Components & Connectors

Using the ZF Friedrichshafen compact generator in its industrial Harmony ZBRT wireless and battery-less interface Schneider Electric believes it has developed a simple and quick way to modify existing control units for smart industrial switches.

The self-powered Harmony ZBRT transmitter is modular and compatible with Schneider’s Harmony XB4 and XB5 control units.

Flexibility is an essential feature for industrial enterprises says Schneider, as logistical changes are often required, leading to an upgrade of equipment and control systems. Using a wireless and battery-free pushbutton is the simplest and quickest way to modify existing control units, says Schenider Electric.

New functions can be added to the system by simply adding an energy harvesting pushbutton. Each RF switch has a unique ID and can be associated to a specific function or machine. This retrofit option saves time and costs in wiring, programming, and it avoids maintenance work for changing batteries. The Harmony ZBRT interface is compatible with standard electrical contacts, so it can be set up very quickly. A duplication of function is also possible to control additional equipment with an existing pushbutton. While attaching the self-powered pushbutton on an existing switch, it is possible to initiate two associated processes with one push, for example. The advantage of this feature is that there is no change for the existing wiring and no new wiring is required.

The ZF energy harvesting switch is a compact design, measuring just 20.1 x 7.3 x 14.3mm, enabling it to be integrated directly into the plastic housing of the Harmony ZBRT. The ZF radio switch generates a voltage pulse by mechanical actuation, as it relies on the inductive principle and without any additional power source. RF commands can be reliably sent via commercially available radio protocols such as Zigbee Green Power at 2.4GHz (IEEE 802.15.4), which is used by the smart Harmony system of Schneider Electric.

https://switches-sensors.zf.com

To enable far-field voice recognition to its FamilyHub connected hub for smart appliance, Samsung has selected the AISonic development kit to adds voice control to smart home appliances.

Knowles supplies micro-acoustic microphones and speakers, audio processing, and precision devices and the development kit is designed to enable fast and easy voice integration for smart appliances. OEMs and ODMs can build voice-activated control and far-field speech recognition capabilities into smart appliances, such as refrigerators, ovens and microwaves, clothes washing and drying machines, vacuums and dishwashers.

The AISonic White Goods Standard Solution is a development package built on Knowles’ AISonic Audio Edge Processor IA8201 for contextual audio and sensing. It includes an IA8201 reference board accompanied by an application programming interface (API) supporting integration with application processors, or microcontrollers or RF chipsets, a system firmware release configured to support sensors, and pre-integrated microphones from Knowles to enable audio capture and high signal to noise ratio (SNR).

The Knowles White Goods Standard Solution supports voice service interoperability, allowing multiple voice assistants to be integrated into a single device. It can be integrated into a broader ecosystem of smart appliances because customers can securely talk to the service of their choice by simply saying its name.

The smart appliance market is one of the fastest growing verticals in the smart home, with voice control representing a critical technology feature supporting it. According to research from SAR Insight, over 66M voice processors for smart appliances are expected to ship by 2024, representing a CAGR of 55 per cent between 2019 and 2024.

“As the smart home appliance market matures and continues to expand, support for voice interfaces is expected to become a highly requested feature that consumers look for in new appliances,” said Vikram Shrivastava, senior director, IoT Marketing at Knowles. “The ability to ask your refrigerator to read aloud your grocery inventory, play a recipe video while cooking, or ask your oven to pre-heat while you prepare dinner, all contribute to the user experience”.

While desirable, there are constraints which are addressed by Knowles. The AISonic audio edge processor removes this friction by providing high performance in a small size, with high efficiency, privacy and compute power, says Shrivastava. Customers can design appliances with far-field voice processing functionality for accurate listening. Knowles has an ecosystem of hardware system integrators that have developed modules to integrate with legacy appliance control boards.

The AISonic White Goods Standard Solution also includes algorithms for an audio front end suitable for use with Amazon Alexa assistants and other cloud-based ASR APIs through the Knowles OpenDSP partner program. Knowles integration partner Sensory provided the wake word engine for the White Goods Solution, enabling Amazon-certified voice wake and far-field voice recognition for memory-constrained smart appliances.

http://www.Knowles.com