According to Shahram Mehraban, Manager of Embedded
Energy Segment at Intel Corporation in the US, Intel's new intelligent home energy management platform, which is based on the Intel Atom™ processor, will help Australian homes to significantly reduce their utility costs. It will also act as a security system operated from one central dashboard in the home.
The system, which was demonstrated to SmartHouse at the 2010 CES in Las Vegas, makes energy management as easy as flipping a switch. The control system, which is housed in a smart black OLED touch screen, is based on an embedded Atom chipset which exchanges information with appliances used in the home. This is achieved by simply plugging the devices into a low-cost zigbee wireless socket that sends information back to the control panel. The device looks like a double adapter that plugs into a regular wall socket.
Mehraban said, "We have held several discussions with Australian Utility Companies who are extremely interested in our system. The big benefit is that the system reduces utility bills by allowing consumers to easily make informed choices about home power use by simply accessing one central dashboard in the home."
The Intel Atom processor, which is installed in the display panel on an embedded chipset, is low-power and designed to exchange monitoring and control data with smart appliances, smart plugs, smart electric utility meters and sensors located throughout the home.
Mehraban said, "The design is based around a central control centre that provides family members with information to help them plan their daily activities, control utility costs, access personal messages and activate home security systems."
It also delivers information on the weather as well as access to the internet.
A top-mounted Hello/ Goodbye switch sets climate controls and security systems to pre-arranged settings while users are at home, away or sleeping. The energy-efficient 11.5 inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) capacitive touch screen provides fingertip control over selected applications.
All a user has to do to activate the system is flip a switch.
