Thread and Zigbee for home and building automation
The applications and services enabled by home automation technologies have inspired authors, screenwriters and cartoonists for decades. But finally, advances in wireless communication, combined with the increased penetration of distributed cloud computing and the launch of innovative user interfaces like voice, have popularised the adoption of smart devices in the home.
An interesting corollary to that adoption is the rebirth of home automation in a different application context. Rather than a ‘Jetsons’-like solution with home control at the user’s fingertips, smart home devices do things autonomously, providing convenience and cost savings.
While more glamorous in the residential domain, the advantages that automation brings are not just for homeowners. Automation is even more important in commercial and industrial building domain, where energy consumption and device maintenance have a larger cost impact.
For instance, the amount of electricity used by heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and lighting systems in office spaces can be managed efficiently with fully autonomous devices that balance environmental conditions, space occupancy and instantaneous energy costs to make both economic and green decisions.
To read the full paper from Texas Instruments, click here.