It has been clear for many years that the big growth in building control networks is wireless. Wireless networks are becoming increasingly reliable, and have the obvious advantages of flexibilty and ease of installation. However choosing the right wireless protocol is becoming a bit of a minefield. What I want for Christmas is a single common open interoperable protocol, which – has all layers of the stack clearly defined, including the...

We have for many years been proponents of “open”, “connected” and “distributed” building control networks:- “Open” meaning it conforms to open published communication standards, so that a range of products from different vendors can be used together in a single control system. “Connected” meaning systems can connect to other systems and to the outside world, allowing integration and...

Woohoo! Time for mince pies and mulled wine! We’d like to thank all our clients and suppliers for a fantastic year, and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas! Another busy year nearly over, and we’re winding down for a well-earned break. Time to leave the office early and spend some time with family and friends. We’re not closing shop completely over this Christmas, but working hours will become rather informal – drop us...

You may wonder why it has been so quiet in this news section recently. Have we all fallen asleep? Nope, we have been very busy! This is our busiest year yet, which is great news. Lots of ongoing projects, some big, some small, from a variety of clients new and old. Its always nice to get ongoing work from existing clients, they clearly like what we do. And most of our new clients find us through recommendations from existing clients –...

We’re proud to be launching a new option for our PCB designs – Pheromones. These chemicals, embedded deep within an electronic product, are used to trigger social responses in the user, thus improving the human-machine interface, and enriching the user experience. In much the same way that supermarkets release the aromas of fresh coffee and baking bread to encourage shoppers to spend more, so pheromone-based products can improve the...

Well today seems to be quite a day for the internet! Firstly, it is “Safer Internet Day”. Having kids myself, I’m pleased to see the dangers of the internet being highlighted. There was a half-decent article from the BBC raising awareness of the risks of younger children using smart-phones. Seems obvious to me, but it clearly isn’t that obvious to most people – according to the BBC article only 1 in 10 parents...