NUOS’ home automation systems do not need rewiring or civil
work and can be operated from anywhere in the world
While
designing farm houses spread over 18 acres in Karjat, architect Ravi Desai’s
main concern was to save power. He wanted a retrofit solution that would
prevent all the street lights getting switched on or off at the same time. “It
was a complex design as we wanted one set of lights to switch on and off
automatically at a particular time, and the other set to switch on at another
time,” says Mr. Desai. They wanted manual control as well.
Like
him, Prasad Bhagare, a businessman, too wanted an automated solution for his
3,000 sq ft home at Kharghar; a system that could easily be operated by all the
members of his family, from his 14-year-old son to his 80-year-old parents. “We
wanted a blend of physical as well as touch screen solutions,” says Mr.
Bhagare.
The
startup NUOS [NOU is intelligence in Japanese, while OS is part of the word
‘ethos’] Home Automation fulfilled their needs, without them going in for any
additional civil work or rewiring. Says its founder Neil Savant, “It is
generally believed that people can go in for automation only when they are
renovating or moving into a new house or office. However, we provide retrofit
systems that don’t need rewiring or civil work, and minimise installation-related
problems.”
Retrofit systems
It is
this retrofit (switch-to-switch replacement without change in wiring) that sets
NUOS apart from its competitors. Its solutions allow customers to control
appliances through a mobile app from anywhere in the world. “To automate
devices like lights and fans, most companies’ products have boxes that go
behind the switchboard,” says Mr. Savant.
In
almost all cases, there is no space behind the switchboard to fit any small
device because there is a lot of existing wiring. Hence, civil work has to make
space for their boxes. An expert is needed to wire the devices to their boxes —
it is not something a local electrician can do, explains Mr. Savant. However,
NUOS hardware eliminates the need for rewiring and civil work as the existing
switches just need to be replaced by touch switches and sensors in the existing
switchboards. “Further, installation can be done within 15 minutes and the
entire system can be up and running in 20 minutes flat,” says Mr. Savant.
An
automation system for a three-bedroom-hall-kitchen flat can range from ₹1.5
lakh to ₹3 lakh, depending on the requirement.
Growing from scratch
Mr.
Savant has always nurtured the aspiration to make home and office automation
products simple, precise and innovative. After working for nearly four years with
Navistar and Cummins in USA in various engineering and management positions,
Mr. Savant returned to India in 2014 and launched NUOS in July that year, with
two engineers.
With a
couple of laptops, a savings pool of ₹1.60 crore, the team started out of a 180
sq ft garage in Matunga by making prototypes of circuits (controlling LEDs and
fans through a mobile app and gaining expertise in power electronics). The team
has now expanded to 15 members. NUOS now makes industry-grade hardware and
software, which are essentially Internet of Things products.
Its
product range includes touch switches, an IR or infrared blaster [All devices
like televisions, air conditioners, set-top boxes and projectors which need an
infrared remote can be operated using the NUOS app through the blaster
wirelessly]; temperature or humidity sensor; a curtain motor controller, which
helps automated curtains and blinds to open or close; an Internet Protocol
camera whose feed can be viewed wirelessly from anywhere in the world and a
central gateway which works with an Android/IOS mobile application as well as a
web platform not just from inside the home or office but from anywhere in the
world.
Recently,
NUOS unveiled an energy meter through which they plan to regulate power
consumption. The meter can measure power and the consumer can control it using
the NUOS switches. Its ‘Amazon Alexa’ enables clients to control home
appliances with their voices. “By saying, ‘Alexa’, our consumers can turn
appliances on or off and even change the intensity of lights and fans,” says
Chandrashekhar Sahu, Engineering Lead.
Future plans
Till
date, NUOS has provided home and office automation services to over 25
customers in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Bengaluru. By December, 2017, Mr. Savant
hopes to achieve 4,000 installations across India.
Mr.
Savant also has a grander vision for the company: set a benchmark in the smart
home industry through their ‘made in India’ products. Says Mr. Savant, “Five
years from now, we plan on having not just products in the realm of automation
but a strong platform that will be intelligent as well as intuitive and solve
energy and environmental problems by helping to reduce the carbon footprint.”
Source:THE HINDU-5th October,2017
