Resilience and Sustainability Smart Home Technology By Joe Deu-Ngoc, Vice President of Technology
Agenda Eddy Home Introduction Smart Home Technology Landscape Detect and Alert Automate and Control Collect Data Wireless Communication Holistically Smart Learning Cycles Future of Water Data for Sustainability Product Portfolio Engineering Resilience Closing Thoughts 3
Eddy Home Introduction Established in 2015, Eddy Home is a Toronto-based smart home solution provider designed to serve everyone from the tech-savvy professional to the elderly homemaker. The Eddy Home product line has primarily been focused on water with specific attention to: Detection, prevention, and mitigation of water-related problems which could lead to catastrophic damage Monitoring, reporting, and raising awareness of consumption to help budget, conserve, and make smarter decisions about our most precious resources 4
Smart Home Technology Landscape
Detect and Alert Function Used to Alert someone to action Landscape Smoke detectors Carbon monoxide and other gases Water presence and level 6
Detect and Alert 7
Automate and Control Function Allow the remote control or simple event-based control, e.g. timer. Landscape Lighting/Outlets HVAC Irrigation Audio/video 8
Automate and Control 9
Collect Data Function Collect data about operating environment and utilization; Usually for costing Landscape Thermostats / Humidistats Energy meters Gas meters Water meters 10
Collect Data 11
Wireless Communication Function Send and receive information, commands, and policies Landscape Wi-Fi, Bluetooth ZigBee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth LE Cellular (2G/3G/4G/NB-IoT) Sigfox LoRa / LoRaWAN 12
Wireless Communication 13
Holistically Smart Learning Cycles
Learning Cycles Experiential Learning is one model for human learning Can this model or some derivative be used for smart technology also? Look at what are we working with Add what is needed Remove what is not needed
What is Smart? Many smart products are strictly in the detect and alert category Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! Leak! Leak! Leak! Communication must be reliable Both to/from the sensors and to/from infrastructure Communication is the central nervous system for Smart Technology Shift toward data awareness We look at our environment to make decisions, so must Smart Technology Automatic decisions need more data Turn on sprinklers at 3am on Tuesday even when raining Smart is ALL of the above! 16
Sense Sensors constantly gather real-time data about the environment from the water flowing through the pipes to the air moving through the vents. 17
Communicate Robust communication to and from the sensors is coupled with redundant, always-on, connectivity to a data processing and event monitoring infrastructure. 18
Analyze Advanced mathematical analysis of the sensory data identifies personalized trends, discovers abnormalities, and highlights inefficiencies. 19
Act Action is taken to mitigate disaster, alert of hazards, adjust for user comfort, and provide assistance, when needed. 20
Eddy Home Solution SENSE a condition COMMUNICATE all relevant data about that condition ANALYZE the data and form a conclusion ACT on the conclusion 21
Future of Water Data for Sustainability 2
Learning Water Usage morning and evening usage patterns 23
Learning Water Usage similar pattern on two week cycle 24
Identify Cycles one week later 25
Identify Appliances toilets 7.0 L 7.2 L 6.5 L shower washing machine 26
Identify Appliances toilets 5.2 L 4.6 L 5.2 L 27
Identify Appliances iron removal and water softening 28
Product Portfolio Engineering Resilience
IQ Connectivity indicator Electronically-controlled ball valve Tamper seal Manual valvecontrol-reset connectivity Metric/imperial units for volume/flow recording 30
Highlights (IQ) The Eddy IQ smart water meter is the legacy flagship product. Ultrasonic technology to meter water consumption at a very high resolution. Learns household water consumption habits. Promotes water conservation through awareness. Identifies appliance use and activities. Statistical methods detect slow leaks, faulty/aging appliances, and other irregular water usage. Electronically-controlled valve allows control of water flow. Complete shutdown can be performed when irregular usage is detected to mitigate water damage. Remote shutdown can be triggered by smart phone application, web interface, or remote monitoring centre. Connectivity to the MyEddyHome Service Platform with cellular 2G/3G and Wi-Fi. DN20 (¾ ) and DN25 (1 ) meter sizes address the majority of residential and commercial installations. 31
IQ v2 Metric/imperial units for volume/flow recording Valve direction indicator Electronicallycontrolled ball valve High-resolution proving indicator Reset button Tamper seals Manual valve-control Connectivity indicator 32
Highlights (IQ v2) The Eddy IQ v2 smart water meter is the flagship product. Ultrasonic technology to meter water consumption at a very high resolution. Learns household water consumption habits. Promotes water conservation through awareness. Identifies appliance use and activities. Statistical methods detect slow leaks, faulty/aging appliances, and other irregular water usage. Electronically-controlled valve allows control of water flow. Variable valve angle control partial opening or closing. Complete shutdown can be performed when irregular usage is detected to mitigate water damage. Remote shutdown can be triggered by smart phone application, web interface, or remote monitoring centre. Connectivity to the MyEddyHome Service Platform with cellular 2G/3G, Wi-Fi, and LoRa. DN20 (¾ ) meter size addresses many residential and commercial installations. 33
Hub LiPo battery-backup Dual Low-power Cortex-M3 Connectivity indicator Wi-Fi enabled 802.11b/g/n LoRa enabled Cellular enabled 2G/3G SIM card slot Fast Ethernet 34
Highlights (Hub) The Eddy Hub is the backbone of the Eddy Smart Home. Reliable and redundant connectivity to the MyEddyHome Service Platform with cellular 2G/3G, Wi-Fi (client mode), and Ethernet. LoRa and Wi-Fi (host mode) connectivity to a variety of sensors Enable policies, schedules, and real-time monitoring from your local Eddy Smart Home Service provider. Only hub product with internal lithium polymer backup battery to provide uninterrupted service during power outages. 35
H2O Temperature/humidity sensor LoRa/LoRaWAN enabled QR-encoded unique EUI-64 for quick setup Leak detection contacts 36
Highlights (H2O) The Eddy H2O sensor is a multi-purpose sensor primarily used for the detection of water leaks. It also has a temperature and humidity sensor which allows many additional thermostat/humidistat type applications. Uses LoRa or LoRaWAN to connect to backend infrastructure Extremely long-range transmission Conservative tests show a range of 1km Compare with 10-30m range for other technologies marketed for smart homes Ultra-low power consumption Permanent battery designed for about 6 year life one daily report and 32 μa standby current (NOTE: Testing and optimization show a 14 μa standby current, which extends battery life to about 12 years!!!) 37
Closing Thoughts 3
Things to Think About Data analysis plays an important role in sustainability Consumption awareness helps consumers to adjust their habits and make better use of resources Data provides more transparency and honesty to appliance manufacturer specifications and allows consumers to make informed decisions about their products Smart homes in smart cities connected by smart infrastructure Smart homes work cooperatively via smart infrastructure allowing a centralized intelligence, the smart city, to direct resources where needed. E.g. Water consumption in a neighbourhood may be limited to help increase water flow to a hydrant used to fight a fire Energy consumption or storage may be scheduled and offset to reduce stress on electrical infrastructure 39
End Further questions should be sent to info@eddyhome.com
Q & A Spoke Club Audience
Question about Security Q: You ve mentioned that this device has a really long range several hundred metres (ALLEN to DUFFERIN). You ve also said that by looking at the data you can identify when people are not home. Isn t this a security risk? A: Any connected technology poses some type of security risk. We must identify the areas of risk and secure them. Our backend Cloud APIs use industry standard encryption protocols to ensure access is secure. The front-haul technology uses AES-128 on the network and application layers. The long-range aspect does not make this encryption any weaker. We also define different security classes for different products. For example, temperature and humidity readings from our Eddy H2O is rather innocuous, so it is put in a lower security class. Meter readings and controls means that our Eddy IQ is in a much higher security class. Certainly, knowing when a home is occupied would decrease the likelihood of an intruder running into an occupant. However, it does not make the physical security of the home weaker.
Question about Usage Differentiation Q: How does your system know the difference between a leak and someone using an irrigation system? A: We have a learning period of between two weeks and one month to establish the initial home usage profile, i.e. normal usage. During this learning period, the system learns when the irrigation system looks like in terms of volume, flow rate, and duration. These are usually easy to identify and normal. E.g. Tuesdays at 3AM. Our system uses very complex statistical methods to analyze the IQ data. These proprietary algorithms directly apply the total volume, flow rate, duration, and even pressure data. The design of the algorithms also considers seasonal variations and weighted historical data. (BONUS ANSWER: We are working on new algorithms which also look at rates of change of flow and pressure!)
Question about Solution Q: What is done after the leak is detected? A: Several things that can happen: 1. Alert is sent via MyEddyHome App, SMS, and Email. 2. If severity level dictates it, then the IQ valve will automatically shut off the flow of water mitigating damage. 3. Eddy Home Customer Care will contact the homeowner to ask if assistance is required. If there is a problem: 1. Eddy Home Customer Care has access to a network of service experts, including plumbing and restoration. 2. Eddy Home Customer Care may dispatch services on your behalf, if you are not able to attend to it yourself. If the valve is shut-off and the problem is resolved: 1. User may open the IQ valve using the MyEddyHome App. 2. User may open the IQ valve using the buttons on the IQ. 3. Eddy Home Customer Care may open the IQ valve, remotely, at your behest.