Interview with Martin Vesper, CEO, digitalSTROM on smart home technology

In July Computer Weekly visited Martin Vesper, CEO of digitalSTROM, who has kitted out his home with smart technology, allowing him to control lighting and electrical appliances and monitor usage.

In this video Computer Weeklys Cliff Saran talks to Vesper about how the internet of things technology forms the basis of an open, expandable platform developed by his company, that is able to integrate with other smart devices like a SonusHi-Fi and Philips Hue smart light.

The technology from digitalSTROM starts with a patented mains terminal block, that has an integrated processor. Vesper says this can be connected into a wiring circuit in a house, where it is able to provide intelligent switching.

Communications with the terminal block is achieved over mains cabling using powerline Ethernet. A central control console and Linux server, fitted in the homes fuse box, provides a way to share data between other intelligent terminal blocks to coordinate activities and monitor events such as when a smoke detector has been tripped. The system uses orchestration software from Tibco.

Vesper believes that a smart home needs to be built on software and open technologies, since electrical appliances have different lifespans. Cloud connectivity is also important, both for configuring the system and to enable best practices and updates are filtered down to the home.

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Interview with Martin Vesper, CEO, digitalSTROM on smart home technology