated workflows.&nbsp;</p><p>For users of the smart office (your employees or other visitors), being able to provide feedback and request changes on the environment is key. Most notably this involves temperature and humidity (Is it too hot? Too cold?), but can also include reserving conference rooms, finding a desk or workspace that meets their needs, or even receiving new supplies. Touch sensors can trigger pre-set events ranging from a request for services to documenting maintenance activities. These requests can go through facilities management to implement, but can also be displayed publicly on a smart screen in the building, or through a smart building app.&nbsp;</p><p>One notable example of this is in action the <a href="https://adamtoren.nl/" target="_blank">A&rsquo;DAM Toren</a> in Amsterdam. A landmark multi-use development, the tower includes a hotel, restaurants, and nightclubs, as well as coworking space and private office space, with tenants such as Sony Music. Tenants are given access to an app for the facility which allows them to see the occupancy and temperature of rooms, book spaces, and leave requests for the facilities team &ndash; giving a new dimension of empowerment to the building&rsquo;s occupants. Whereas mobile apps such as Uber allow our phones to provide us with transportation on-demand, a building app in conjunction with IoT smart office technology can give users a customizable experience of the space in which they work.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 758px;"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjU5NTM1Nzk5MDQwLTE2NTk1MzU3OTkwNDAuanBlZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" class="fr-fic fr-dii" width="625" border="0"><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false">Image 1: The A&rsquo;DAM Toren in Amsterdam enables users to provide feedback on the common spaces.&nbsp;</span></span></span></p><style type="text/css" id="isPasted">
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</style><h2>Implementing Smart Office Functionality: Key Features</h2><p>Implementing a smart office in your building will require utilizing a range of IoT sensors to detect various data points, which can then be relayed to the cloud via Ethernet or a cellular network. This data can then be integrated into a custom-built application via API or an out-of-the-box solution from a provider.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Smart climate control and environmental sensors:</strong> With smart climate control, you can ensure your workplace is as comfortable as possible for employees. There are numerous options here: Smart HVAC systems detect usage patterns and automatically regulate temperature, increasing the system&rsquo;s efficiency. However, with IoT devices you can give control to your employees, allowing them to make temperature adjustment requests from an app. To institute this, you need ambient air temperature sensors which can accurately measure your office&rsquo;s temperature in given locations. These sensors are usually small, unobtrusive, and don&rsquo;t require wires.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition to temperature, you can deploy a range of other sensor types. Humidity sensors can detect humidity levels, and if they go above set levels, notify the HVAC unit to dehumidify, not only improving employee comfort but preventing the growth of mold, dust mites, and other pests. These humidity sensors can also be placed in critical facilities locations such as server rooms or on pipes to monitor conditions for vital equipment. And while your office likely already uses sensors for carbon monoxide and smoke, additional air quality sensors can monitor the level of other common pollutants, ensuring a safe environment for all inhabitants.&nbsp;</p><p>Typically, IoT sensor devices securely communicate their data to a cloud-based system, where it can be forwarded via an API to other applications for further use. These IoT sensor devices can not only improve user comfort and well-being, but improve energy efficiency and extend equipment life.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Smart lighting:</strong> One of the more popular smart home features, smart lighting is one of the easier places to start for modernizing the office. <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2015-07-15-gartner-says-smart-lighting-has-the-potential-to-reduce-energy-costs-by-90-percent" target="_blank">According to Gartner</a>, smart lighting has the potential to reduce energy costs by 90 percent.&nbsp;</p><p>With smart lighting, IoT devices detect motion in a room and turn lights off or on accordingly, and controls can automatically adjust the lighting levels relative to the level of daylight. When connected to a user-facing app, users can turn lights on or off, control lighting intensity, and adjust lighting color all from their phone.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Space management:&nbsp;</strong>With the shift to hybrid work, gone are the days of every employee at the office sitting at the same desk every day. In response, we are seeing the rise of hot-desking and desk hoteling, where employees use different workstations throughout the day, either using on a first-come, first-served basis or booking spaces with defined criteria at defined times using a reservation system. Additionally, smart conference rooms allow users to find and book meeting rooms, and perhaps order additional add-ons such as catering or equipment from the same platform.</p><p>To manage this shift, sensors (using one of a range of occupancy, thermal, or visitor counting sensors) combined with a reservation or booking application system are necessary to monitor the usage of office space. Connected to a building app, users can book space either for themselves or for meetings or collaborative work, view the schedule and availability of other spaces, and be notified of cancellations or changes in availability.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Security:</strong> Another popular smart home application which can benefit the office are smart security cameras such as Ring or SkyBell. Video monitoring tools can help improve security, while also allowing facilities managers to analyze how office space is being utilized. In addition to video monitoring, your smart office can choose from a variety of systems and solutions for visitor management and access control, such as using a tablet and cloud-based software to record visitor entry and screen visitors, provide visitors a QR code for access and wayfinding tools to ensure guests can navigate to their destination, as well as more sophisticated access control systems utilizing biometric data.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Supply management and fault reporting:</strong> Ensuring access to necessary equipment and keeping that equipment in working order is a critical facilities management function, from laptops to A/V equipment to the espresso machine. With a facilities management user app, employees can register faults such as equipment or building issues right from their phone, attaching a picture and description and adding it directly to the FM team&rsquo;s workflow. Users can also make requests for equipment directly within the app or software solution. Additionally, touch IoT devices can trigger set actions, such as when a certain item needs to be repaired. &nbsp;</p><p><strong>Interactivity and user experience:&nbsp;</strong>While the execution of the smart office is enabled by IoT devices and other advances in hardware, ensuring your users can easily interact with your smart office system to meet their needs is a critical component. A location-responsive app, giving users the ability to take the actions they need, is a great choice. Also, screens displaying critical information such as space occupancy, current temperature and other environmental conditions, as well as a map of the building, can be helpful for more public and immediate access to information.</p><p><strong>Data privacy:</strong> When implementing features for your smart office, design with user privacy in mind. If employees feel like they are being watched and monitored every step of the way, your smart office will have the opposite effect. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s critical to follow some key principles. Always give control to the end-user and work to empower users. Be transparent about what, why, and how you measure. Anonymize data as much as possible, and clearly define which roles can access which data. Do not observe or control individual users, establish strong internal IT privacy principles, and always comply with any relevant regulations, such as the GDPR.</p><p>While these areas provide some key functions for the smart office, some facilities may not require all of them &ndash; while others may want to push into other areas. As smart home and office technologies catch on, new ways to improve and connect capabilities will continue to arise. For more ambitious organizations, gamification and employee engagement features can be built into user-facing apps, other features such as colleague tracking can be included, and voice control functionality (such as offered by Alexa for Business) can be implemented. The smartest office is the one that meets the needs of your particular organization &ndash; and your users.&nbsp;</p><h2>OKdo: An Intelligent Supplier for Your Smart Office</h2><p>The future doesn&rsquo;t always come easy &ndash; implementing an IoT-enabled smart office that meets the needs an organization and its users can be a complex undertaking. To achieve this vision, engineers need an intelligent supplier, one that can help respond to and help solve their unique challenges; ideate, test, and review their solutions; and execute to realize their particular goals and objectives. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.okdo.com/industrial/?utm_source=Wevolver&utm_campaign=prospecting&utm_medium=display&utm_content=thoughtleadership_b2b" target="_blank">OKdo</a> supports engineers with the imagination, creativity, and technical expertise needed to realize their business vision. Okdo assists engineers by delivering a unique combination of software, development support, and manufacturing services to turn their ideas into commercial reality. OKdo goes beyond just supplying to offer innovators a wide range of services, support and expertise in part selection, prototyping, customization, and large-scale manufacturing. Learn more about how they can help you to build and implement your IoT smart office vision <a href="https://www.okdo.com/industrial/?utm_source=Wevolver&utm_campaign=prospecting&utm_medium=display&utm_content=thoughtleadership_b2b" target="_blank">OKdo.com</a></p><h3>Raul&rsquo;s thoughts:</h3><p>&ldquo;One of my previous bosses used to say that you spend more time at the office than with your family, so we all needed to try to make the work environment like your home. However, after a while, watering the plants, reporting that we had run out of milk or reporting that a light had stopped working became less of a priority than the next deadline or the next meeting. And these small things become a reason to complain and to make the day to day less efficient, less enjoyable and &nbsp;less friendly. Consequently, a smart office can help us to manage all these problems and automatically improve the working environment, leading to an increase in the company&rsquo;s efficiency.</p><p>In my opinion to be able to deliver a reliable, efficient and affordable smart office we need to innovate with:</p><ul><li>Existent, traceable, accurate and affordable sensors to design sensor nodes.</li><li>Existent, reliable and affordable actuators to design actuator nodes.</li><li>Existent, secure and standard radio modules to embed in the sensor and actuator nodes.</li><li>Existent, reliable and affordable computing platforms able to:<ul><li>Communicate with the sensor nodes to collect the raw data.</li><li>Transform this data into information through predeterminate algorithms.</li><li>Communicate the information to a cloud system for future analysis.</li><li>Transmit the require action to the actuator node.</li></ul></li></ul><p>In conclusion, the opportunity to create the next smart office platform is reachable to anyone who is willing to put in the time and the effort to try. Here an OKdo we are more than happy to help anyone to have the ability to convert raw environmental data into reliable information to bring the smart office concept into reality.&rdquo;</p><p>This is the third article of a 6-part series:</p><p><a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/building-electronic-products-with-resilience" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Article 1</a> looked at supply chain resilience.</p><p><a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/the-future-of-sustainable-electronics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Article 2</a> examined the future of sustainable electronics.</p><p>Article 3 (this article) surveys current smart office trends.</p><p><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjU5NTM2MTY3NTIzLW9rIGRvIGJvdHRvbSBiYW5uZXIuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></p><p><br></p>

Article #3 Electronics Innovation Series. As offices re-open the must embrace the use of data at a smart home scale. 

Bringing the Smart Home to the Smart Office: How engineers can empower users with IoT-enabled products in the workplace

<p id="isPasted"><em>This article is based on a webinar from Dr. Dave Garrett, Chief Architect and head of engineer at Syntiant Corporation. He&rsquo;s a technical expert in building machine learning (ML) architectures in silicon and deploying ML solutions. In the webinar, hosted by SemiWiki, Dr. Garrett demonstrated how to successfully deploy edge AI neural networks using the Syntiant&reg; ultra-low-power Neural Decision Processors&trade; (NDP).&nbsp;</em></p><p><em>These NDPs sense, analyze and autonomously act to allow mission-critical and time-sensitive decisions to be made faster, more reliably, with minimal power consumption while offering greater privacy at the edge of the network. We&rsquo;ve summarized the core takeaways of the webinar below.&nbsp;</em></p><h2>Deep Learning Enables Significant Reduction in False Alarm Events</h2><p>False alarms on home security systems are the customers&rsquo; single largest complaint. According to recent studies, false alarms are the number one reason why people don&rsquo;t actively use their installed home security systems. In these hardwired systems, there is no discerning and nuanced decision-making - they are either triggered or not. &nbsp;</p><p>Syntiant&rsquo;s solutions for home security applications are based on deep learning algorithms and aim to emulate the natural decision-making response of a person who can hear and sense an outcome, and make a determination about the underlying cause and event. Today, Syntiant offers three solutions for security applications, with the aim to expand in the future: &nbsp;person detection (vision), window-break acoustic event detection, and door/window motion detection. For each application, the Neural Decision Processor<em>&trade;</em> is paired with a standard, low cost, sensor, and trained to detect the occurrence of a specific event, making these solutions turnkey and ready for deployment.&nbsp;</p><ol><li><h3><strong>Person Detection: NDP200 and Low-cost Camera</strong></h3><br>Traditional home security systems use passive infrared sensors to detect the presence of a moving object. these sensors have no decision-making ability and rely on a single threshold, making them prone to false alarms: a god, a car, or even wind rustling the trees can trigger a &#39;&#39;person detect&#39;&#39; event.<br>The Syntiant approach is completely different.: using a basic, low-resolution camera, Syntiant&#39;s NDP200 processor is trained to detect the presence of a person only and disregard all other objects. To allow the consumer security solutions to be installed in the most convenient and meaningful locations, many of these devices are compact and battery-operated. NDP200 is offer is a 5mmx5mm package and consumes less than 1mW of when used as an always-on, person detect processor.&nbsp;</li><li><h3><strong>Window-Break Acoustic Event Detection: NDP120 and Microphone</strong></h3><strong><br></strong>The second solution that Syntiant provides for security applications is to detect the sound of a window breaking. Just as with person detection, detecting the sound of a glass breaking is prone to false detects or missed detections. Syntiant&rsquo;s NDP120 processor, trained with Syntiant&rsquo;s own generated data models is exceptionally adept at distinguishing the sound of a window breaking from other household acoustic events. &nbsp;The same processor, offered in a compact 3.1mmx2.5mm package, can also be programmed to trigger other specific acoustic events such as a smoke or fire alarms, alerting homeowners and security companies of a potential fire when no one is home.&nbsp;</li><li><h3>Motion Detection: NDP120 and Gyroscope</h3><br>The third Syntiant solution leverages the output of a six or nine-axis motion detector to determine events at the home&rsquo;s entry points. For example, the system can be trained to detect the jiggling of a doorknob.</li></ol><h2>Syntiant&rsquo;s Turnkey Solutions Encompass the Three Pillars of Deep Learning</h2><p>Deep learning is ideally suited to be the new interface, enabling the natural interaction between the physical and the digital worlds. The challenge with deep learning is that to provide a total solution, three key elements are required: a processor where a neural network models are run; a large set of data assets, collected and classified, which is required to create the training datasets; and a training pipeline where machine learning data models are created. &nbsp;Without any of these elements, the total solution is not possible.&nbsp;</p><p>Facilitating the adoption of deep learning as the new physical-digital interface, Syntiant has been working on solutions that cover all three of these elements. &nbsp;</p><ol><li><h3>Processor: Neural Decision Processor<em>&trade;</em></h3><br id="isPasted">Many deep learning solutions rely on traditional processor solutions that are not optimized for artificial intelligence or AI efficient. These solutions are large, consume a lot of power or are limited in their computational capabilities, making them not suitable for edge applications, where space, cost, and power consumption on a device is critically important.<br>Syntiant has developed its own AI efficient&trade; (NDP) family of solutions.<br>With native neural architecture, the NDP family offers 100x efficiency improvement and 30x increase in throughput, at 1% of the power and half the size, compared to commonly used microprocessor units (MCUs).<br>Due to the unparalleled computational power for their size, processors in the NDP family do not need to send any computational data to the cloud, eliminating bandwidth challenges and security and privacy concerns.&nbsp;</li><li><h3>Data Platform</h3><br>One of the biggest challenges in deploying artificial intelligence and deep learning solutions is the scarcity of training data. In order to circumvent this problem, Syntiant has invested in developing its own platform. The Syntiant Data Platform automates the ingestion, labelling, aligning, cleaning, and synthetic data generation to turn raw data into training data sets. In addition, the platform generates synthetic data that can be used for customization purposes in easy use cases (e.g., wake words), or increase the robustness for complicated use cases. &nbsp;</li><li><h3>Training Pipeline</h3><br>Once a large enough data set has been collected and categorized, it can be used to create training data models for the neural networks. Generating production-worthy training models is an expensive and complicated process that includes augmenting the data to include many variations, mimicking real-world scenarios. Syntiant has designed and developed its own training pipeline that has helped to increase the robustness of application-specific solutions that they offer. Furthermore, the pipeline is not limited to use with the NPD family only and may be used to create production data models for other processors.</li></ol><h2>Smart Home Security Highlights Deep Learning&rsquo;s Advantages for Edge Applications</h2><p>Taking a closer look at how deep learning is applied to improve and expand applications in a smart home security system, Syntiant not only demonstrates an exciting use case of its specially designed Neural Decision Processors, but also outlines its vision for more intuitive, natural interface at the edge of the physical and digital world.&nbsp;</p><p><a class="button-main-action" href="https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/4111620855434586640" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the full webinar on-demand here.&nbsp;</a></p><p><strong><em>About the sponsor: Syntiant</em></strong></p><p><em>Syntiant Corp. is a leader in delivering end-to-end deep learning solutions for always-on applications by combining purpose-built silicon with an edge-optimized data platform and training pipeline. The company&rsquo;s advanced chip solutions merge deep learning with semiconductor design to produce ultra-low-power, high-performance, deep neural network processors for edge AI applications across a wide range of consumer and industrial use cases, from earbuds to automobiles. Syntiant&rsquo;s Neural Decision Processors&trade; typically offer more than 100x efficiency improvement, while providing a greater than 10x increase in throughput over current low-power MCU-based solutions, and subsequently, enabling larger networks at significantly lower power.</em></p><h2><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxNjU1ODkxMTg2LXN5bnRpYW50IGJvdHRvbSBiYW5uZXIuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></h2><p><br></p>

Deep learning increases reliability and reduces false alarms

From Window Break Alerts to Person Detection Systems: Deploying Reliable, Low Power, Edge AI for Home Security Applications

<p>This article was discussed in our <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte&source=gmail&ust=1649206513804000&usg=AOvVaw2e8fjtjDBubEV3BD4lTqPX" href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/e67f6081-3650-42ad-847d-ccb27822c445?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe></span></p><p>The full article will continue below.</p><hr><p id="isPasted">The idea of the fully-integrated smart home, where the very surfaces themselves boast sensing, display, and control capabilities, is an alluring one which to date has not been realized by available technologies &mdash; but a woven smart display, capable of repeated bending folding and with integrated energy storage functionality, could hold the key to changing that.</p><p>Developed by a multi-organizational team led by the University of Cambridge, the novel display system&rsquo;s prototype is a 46&quot; gadget boasting full-color display capabilities alongside wireless power transmission and energy storage, touch sensing, environmental monitoring, biosensing, and photodetection &mdash; while remaining fully flexible.</p><h1>Interwoven technology</h1><p>The core concept of combining fabric-weaving manufacturing approaches with integrated technology isn&rsquo;t new, but has thus far struggled to scale beyond small-form-factor devices primarily targeting the wearable sector. This unnamed prototype, by contrast, targets scalability as a primary consideration: Its active display offers a 34&quot; diagonal, with its creators claiming devices of &ldquo;unlimited size&rdquo; could be created using existing manual or machine looms.</p><p>Featuring a conductive silver-coated polyamide thread developed in-house as a connecting material, the heart of the smart fabric is the full-color LED display panel. Dubbed a Fiber LED (F-LED) display, the output device features a matrix of 84&times;76 RGB LEDs &mdash; while a second prototype boosted the resolution to 120&times;65, the highest resolution yet achieved in fiber LED displays.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KP1WebOG2bM?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe></span><br>The display is only part of the prototype, however: Designed as a true &ldquo;smart fabric,&rdquo; the system also includes a range of additional &ldquo;fiber devices&rdquo; designed to act as inputs: A square spiral fiber antenna, which can receive 13.56MHz signals as a mode switch and for power harvesting or communication with external devices; a fiber photodetector for environmental ultraviolet monitoring; a number of fiber touch sensors woven into the weft and warp of the fabric for simultaneous and multi-touch sensing equivalent to a traditional touchpad; a fiber temperature sensor; and a fiber biosensor, capable of monitoring and amplifying the user&rsquo;s heartbeat for monitoring and display.</p><p>The final key feature of the overall fabric system&#39;s technology bundle: Fiber supercapacitors, made from gel-electrolyte sandwiched between carbon fiber bundles, capable of storing energy within the fabric itself for later use.</p><h1>True flexibility</h1><p>Despite all these functions, the smart fabric prototype remains flexible, capable of being rolled, folded, and gently stretched without damage. In extensive experimentation, all &ldquo;F-devices&rdquo; built into the system were subjected to standardized bending tests over 1,000 cycles and a year-long operational lifespan without any notable degradation &mdash; bar the temperature sensor, which was noted to drift over time owing to moisture ingress.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 300px;"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ4MDUwMjI1OTU0LXdvdmVuZGlzcGxheTIuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Diagrams showing various types of &quot;fiber devices,&quot; which are woven into a smart textile using a standard weaving loom. The finished &quot;smart textile system&quot; integrates an F-LED display, F-Touch inputs, F-RF antenna, F-Temperature sensor, F-Biosensor, F-Photodetector, and F-Energy storage system."><span class="fr-inner">The smart fabric prototype was constructed using standard loom weaving techniques, and integrates a display output and a surprisingly wide range of inputs &mdash; all created using fiber technology.<br id="isPasted"></span></span></span></p><p>To prove the concept still further, the team tested the prototype for a range of tasks &mdash; aiming for at least one useful implementation of every F-device present. Example applications included installation of the smart fabric as a UV monitor on a window, capable of triggering the movement of blinds or activation of heating or ventilation systems via touch control; display of received signal strength from the fiber antenna; live temperature graphing; heart-rate monitoring; and automatic switching between &ldquo;display mode&rdquo; and &ldquo;monitoring mode&rdquo; depending on its distance to a radio-transmitting device.</p><p>&ldquo;Our approach is built on the convergence of micro and nanotechnology, advanced displays, sensors, energy and technical textile manufacturing,&rdquo; says Professor Jong min Kim, project co-lead, in a write-up of the work <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/scientists-develop-fully-woven-smart-display/" target="_blank">published here on Wevolver</a>. &ldquo;This is a step towards the full exploitation of sustainable, convenient e-fibers and e-textiles in daily applications. And it&rsquo;s only the beginning.&rdquo;</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 300px;"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ4MDUwMjMzNDQ5LXdvdmVuZGlzcGxheTMuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Three images of the smart textile display system being used to graph temperature changes recorded by the F-Temperature sensor. An arrow goes from &quot;heating&quot; to &quot;cooling&quot; left-to-right to demonstrate the change being measured."><span class="fr-inner">The integrated fiber devices can perform a range of tasks, from environmental monitoring to touch detection &mdash; and even track your heart rate.</span></span></span></p><p>&ldquo;By integrating fiber-based electronics, photonic, sensing and energy functionalities, we can achieve a whole new class of smart devices and systems,&rdquo; adds fellow co-lead &nbsp;Dr Luigi Occhipinti. &ldquo;By unleashing the full potential of textile manufacturing, we could soon see smart and energy-autonomous Internet of Things devices that are seamlessly integrated into everyday objects and many other sector applications.&rdquo;</p><p>The team&rsquo;s work has been published in the journal <cite><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28459-6" target="_blank">Nature Communications</a></cite> under open-access terms; the codes used in the project are available <a href="https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/331012" target="_blank">via the University of Cambridge&rsquo;s Apollo system</a> upon application.</p><h1>Reference</h1><p>Hyung Woo Choi, Dong-Wook Shin, Jiajie Yang, Sanghyo Lee, C&aacute;tia Figueiredo, Stefano Sinopoli, Kay Ullrich, Petar Jovančić, Alessio Marrani, Roberto Moment&egrave;, Jo&atilde;o Gomes, Rita Branquinho, Umberto Emanuele, Hanleem Lee, Sang Yun Bang, Sung-Min Jung, Soo Deok Han, Shijie Zhan, William Harden-Chaters, Yo-Han Suh, Xiang-Bing Fan, Tae Hoon Lee, Mohamed Chowdhury, Youngjin Choi, Salvatore Nicotera, Andrea Torchia, Francesc Ma&ntilde;osa Moncunill, Virginia Garcia Candel, Nelson Dur&atilde;es, Kiseok Chang, Sunghee Cho, Chul-Hong Kim, Marcel Lucassen, Ahmed Nejim, David Jim&eacute;nez, Martijn Springer, Young-Woo Lee, SeungNam Cha, Jung Inn Sohn, Rui Igreja, Kyungmin Song, Pedro Barquinha, Rodrigo Martins, Gehan A. J. Amaratunga, Luigi G. Occhipinti, Manish Chhowalla, and Jong Min Kim: <cite>Smart textile lighting/display system with multifunctional fibre devices for large scale smart home and IoT applications, Nature Communications 13</cite>. DOI <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28459-6" target="_blank">10.1038/s41467-022-28459-6</a>.</p>

A prototype smart display, fully reproducible using industry-standard looms, is shown here being folded and rolled while retaining its performance.

Featuring "fiber devices" including a large-format display, temperature and ultraviolet sensors, a touch-sensitive input matrix, and even a heart-rate monitor, this foldable fabric is being positioned as a breakthrough for smart homes and the IoT.

A flexible, foldable, highly-integrated "smart fabric" could herald the future of the cuddlier Internet of Things

<p id="isPasted">Real-time occupancy monitoring of the comings and goings inside a warehouse, conference room, or corridor yields valuable data. That data can be sent to the Cloud for deeper analysis and strategic decision-making on occupancy issues such as enhanced building security, personnel safety monitoring, and sustainable lighting and HVAC use.</p><h2>Better productivity and planning</h2><p>System managers can maximize space usage and boost productivity by monitoring building occupancy. For example, a wireless occupancy sensor solution could instantly notify whether a meeting room is currently occupied or how many people on average use a particular room.</p><p>Occupancy detection also has a role to play in maintaining health and safety. For example, the technology makes it much easier to implement social distancing policies that will help keep an endemic variant of COVID-19 and other endemic diseases such as influenza at bay.</p><p>Wireless occupancy detection can also replace traditional lighting controls in a smart building or home. Improvements in efficiency from automated lighting can be dramatic. Such systems can significantly reduce energy use in commercial buildings, where lighting constitutes some 26 percent of total electricity consumption. According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, installing occupancy-based sensor lighting controls can lead to energy savings of ten percent in an open-plan office, 45 percent in a warehouse, and as high as 60 percent in a restroom.</p><p>Employing occupancy sensors linked to HVAC controls can lead to similar energy savings. The sensors can adjust temperature settings, turn down airflows, or even turn the HVAC off depending on who's around.</p><h2>Motion sensor types</h2><p>Wireless occupancy sensors commonly use infrared (IR) light and microwaves, among other techniques, to detect the presence of people even when they're stationary.</p><p>The passive IR (PIR) sensor is the more common type due to its simplicity and relatively low cost. It is triggered by IR level change, like from a warm object such as a person. PIR sensors feature low energy consumption—the sensor's passive operation requires very little power compared to other motion detection systems—making a good alternative in an application where extended battery life is critical. Some downsides to PIR technology are that it struggles to detect tiny movements, must have direct line-of-sight with the moving object to operate, has limited range and restricted coverage area.</p><p>Microwave sensors address the weaknesses of PIR because they can cover wide areas, feature good range, and don't require line-of-sight with the moving object. The downsides are cost, and most significantly, power consumption. The units must constantly emit a microwave signal, which requires continuous power draw.</p><p>Hybrid or dual-technology sensors incorporating PIR and microwave in a single device combine the advantages of each technology for a high-performance motion detector system with a very low false detection rate. The downside is cost.</p><h2>Easy-fit occupancy detection</h2><p>Brossard, Canada-based <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/News/2021/09/I-SYST-module-employs-nRF52832-SoC?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">I-SYST</a>, has developed the BLUEPYRO-M3225, a module providing plug-and-play motion/proximity detection capability, to support various wireless room occupancy detection applications. The product has been designed to help inexperienced PIR users quickly set up a wireless room occupancy detection system. It works in the home/building automation range, such as lighting control, security systems, smart thermostats, and in wildlife motion detection photography applications.</p><p>The I-SYST module integrates Nordic's nRF52832 SoC to deliver the processing power required for such applications. BLUEPYRO-M3225 features the Excelitas Technologies DigiPyro PYD2592, a dual-element PIR sensor with built-in signal processing, digital output, and wake-up/sleep mode functionality. The PIR sensor integration in the module enables a wireless solution with low electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristics. The PIR sensor's wake-up feature is essential for battery-operated applications because it limits power use until a motion event is detected.</p><p>The wireless occupancy sensor market is on the move, with companies and individuals reaping the rewards of enhanced detection capability. For example, The Business Times reports that in Schneider Electric's offices in Kallang, Singapore, over a thousand sensors across nine floors track the occupancy of workstations and meeting rooms in near real-time. The data helps the company tailor lighting and HVAC according to attendance.&nbsp;</p><hr><p>This article was first published on Nordic's&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>. </p>

Real-time occupancy monitoring of the comings and goings inside a warehouse, conference room, or corridor yields valuable data.

Wireless occupancy detection technology aids productivity and sustainability

<p><em id="isPasted">Together with&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/digi-key.electronics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Digi-Key</em></a><em>, a <em>distributor of electronic components,</em> we are creating&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/the-tech-foundation-of-smart-city-infrastructure" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>a series of articles</em></a><em>&nbsp;about the technologies that make IoT possible. &nbsp;This second article examines the use of machine learning to power scenes in smart homes. Future articles dive into IoT security and connected transportation.&nbsp;</em></p><p>For over two decades, smart homes and home automation applications have advanced at a rapid pace. Early smart homes comprised a limited number of connected devices and offered very basic automation functionalities, which were typically limited to controlling the status of smart devices. During the past decade, home automation functionalities have proliferated and evolved in terms of intelligence and sophistication. Specifically, smart homes platforms like Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple&rsquo;s Home Pod enable integrated and intelligent control of a larger number of devices. The latter can be configured in many ways to match the end-users&rsquo; preferences and needs. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h2>Introducing Smart Home Scenes</h2><p>The multitude of home automation devices and functionalities in modern smart homes has given rise to the concept of &ldquo;scenes&rdquo;. Scenes enable smart home users to control multiple devices based on one or more scripts of well-defined actions. The latter are scheduled and executed in-line with the end-users&rsquo; preferences. &nbsp;In practice, scenes consist of triggers and actions.&nbsp;</p><p>Triggers are events that initiate configuration and control actions. For example, configuration actions can be triggered when the value of a sensor exceeds a threshold or based on the manual push of a button. Actions alter the status of one or more devices, which subsequently changes the state of the smart home. &nbsp;The triggers and actions that comprise a scene are stored in the smart home platform as a configuration option. This option can be conveniently activated or deactivated at the end-user&rsquo;s will. Smart home users can therefore configure multiple scenes and use them at different times.</p><p dir="ltr">Overall, scenes facilitate homeowners to control their smart devices flexibly and automatically. Using scenes, homeowners save precious time. Specifically, they no longer need to remember the different configuration options of their devices, allowing them to spend less or no time in implementing a series of configuration and control actions to ensure that their home environment matches their preferences. &nbsp;Furthermore, scenes enable homeowners to control their home using their most preferred modality including remote controls, touch-panels and smartphone apps.</p><h2>Prominent Scenes Examples &nbsp;</h2><p>Some of the most popular examples of smart home scenes include:</p><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">The Morning Scene:&nbsp;This is typically a scene that configures a smart home to the owner&rsquo;s desired morning state. It typically involves switching on certain lights, opening curtains, turning on the TV or radio in some rooms (e.g., the bathroom), and configuring certain appliances (e.g., toasters, boilers) to the desired state. Different instances of the morning scene can be implemented for different members of the household. For instance, different morning scenes can be implemented in the various bedrooms or bathrooms of the smart home.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">The Night Scene: This scene reverses the state of the morning scene and prepares the home for the night. For instance, some lights are switched off, the radio and the TV are turned off, and the home is locked up and secured.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">The Away Scene: In this case, the house is configured to the state preferred by homeowners when they are not present. As a prominent example, interior lights and media devices are turned off, shades are closed, exterior lights are switched on, and the alarm is set.&nbsp;</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">The In-Home Scene:&nbsp;This configures the home to the users&rsquo; desired state when one or more household members are in the house. The configuration of the scene can be personalized to the preferences of each individual member. For instance, a personalized configuration can define specific states for the lighting of the living room and the office, the ambient temperature of certain rooms, as well as the status of the TV and radio devices.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">The Party Scene: &nbsp;This is about preparing the home for a social event like a party. Among other things, it can configure the lighting, the shades, the type and volume of the music, and the temperature towards creating a pleasant and effective environment for the event. The selected configuration can be activated with a click of a button on a remote control or smartphone app. &nbsp;</p></li></ul><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O8PtChkkzuU?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 740px; height: 426px;" data-gtm-yt-inspected-10="true" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe></span><br></p><h2 dir="ltr">Smart Home Scenes: Technology Enablers and Trends</h2><p dir="ltr">The implementation and deployment scenes are enabled by cutting-edge smart home technologies such as intelligent sensors, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). In particular:</p><ul><li dir="ltr">Intelligent Sensors and Actuators: Scenes leverage intelligent semiconductors and microsystems, which are configured remotely based on popular protocols like Bluetooth, WiFi, Zigbee, and KNX. Intelligent semiconductors are of two main types: Sensors that perceive the smart-home environment (e.g., a room&rsquo;s occupancy patterns) and Actuators that implement automatic control functionalities (e.g., light control).</li><li dir="ltr">IoT Controllers: Most scenes are configured, stored, deployed, and executed by IoT controllers i.e., gateway devices that control sensors and actuators from a single-entry point. IoT controllers support one or more networking protocols, which facilitate their seamless communication with sensors and actuators.&nbsp;</li><li dir="ltr">Cloud Computing: Modern smart home platforms and their IoT controllers are integrated with cloud computing infrastructures. Cloud integration enables smart home applications to benefit from the scalability, capacity, elasticity, and quality of service of cloud computing. For instance, the cloud facilitates the collection, management, and analysis of large volumes of data about the activity of the inhabitants. Likewise, cloud computing enables smart home applications to access storage and computing resources in flexible, scalable, and cost-effective ways.</li><li dir="ltr">Edge Computing: In recent years, there is a shift of smart home data from the cloud to the edge of the network, i.e., close to end-users. Many data processing and data analytics applications are deployed close to the end-users. This reduces application latency as processing takes place in the local network. &nbsp;Moreover, it economizes network bandwidth and boosts data protection as most data need not travel to the cloud. In most cases, edge computing is deployed in conjunction with cloud computing, i.e., real-time functionalities are deployed at the edge, while functionalities that ask for many data points and heavier processing are implemented in the cloud.</li></ul><p>These technologies are the main technology enablers of smart home applications and scenes. Their evolution is driving improvements in automation, intelligence, and sustainability. Some of the top trends include: &nbsp;</p><ul><li dir="ltr">Tiny Sensors: Sensors are gradually shrinking in size, which increases their versatility and pervasiveness. In this direction, modern sensing systems come with zero-touch configuration capabilities as well. Overall, the trend is towards pervasively deploying sensors without substantial effort for setting them up and operating them. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li dir="ltr">Energy Efficiency: Nowadays, consumers and enterprises are concerned with improving the environmental performance of their activities. This trend is extending to smart home applications, which are designed and engineered towards reducing CO2 emissions and optimizing environmental performance. For example, occupancy monitoring functionalities are increasingly used to optimize HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems emissions. Likewise, smart homes are increasingly deploying energy-efficient sensors that live longer and exhibit optimal environmental performance.&nbsp;</li><li dir="ltr">Cyber-Physical Systems and Robotic Innovations: Future smart homes will benefit from Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), i.e., specialized IoT devices that comprise both a cyber and a physical part. They will comprise various robotics devices and will be used to provide assistive functions to the tenants. Prominent examples include socially assistive robots, drones for parcel picking, as well as smart actuators that react to water leakages. &nbsp;</li><li dir="ltr">Strong Cybersecurity and Reliability: As smart home scenes evolve in number and functional sophistication, there will be a need for stronger cyber-security and reliability. The latter must be offered in a user-friendly way that enables even the most na&iuml;ve users to configure and deploy security functions. &nbsp;</li><li dir="ltr">Increased Automation and Real-Time Operations: Scenes represent an important step in increasing smart home automation. In the coming years, scenes will become even more automated and intelligent. Moreover, they will comprise an increased number of real-time functions such as real-time monitoring of the status of rooms and real-time actuation in emergency cases (e.g., switching off gas or electricity upon the detection of earthquake signals). &nbsp;</li></ul><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 766px;"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQyMTU0NDExNDUyLW5lc3QtdGhlcm1vc3RhdC1lLWhlcm8uanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false">Sensors are becoming smaller and smarter: Image credit: Nest.</span></span></span></p><p>Nevertheless, the most disruptive innovations in the areas of smart home scenes will come from the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI), notably from Machine Learning (ML) which represents the most popular class of AI techniques.&nbsp;</p><h2>Smarter Scenes with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence</h2><p>The blending of ML functions into smart home scenes is the next evolutionary step in home automation. Most of the state-of-the-art scenes are based on simple if-then-else rules over triggers and actions. This deterministic logic boosts automation, yet it provides very limited intelligence. &nbsp;For example, simple rules do not consider the evolution of users&rsquo; habits and behaviors. ML alleviates these limitations by enabling scenes that learn the residents&rsquo; behavioral patterns and use them to optimize smart home operations. In this direction, ML algorithms can be trained using past data about the users&rsquo; activities in their home environment.&nbsp;</p><p>Leveraging such algorithms, scenes can be enhanced in terms of dynamicity and intelligence. Specifically, rather than always applying the same configuration actions during a given time interval, ML-enabled scenes can dynamically change the actions in-line with the evolution of the residents&rsquo; behavior. Moreover, the use of ML can lift the limitations of choosing between a few pre-configured scenes for different times of the day (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening). This is because ML-based scenes can continually and dynamically adapt to the users&rsquo; habits and behavior, even when the latter changes several times during the day. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><h3>Prominent examples of user-centric ML-based scenes include:</h3><ul><li dir="ltr">Personalized Automated Home Ambience &ndash; Learning Users&rsquo; Preferences: In this case, the scenes automatically learn the users&rsquo; preferences about the ambient environment, i.e., about the lighting system, the operation of the air-conditioning, the configuration of the music player, the personal assistance services, the shades, the doors and more. Accordingly, they dynamically personalize the ambient environment to the users&rsquo; preferences.</li><li dir="ltr">Occupancy Monitoring for Cost and Carbon Footprint Reduction: This type of scene leverages machine learning and computer vision recognition systems to extract occupancy patterns in the different rooms of the residential environment. Leveraging the identified patterns, the scenes configure the home&rsquo;s operations (e.g., lighting, air conditioning) in ways that minimize energy costs and optimize CO2 emissions.</li><li dir="ltr">Intelligent Recommendations of &ldquo;Optimal&rdquo; Scenes &ndash; Learning Scenes Dynamically: Leveraging past data about the users&rsquo; in-home behavior and the operation of the different devices, it is possible to construct scenes (i.e., smart home configurations) that economize on costs and optimize environmental performance. These configurations can be recommended to the end-users. Following the end-users approval, they can be stored and deployed in the smart home. In this case, ML enables the dynamic construction of &ldquo;optimal&rdquo; scenes rather than relying on pre-configured ones. &nbsp;</li></ul><h2>Summary</h2><p>The implementation of ML-based scenes hinges on the collection and processing of large volumes of data about operations, triggers, and actions, including users&rsquo; activities and behaviors within the residency. These data can enable the training of different types of ML algorithms, including traditional ML techniques (e.g., Decision Trees, Random Forests and SVM (Support Vector Machines)) and Deep Learning algorithms (e.g., Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN)). In cases where very large amounts of past data are available, ML techniques provide better performance and accuracy in understanding behavioral patterns and tailoring scenes&rsquo; configurations accordingly.</p><p>Scenes are nowadays an integral element of smart home intelligence. They boost home automation in ways that provide convenience to end-users and help them apply their desired configuration actions faster. Nevertheless, state-of-the-art scenes are quite simple and static. In this context, the emerging wave of ML-enabled scenes are set to disrupt the smart home applications landscape by enabling the development of more dynamic and intelligent scenes.&nbsp;</p><p>ML is the next evolutionary step in smart home scenes. It will act as a catalyst for realizing the shift from existing rule-based scenes (Scenes 1.0) to the next generation of dynamic and highly personalized scenes (Scenes 2.0). Smart home deployers must therefore plan for integrating ML functions into their solutions to provide consumers with new levels of comfort and personalization. &nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Article one <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/the-tech-foundation-of-smart-city-infrastructure" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">set the foundations of a smart city infrastructure.</a></p><p dir="ltr">Article two looked into <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/what-makes-a-smart-home-smart-a-guide-to-protocols-and-applications" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">what makes a Smart home, smart.</a></p><p dir="ltr">Article three explored how <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/machine-learning-powered-home-scenes-a-blueprint-for-intelligent-home-automation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Smart ML enables scenes for new seamless ways of interacting with smart home devices.</a></p><p dir="ltr">Article four explained <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/redefining-speed-and-facilitating-transformation-in-urban-mobility" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">how 5G and 6G will assist in delivering smarter communication.</a></p><p dir="ltr">Article five discussed about <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/smart-home-security-security-and-vulnerabilities" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Smart Home security.</a></p><h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted"><em>About the sponsor: Digi-Key</em></h2><p><a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/digi-key.electronics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Digi-Key</em></a><em>&nbsp;is one of the fastest-growing distributors of electronic components in the world. Since its founding in 1972, Digi-Key has been committed to offering the broadest selection of in-stock electronic components, as well as providing the best service possible to its customers, aiding engineers through the entire design process, from Prototype to Production&reg;.&nbsp;</em><em><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQyMTUwMzE0NzcwLWJhbm5lciBib3R0b20uanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></em>&nbsp;</p>

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