Controlled Air Supply System System of Heating-Conditioning for Smart Houses

About the Client

Startup in the field of consumer IoT solutions.
Customer
Confidential
Location
USA
Industry
Smart Home

Company’s Request

The client required the creation of a smart device to provide separate temperature control for houses/rooms, which will create an overlay above outdated systems in older houses.

Technology Set

Low-Energy Application
Ensures that the system operates efficiently with minimal power consumption, critical for maintaining long battery life in wireless devices.
OpenThread
Provides a reliable mesh networking protocol that allows all devices in the smart ventilation system to communicate with each other, ensuring stable and scalable connectivity across the network.
BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)
Utilized for easy configuration and control via a smartphone app, allowing users to adjust settings, monitor temperatures, and expand the system seamlessly.
C Programming
Facilitates precise control over the hardware, enabling the development of firmware that meets the system’s requirements for accuracy and responsiveness in temperature regulation.

Solution

Our team engineered a smart ventilation system. It consists of small devices that are installed on all air inputs which forcibly regulate the air distribution. This solution allows the tenant to maintain a defined, steady, temperature throughout their house or apartment (accuracy +/-0.5 0C).

Software

We created a mesh network based on the OpenThread protocol and exchange data in it. This network is able to hold up to 32 devices in one network (16 sensors + 16 air vent duct grille boards). The goal of this system is to achieve the same temperature everywhere under variable conditions (for instance: a room with a window, warmed by the sun, must be compensated for). The main feature – all network devices are equivalent routers, they all have the ability to expand the network. At the same time, everything was optimized to work up to what is theoretically achievable for the next 2-year period. We used Bluetooth for the configuration. Using a smartphone, the user can settle the system to the required temperature and connect any node to collect network logs. It’s based on the NRF52840 MCU.

Hardware

Two types of printed circuit boards were developed and used in the project: a temperature sensor and a smart air vent duct grille board (based on the desired size and location of the user’s components). Since the system has a wireless communication method our team also created custom antenna design according to space limits to reach the best performance fit in limited space. All items were designed to be maximally compact.

Value Delivered

Stable temperature throughout a living area
Our team has created a smart ventilation system that assists in the maintenance of a defined, stable temperature throughout a house or apartment.
Network reliability
Creating a mesh network based on the OpenThread protocol and exchanging data in it resulted in the network being able to handle up to 32 devices simultaneously.
Easily expandable system
Each device is itself a router, and the user can easily expand the network as desired.
Independent power supply
Every device is equipped with a self-contained battery.