ZHAW students win with building automation project
With their bachelor thesis "Building Automation with Bluethooth Mesh", the three young researchers Manuel Böbel, Mario Noseda and Marcel Schreiner win the regional Siemens Excellence Award worth 4000 Swiss francs.
In building technology, too, more and more devices are being linked together and are expected to communicate with each other. Different wireless standards are used for different requirements. The still young Bluetooth Mesh, for example, makes it possible to create entire networks of devices. With their bachelor thesis, the young researchers developed a Bluetooth Mesh system that can be connected to the established, widely used building automation standard KNX. As a test system, they implemented a lighting control system with remote control, lights and sensors, whereby the elements can be connected to Bluetooth Mesh or KNX as desired. In addition, a network scan developed in-house can be used to determine the topology of the Bluetooth Mesh network to ensure optimal distribution of the wireless nodes.
The communication between KNX and Bluetooth Mesh is enabled via a gateway developed by the three students themselves. Thus, the existing KNX network of a building can be easily and transparently extended with Bluetooth Mesh. The Bluetooth Mesh network thereby adapts to the KNX network and not vice versa. This means easier integration for the end customer. A possible follow-up project has already been discussed: The commercialization of the self-developed gateway.
Nominated for the Award 2020
With this practical and future-oriented project, the winners were able to convince the jury. Manuel Böbel, Mario Noseda and Marcel Schreiner and their project have thus been nominated for the national Siemens Excellence Award 2020, which is endowed with 10,000 Swiss francs. For Matthias Rebellius, CEO of Siemens Switzerland, the promotion of young talent takes an important position: "With the Excellence Award, we want to motivate young people to deal with scientific topics that can be implemented in practice." In addition to scientific achievement, the degree of innovation, social relevance and practical feasibility of the work are the main factors that count in the evaluation of the work. The Excellence Award is part of the educational program "Generation21", with which Siemens seeks dialog with young people and promotes young talent in the fields of science and technology.
Source: Press release Siemens Switzerland
