Robotina should have claimed a world record for a remarkably speedy company growth in 2019. Through a year of relentless development, characterized by steady and fast-paced innovations, Robotina exceeded all expectations, even the most optimistic people will agree.

Indeed, the growth of this organization in 2019 was more fascinating, because all parts and projects under the banner of Robotina progressed seamlessly to even greater heights than all projections pointed out.

If you doubt that fact, the you’re not alone, since we consider what happened last year to be an unbelievable experience. That is, until we look at the various realities and achievements for what was an all-round flight to higher levels in 2019. In the aspect of:

Projects

  • Robotina assimilated many stakeholders into the GOFLEX project. This involved connecting and integrating the stakeholders to the dynamic automatic trading that HEMS and other services provide, to elucidate the functionality and flexibility of the vertical chain. On that note, we have successfully completed the connection and integration of:
  • 11 HEMS in Cyprus, each of which either control different variables, like humidity and temperature, or they perform functions like transportation in the form of: air conditioners, home appliance such as washing machines, remote sockets, battery systems, electric scooters, etc.
  • 8 HEMS in Switzerland, which include: Smart Grid Ready Heat Pump, remote sockets, battery systems
  • Numerous Home Energy Management Devices in Germany, which include: boilers, remote sockets, heat pumps and battery systems.
  • Time and space would be occupied to write anymore on this project, but details of the project can be found on goflex-project.eu
  • October also saw the announcement of the DOM24h project, which was formally launched in Hotel Bau of Maribor. This innovative project involves the use of HEMS for the management of energy flow in real-time and the novel thing about this project was the introduction of thermal energy, set to be featured alongside electricity to create even more effective management of energy in homes and industries.
  • Tech giants, Hitachi, also got involved with Robotina as the NEDO project, a new initiative where HEMS are integrated with the HIQ universe to offer expansive functionality for Smart Grid, kicked off.

HEMS:

  • By the end of 2019, it was already old news that the Master Controller is fully equipped for HEMS, and that the software is prepped and ready to take the En Ocean support on board. This was not so at the dawn of 2019.
  • During the year, white appliances – which utilized cyclic operations – were decked with Smart Grid functionality, and added to HEMS.
  • The addition of Smart Grid to HEMS, drastically improved the precision of the results of forecasts – which are indispensable assets for trading activities.
  • HEMS improved with the calculations and logging of data for Key Performance Index (KPI) also via Smart Grid functionality. This advantage is exploited in projects like GOFLEX, where specific actions are evaluated in comparison with organizational objectives for better alignment, as the results of each evaluation will be scrutinized and optimized before any further implementation.
  • With the increased importance of Smart Grid functionality in HEMS, there was a need to improve the platform for interactions and monitoring, and that was exactly what happened. Smart Grid operation history tab was introduced as a page that shows the trail for the activities of Smart Grid flexibility trading via HEMS to trading platforms in the GOFLEX project.
  • KPI was totally integrated to the platform with the KPI indicators implemented as a. web page with the operation history

HIQ Universe:

  • Smart Grid functionality also found a big place in the HIQ universe as the Smart Grid parameters provide the platform with more flexibility when under control, which helps to improve trading capabilities with appliances. This addition also involves a time slot for trade offers as well as a maximum allowed demands and duration, as well as a switch to turn actions on and off.
  • A new page called “MyThings” was also added to the HIQ universe. This page shows all “things” connected to HEMS – that is, all elements that live and coexist in the HIQ universe. With it, there is greater manual control for the consumers, with the added boons of real-time performance monitoring and parameters used for Smart Grid.

  • Email services were also engaged to assist end-users in restarting their cyclic appliances when trading services come on offer.
  • Along with the email that was implemented for restarting cyclic appearances, the HIQ universe now includes an HEMS Alarms/Events report which is also sent by email. While a RESTful API for HEMS devices has been improved, and included to IoT’s dynamic queries for ‘Things’.
  • In 2019, two concepts were brought closer to life in the HIQ universe. The HIQ Universe Relay software, a software that allows easier and quicker remote update of all HEMS devices, was tested. Also, work on the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) project had advanced beyond the stage where specifications are outlined.
  • Administrative tools were configured to support and enable the development of unique and innovative insights into the system installed on HIQ Universe. A new scripting API was also adopted and put in use for past and future data logging of the Smart Grid. A different type of logging was improved in the wiki pages, which were updated to include the newest hardware components and newer page structures to create a better overview.
  • FleetManager has also been implemented, shortly after an intense period of beta testing, to mitigate poor monitoring and ameliorate management of larger numbers of devices through explicit information in the possession of only service and maintenance staff and service providers.
  • Earnest work also began on aggregation specification. This work creates a database of summarized information and definite data from a sample size of devices from a group of devices. This will also open an avenue for entire communities to carry out trading, if HEMS data can be aggregated on a community level.
  • Lastly, but certainly not the least development in the HIQ universe of 2019, was the v2.0 release of the RESTful API. While this update currently serves to help in testing theirs party mobile apps, v2.0 marks the point when dynamic calls were added to the HIQ universe mix.

IOT linker:

  • In the aspect of communication, home linkers were upgraded to comprehend a brand new “things package” to help the ‘Things’ involved with HEMS alongside the recently added RESTful API at that point. New data, logging and provision systems were then erected for the sake of the end-users.
  • SCGI communication drivers, that were installed much earlier to improve the fluidity of interaction between linkers and HEMS were further tweaked to extract more reliability and stability.
  • Improved support for end-users were also added, in the form of new logging tools for system levels to assist with diagnostics in case of home network problems. This support will be especially functional for users that utilize third party Wi-Fi or power-line adapters.
  • A better and more modern watchdog was developed in 2019, and it has already progressed as far as the testing phase at present. It is empowered to detect network problems, like cloud communication losses, and attempt to repair the network settings and parameters via network routers.

Conclusively, all the challenges our engineers were facing in the development of each project, led us to ideas on how to improve, add solutions, and implement new ideas to get ahead with boisterous confidence.

On all that evidence, a summary of some relevant improvements made within the span of a year, we can acknowledge the fact that Robotina is doubtlessly on the right track. That, in itself, is a great platform to push on, and do even greater exploits.