Automation
is the process where technology does the job for us with minimal or no
human intercession. It saves us from the regular annoying job of getting
up on a lazy winter morning just to switch on the geyser. A magic wand that can
turn the air-conditioning on to just the “right” level for us or turn on the
lighting again to the required intensity – depending upon the space and the
activity, and the person occupying the space.
Automation is the new era of evolution.
Today, machines run the world, economy and societies. Hence, they reduce the
human effort manifold. Globally, dependency on machines at all levels and scale
of activities has exponentially increased and evolved. Not just big companies
or factories, even our everyday household items are fully automated. Washing
machines, water heaters, refrigerators, ACs, lighting or dishwashers,
automation has left no stone unturned to make the human life comfortable and
convenient. Therefore, technology helps us in our everyday life by reducing
the workload, and increasing comfort.
Services
like HVAC, lighting control systems, occupancy aware control system, integrated
security systems that only require an active Wi-Fi connection and have a
user-friendly interface, are all automated in function and execution.
What exactly can Automation
do?
In general,
control of systems is often mistakenly referred to as Automation. For example, the
ability to dim lights, to control A/cs from a smart phone or to change your
Tata Sky channel with Alexa voice control is generally referred to as
understood as automation today in the residential field. However “automation”
ideally should be more than just control, even though the control could be via
a touch panel or via a voice control. As long as there is a input given from
our side to achieve a certain state from a system, it is control or even more
refined control rather than automation. In my view, “Automation Nirvana” would
be achieved the day we have lights automatically dimming depending upon the
personal preferences of the home owner automatically (sensing time of day or
sensing activity such as watching a movie) WITH OUT any input from the homeowner
on an “every time” basis. Or say when the air-conditioning follows your pattern
of temperature requirement changes through the night and then does exactly that
for you next time with out any input. Or say the grocery is ordered from your
regular vendor when ever sugar, salt, or wheat or Tissue paper or any of your
regular stuff is about to finish for the month. Sounds futuristic? Not really.
Amazon offers almost a similar service in the US. Smart refrigerators such as
Samsung have unleashed some what similar function devices. Google Nest Thermostats
do some of what you want. The ideal thing would of course be when all of this
works seamlessly with out having to go to different sub systems and different
products for each of the above things.
Then again
comes in the question of privacy and how much do you actually want the devices
to know about your daily habits and then to run your life, But then you have to
either give up this Automation Nirvana Idea, or stop worrying about privacy.
You can’t save your cake and eat it too! Or Can you? Time will tell!
