The core of ThingOS is a technology neutral abstraction layer (TNL) allowing to build smart applications (Hub-Apps) for environments equipped with many different wireless and wired sensor/actuator devices from different vendors. In a smart home scenario such applications can for instance use any recent speech assistant to control any smart bulbs (e.g. Philips Hue, IKEA, Wifi bulbs, DALI lights, KNX lights etc.) using the same technology neutral code. ThingOS does all the magic underneath to allow a smart application developer to focus on the business logic.
The ThingOS core software runs on multi-protocol hub-devices such as our own EDGY hubs and many other suitable edge devices (e.g. HPE Edge-Line servers, RevPis, etc.).
ThingOS can bridge wireless communication technologies such as WiFi, BLE, BLE-Mesh, ZigBee, Z-Wave, Enocean, building buses such as KNX, DALI, DMX as well as fieldbuses. And the coverage of recent products and communication technologies grows every day.
ThingOS is made for the edge. It runs without having to connect to the internet or cloud-applications at all. ThingOS hubs can however be connected to our cloud or extranet based App-Store. This allows our customers a quick and simple remote mass deployment of hub-Apps and updates.
Smart Hubs
ThingOS is a software platform running on hub devices in the environment. Hubs running ThingOS directly connect to many different devices in the direct environment, bridge their differences and allow to interconnect their individual capabilities in smart ways. This is implemented in the form of Smart Space Applications (Apps for Hubs).
ThingOS can run on hardware as small as an Intel Edison, rack hardware such as HPE EdgeLine servers as well as industrial hardware such as RevPis, NetPis and many others.
Apps for Smart Environments
Apps for smartphones are great. They allow everyone to extend the functionality of their smartphone without having to be an IT expert.
ThingOS transforms the idea of smartphone Apps to physical environments such as rooms, floors or whole buildings and productions environments. End-user and mangers of spaces can now install an App for their environment as easy as they can install an App on their smartphone.
Apps for ThingOS can be developed by third party developers and published in the App-Store. Therefore, ThingOS especially focuses on making the development of such Apps as easy and efficient as possible. This is achieved through a powerful Cross Platform Software Development Enviroment (XDE) as well as clients and firmware for all recent mobile platforms and MCUs.
App Store
The ThingOS App-Store allows to remotely install Apps onto hubs in a convenient way. The App-Store contains Apps developed by ThingOS, our customers and third parties. Further, our customers can run their own private company wide App-Stores and App-ecosystems invisible to anyone else outside their organisation.
In addition to Apps, the App-Store also provides access to a rapidly growing ecosystems of adapters, making any commercial or industrial third party device, sensors or actuator compatible and uniformly accessible.
XDE – SDK for Developers
The development of ThingOS Apps is not only very fast but also a completely new development experience. A developer can create code by simply interacting with the environment – at development time (Video). This makes the development process of smart applications much quicker, more efficient and user-friendly.
The ThingOS XDE comes as web-application installed on the hub. This means no toolchain installation is required and a whole team can start the App-development within a minute (multi-user support).
Third-party Device Integration
ThingOS connects third-party devices of many different vendors and communication technologies through adapters. Adapter can be compared to “Printer drivers”. After installation on a hub new devices are automatically discovered and can be accessed from ThingOS in a unified way. Of-the-shelf devices e.g. light bulbs, switches and Amazon Echos are easly integrated this way.
For devices that allow to install software ThingOS is already proving ready-to-go Apps, client software and firmware. For instance for the integration of devices such as mobile phones, tablets, TVs etc. running Android or iOS a single generic App is provided, which allows to easily interweave the capabilies of these devices into Smart Space Applications.
This makes ThingOS the most user-friendly and future-proof connectivity solution because any kind of devices can be integrated and used in a unified way – independent of the underlying vendor and technology.
Custom Stationary Embedded Devices
ThingOS allows to turn nearly any embedded stationary computer (both commercial and industrial) into a smart node in the environment. Sensors and actuators connected to these units can instantly offer their capabilities to Apps running in the environment.
Ready-to-run client software for linux, windows, Android and iOS based systems is part of the ThingOS technology platform.
Custom Wearable Devices
Wearable devices are mobile and usually battery-powered. Keeping power consumption low and thus enhancing battery-lifetime is thus an important factor for this device category. ThingOS offers a wire range of ready-to-run firmware for BLE, WiFi and Combo MCU chipsets. In addition to over-the-air update-capabilities these devices can be completely reconfigured at run-time to use various sensors and actuators connected to them.
For rapid prototyping of novel wearable applications we have further developed our own Bluetooth Low Energy hardware module ecosystem. Sensors and actuators can simply by stacked or chained to the core module, allowing to create small form factor wearable device prototypes. This allows to practically build and test new smart sensor applications withing minutes instead of weeks or month.
After the prototyping phase of a new device we can rapidly turn it into a standalone-PCB design for mass-production.
