Sector(s)
Team Members
Academy - system control is an all in one solution for hotels, student dorms, retail centers, smart buildings and all kind of public, residential places with many rooms and sensors.
We developed hardware + software logic, to build true IoT system.
With this system you can control:
- Heating
- Air Conditioners
- Lightning
- Entrance/Access control
- Sensors for door/windows
- Presence sensors
- Curtains controller
- Gate control with a ramp
- SOS button
- and many more
The system is fully customizable and upgradable.
Have a look at the presentation we made for DrupalCamp Pannonia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLzp2y7G0xc
There are two main controlling units: Master control for security person or building manager and client unit with a tablet application in every room that needs to be controlled.
The application is built on top of React Native so it’s both for iOS and Android.
The whole system is developed in-house, from architecture, engineering, to hardware (controllers), UX, and application.
About the project
The project goal was to develop a sustainable and expandable system for controlling rooms and generally any kind of building or a house.
Easy to use, a sensor-based system with intuitive functionalities that saves costs on electric consumptions, water usage, and heating.
You as a resident do not need to have the regular key, just an RFID card in your wallet. Same goes for your roommates. The building manager can easily give/restrict your access to some levels or features.
Process and Insights
Heating
You can control heat in your room in a + - ranges what is configured in the master configuration. For example, if it’s a winter the temperature can be somewhere between 18 and 26 Celsius.
If you are not in the room system will adjust the heating to the midpoint to save on energy.
Air Conditioners (Cooling)
Same logic goes for the air conditioners. We integrated IR sensor in our controller so it can be added to any major air conditioner manufacturer. This way we made regular air conditioner - to be smart one.
Lightning
If it’s a dark outside the lightning will be ON when you open the door. When you leave the room - after five minutes the lights will go off.
Master control admin can see where the lightning is on/off, can control lights in the hallways and offices.
Entrance/Access control
Every person has a card for access. In each card is determined it’s access level and features.
For example, building a managing director can have access to every room, and hotel guest can have only access to his room and to a conference room.
We can limit the access by roles, hours, date...
Sensors for door/windows
The system can “sense” open door or windows. It can automatically notify the janitor about it.
If a window is opened in the summertime (combined with temperature sensor), a controller will automatically disable the air conditioner. If it’s a winter, the heating will be disabled and janitor will be notified.
Presence sensors
Presence sensor is crucial for lightning and heating control. If a person is in the room, the heating or cooling will be enabled. When a person leaves the room system will adjust parameters to mid-range normal state based on master settings for the current season.
Curtains controller
This system is developed for conference, presentations or cinema rooms. With the application, you can control curtains position and lightning.
Gate control with a ramp
From the master control, unit security guy can open - close the ramp. If the system is combined with a camera it can be integrated with a system for license plate recognition, also for access control.
SOS button
Every room has a tablet for basic room controlling. One of the features is the SOS panic button. If a person holds a button for five seconds, master admin can be notified or emergency number can be called automatically.
Outcome
We integrated the system in the Sports Academy with 60 rooms. 400 people have their access cards. The network is isolated from the outside world and system is operating smoothly.
Any upgrades can be done through firmware updates because hardware and software are expandable and ready for any kind of customization.
Conclusion
The whole system is developed in 5 months (6 people). It's already in daily uses and we are not stopped here. The client already asked us to update the system with new sensors and surveillance.
Most of the challenges was with the new technologies we never used before. It was both fun and painfully but rewarding when you solve some problem. Other challenges was with installation workers, they are not used to work precise and in tight deadlines like we in IT ;)
Why Drupal was chosen
First of all, we are Drupal agency and we like the way how Drupal can be used as a decoupled system.
Drupal is the main component in storing settings, user data, and all information about rooms. Master administration is done through the Drupal interface.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
Key modules/theme/distribution used:
Inline Entity Form
When users are registered we are automatically combining card access number with that username.
Views Bulk Operations
For master admin controls. You can control all lights, all the doors with one single command.
Simple oauth
For Drupal authentication.
Features
Helping developers in the configuration management.
Rest UI
SVG Formatter
Our contrib module, with this we can upload and display .svg files. On Academy we are using it to display room blueprints. We are using .svg files to visually show where are the light in use, which room is opened, how may windows are not locked, etc.
