At the beginning of December last year, in 2017, the Metropol Palace Hotel presented an innovative home automation system ABB-free@home® which offers endless possibilities for creativity. The system enables the user a large number of functions and options, as well as upgrading the system through use. A unique solution in the automation market.
Switching Philips Hue lamps using the ABBfree@home® app offers additional flexibility. Commands such as, ‘Switch on the light in the living room!‘ will be taken literally from this moment on, and put into effect. And you will even get an answer, ‘Okay, all the lights in the living room have been switched on.‘ Thanks to the new update for the home and building automation, ABB-free@home®, intelligent voice control ensures even more comfort, safety and energy efficiency in the smart home, as the update not only enables voice commands to be recorded and carried out but also gives a reply. The voice interaction is activated quite simply by pressing the microphone button on the ABB-free@home® app. And then you are ready to start – without any special programming being required. The ABB-free@home® app is easy to understand. To start with, all available devices in the rooms are activated on the display, allowing the favourite settings to be made immediately via drag-and-drop.
Busch-Jaeger makes the access to a world of intelligent living very simple with the ABB-free@home®. The ABB-free@home® enables the lighting, heating, blinds, or the entire setup to be controlled in an ingeniously simple way using intuitively operable switches and displays, a smartphone or tablet for use ‚on the move‘, and from now on, also using voice commands. And the ABB-free@home® integrates itself perfectly in one‘s own home, as the controls can be combined with numerous Busch-Jaeger switch ranges. With ABB-free@home® the home seems to be occupied even during one’s absence. Whether in the evening when visiting the theatre or during a summer holiday lasting a few weeks – the system can learn and imitate the daily routine of the residents. Such simulation helps to prevent break-ins.
Another special feature of the ABB-free@home® update is the ABB-free@home® app connection to the myABBLivingSpace portal. Additional simple use of all the functions when ‚on the move‘. A myABB-LivingSpace account can be coupled with several tablets and smartphones. In this way, it is also possible for all the family members to make changes from their mobile devices when they are out.
An additional enhancement is a new ‘Actions’ menu, which enables an intelligent combination of different processes, using ‘if… then’, logic. Exceeds room temperature, for example, 25 °C are automatically shut down the blinds. If the movement detector triggered, the user will receive a notice via email or via push notification on their smartphone. For each action, an unlimited number of users can be defined. Similarly, both the indoor and outdoor areas are now perfectly networked with ABB-free@home®. The new weather station (available as from January 2016) will record the brightness, temperature, rain and wind speed outside the home. The sensors of the weather station can be linked to the blinds via the menu item ‘Actions’. During windy weather or storms, ABB-free@home® together with a conventional weather station takes care of the independent upward movement of the blinds. This prevents damage such as buckling of the slats or broken window panes. This function is of particular benefit during one’s absence because the weather can change unexpectedly.
ABB free@home® connects all components for a finetuned indoor climate. The optimum room temperature can be adjusted with ABB-free@home® individually or according to the specific requirement, depending on the time of day and the function of the room. In ECO mode, the temperature is automatically lowered at night.
In connection with the door communication system, ABB-Welcome, additional comfort and additional safety are provided. The ABB-free@homeTouch acts as a link. Installing a welcoming setup for visitors, for instance, is particularly useful – as soon as the doorbell rings, the light in the stairwell comes on. Photos of any visitors can also be taken if connected to an ABB-Welcome outdoor video station, and if you are not at home, a tablet and smartphone also show you who is standing or stood outside your front door.
For the electrician, the ABB-free@home® installation is very simple and takes very little time. This saves the owner, of a house or a flat, money. Once it has been installed, the user can change the settings him/herself, using a computer or tablet without monthly running costs. ABB-free@ home® is easy to operate and at the same time flexible and adaptable to everyday situations or to those very special moments in life. And here, complete scenes can be played automatically or be set or called up spontaneously to suit the mood.
Photo: ABB
For more information contact ABB in Serbia:
ABB d.o.o.
Bulevar Peka Dapcevica 13, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Tin Bakovic
Tel: +381 (0)11 3954 869
tin.bakovic@rs.abb.com www.abb.rs
This text was originally published in the tenth issue of the Energy Portal Magazine SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, in March 2018.
