CT Droid
CT Bot
CocoonTech visited the Somfy booth during CES 2011 in Las Vegas on January 8, 2011 to see what new products were being showcased.
Somfy has been around for 40 years and manufactures motors and controls for window coverings (blinds, awnings, projectioin screens, etc...). They were displaying their TaHoma System which was announced as a press release on CocoonTech earlier this month.
Their TaHome box (shown below) can connect to a wireless router and sends out Z-Wave commands to an "Irtsy" Z-Wave to RTS interface box (also shown below). This RTS signal is what is then sent to the Somfy blind motor/controller (it is their proprietary wireless interface).
The software provided via the TaHoma box can provide a rich user interface including a design screen and room scenes. The system is designed to incorporate lighting control from Cooper, Evolve, and Leviton as well as Evolve thermostats to provide a total energy integrated control system (natural lighting, artifical lighting, and temperature). Scenes and room displays as well as a scheduler are included with the software. There is also an iPad and iPhone remote web interface as well.
Â
Unfortunately the Tahoma system can not be easily integrated with other home automation appliciaotns but Somfy does offer a zwave to RTS interface that can be used for a third party application. The Somfy Universal RTS interface (Irtsy) speaks RS-232 RS-485 and Infra-Red to RTS (RTS is Somfy's wireless protocal interface).
Somfy offers these products to dealers directly only.
View the full article
