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Necessity is the mother of invention – the idea of developing the FIBARO System was inspired by a futile search for an intelligent house management system undertaken by one of the Fibar Group founders. None of the offers available on the market met all his needs and requirements. Thus, an idea was born to develop our own system, which would allow control over and synergic operation of all the electrical devices in a facility AND MORE....

Before any system began, the Fibar Group had been testing all the technologies available on the world's market for several months. Each technology was dissected, tested in detail and examined with respect to failure frequency and the possibility of integration and future development. We were also interested in whether a given technology could be integrated with the systems found in our prospective Customers’ facilities. We rejected over 80 solutions which required even a minimum adjustment to home electrical systems. We were left with several reasonably priced technologies, whose owners offered professional cooperation and reliable technical support. Out of these several technologies we selected one. Today, it is an unmatched technology, stable, continuously improved upon and developed. t can be easily integrated with peripheral devices and, most importantly, it is very safe. Unfortunately, it is not cheap. However, the goals developed by the Fibar Group helped to change it.   I Even though the technical solution itself is not cheap,

the price thresholds of the final products are to be maintained at such a level so as to make the FIBARO System the cheapest solution on the market. We have committed ourselves to a very dfficult goal, since our competitors offer solutions based on a technology which is 10 times cheaper, while the FIBARO System is supposed to be offered at a similar or even lower price... 

The System has to be flexible and, as has been mentioned, allow non-invasive installation in our Customers' homes. No arterial cables, no extensive switching stations, no complex training programs for installers, only a simple and fast installation process, which can be completed by any licensed electrician. Z-Wave technology, which soon will become as popular as Wi-Fi, is the only technology of this kind available on the market. 

The Fibar Group was a license to use this technology in 2010. The strategy for building our devices was developed in cooperation with many experts in the fields of electronics, electrical engineering, robotics and automation. Our system’s intelligence and autonomous decision-making rely on a paradoxically simple model, based on a very complex neuron network. They resemble the intelligence and autonomy of a 2-year-old child.          

System’s learning shortened from 2 years to several dozen minutes. The FIBARO System takes commands and accepts solutions immediately, and saves them in its memory forever. You don't need to repeat or refresh them. It is ready and eager to work at any time and immediately follows any familiar instructions. Just like in humans, 3 elements are required for the intelligence or autonomy features to work.                                                                      

Our main goal was to create a real, intelligent building automation system. In order to achieve it, we had to predict countless possible scenarios, to make the FIBARO System respond to various situations in an appropriate way, without any guidance from us. For example, to make it activate the sprinkler system more frequently during drought or to turn it off when you are letting your guests into your them wet. When strong wind makes it impossible for the sprinklers to water a certain part of the garden, a pump will sequentially increase water pressure in the appropriate section.

When your car's engine is running for an extended period in a closed garage and the CO concentration is dangerously high, not only will the system activate the alarm but it will also warn the members of the household, system and, at a critical stage, open the garage door. The above and similar problems were analyzed by a team of analysts, whose sole responsibility was to predict situations of this kind. Thanks to the use of wireless Z-Wave technology, the FIBARO System is compatible with motion, temperature, humidity, smoke, CO, flooding, and door-opening detectors.

Currently, 250 companies worldwide have access to Z-Wave technology. Before appearing on the market, each device has to undergo a rigorous and complex trial conducted by the technology owner. Subsequently, it is awarded a certificate of compatibility.                                                                                                                     

This way a device manufactured by company X is compatible with a device manufactured by company Y. For this reason Z-Wave technology is developing at an incredible pace. By doing so, we have eliminated a problem which occurs when one, the so-called universal operating  on all computers,                                                                

which frequently causes problems and leads to consumer dissatisfaction. Moreover, the Fibar Group has entered into a cooperation agreement concerning selected devices, thanks to which we are offered products at lower prices and receive full technical support.                                                                                                  

Simple and fast instalation

Our intention was to make the installation of the FIBARO System simple. Our designers and electronics engineers always kept this goal in mind. We found it obvious that a solution which would require a complex, kilometer-long electrical system to work, would make implementing this concept impossible. We had to come up with a non-invasive way of integrating actuators and sensors with the infrastructure already existing in our Customers' houses, thus saving them the trouble of damaging walls, modifying switching stations, exchanging switches, etc. It was a very difficult goal to achieve.    

How to install the system without introducing any modifications in our customers' houses? How to install the device responsible for switching the lights on and off without changing anything? Yet another problem which our constructors had to face was controlling high- -power devices, such as a 2.5 kW electric heater. For this reason we needed components capable of bearing heavy electrical loads.

All this makes non-invasive instalation impossible, but not for FIBARO Group team

Many of our electronics engineers lost sleep over such ambitious goals. After several weeks of analysis we came to the conclusion that the only reasonable solution which would not affect the already existing building systems and would not require our Clients to make any change their habits,

was to install output modules behind keys (switches), in the wall switch boxes which already exist in their houses. With this solution, connecting building automation system components is very simple. However, the difficulty lies in the fact that there room in a wall switch box.

When designing our modules, our goal was to make them fit into the most shallow wall switch boxes. We can't expect our Customers to exchange them, as it would contradict our primary goal – no modifications in our Customers' homes.                                                                                                        

Designing explained

After several months of work we finally managed to bring our devices to perfection

The dimmer is a device used to vary the brightness of a light. It allows you to control an additional circuit and to connect two switch keys to it. With the dimmer you can control yet another device in the network. It also has the On/Off Switch function.                               

The controller is a device used to control roller blinds, awnings, etc. It is the only device of this type on the market which knows the exact position of a roller blind or an awning, without any additional sensors.                                                    

It can serve 2 independent circuits. It can control voltage other than the one it is powered with. It can work with two circuits with a maximum load capacity of 1.5 kW each* or with one 3 kW circuit**. (*the FGS-221 model, the FGS-211 model**).                                                   

Advanced wireless 4-colour LED strips controller. Apart from traditional RGB channels it, also supports the additional white light channel, which allows for adding pastel colours to the colour scheme. The device may control up to four analogue.

What is a non-invasive installation

In order to answer the foregoing question you need to be aware of the diversity of the past and present technologies used in the construction sector. It is almost impossible to adjust a system to all the available solutions and offer a fully universal and professional product. For this reason, other companies in the building automation and intelligent houses sector offer services and products which interfere with the building's infrastructure by making it necessary to run meters or kilometers of additional cables and forcing Customers to make (sometimes rash) decisions, 

limiting their decision-making comfort or reducing the selection of wall controllers, or control options, not to mention the very limited possibilities which such systems offer. As a result, they make your life a living hell by enslaving you to a pseudo-intelligent system, or simply offer you the possibility of remote control. 95% of people have hardly any idea of the potential that building automation systems offer. Blindly trusting an advisor or installer from company X or Y, they make decisions which they often regret in the future. Most systems limit you in a number of ways,

forcing you to install special infrastructure or a complex switching station in order to activate them.You mustn't forget that an INTELLIGENT convenient and safe. If a Customer is forced to call the technical service each time they want to reset a simple parameter or turn on the sprinkler system, such a system can hardly be called comfortable. If, in the event of fire, the central unit goes up in flames and is unable to give commands to the remaining system components, such a system can hardly be called safe.                                                                                                                                

Next, click "ADD" on the Home Center 2 "ADD/REMOVE DEVICE" tab and press the key under which the FIBARO module is located three times. The Home Center 2 will detect a new device. All you need to do to complete the process is type in the device name.

Thanks to its great simplicity, the installation of the building automation system is really easy and inexpensive. Any licensed electrician is capable of installing the FIBARO System.                                                                                                                                                                                               

When you move the house, you can take the entire automation system with you, along with your furniture and any other furnishings, without leaving a trace of there ever being any device installed there.                                                                                                                                               

FIBARO versus other systems...

                                                                                                                                                                                                   Configuration interface FIBARO HC2

When we were testing tens of systems and analyzing technical solutions and the ways in which other systems are managed, we discovered not tens but hundreds of senseless operations which a person using such systems needs to perform.                                                                          

They ranged from having to come up to the wall on which the touch panels for system device on/off are installed, through having to delve into the complicated interface structures on such panels in order to achieve a given goal, to absurd and nonsensical configuration issues.

In some systems, a user who wants to rename a living room lamp from "the wall" to "wall light", has to contact the technical. The FIBARO System is free from such faults. Our motto is: "The Customer cannot be enslaved to the system – the system is to serve the Customer, and not the other way round."

Moreover, when developing the FIBARO System, we strove for the greatest possible compatibility with mobile phones from various manufacturers. You almost always have your mobile phone on you. Now, thanks to your phone, you can have your entire HOUSE "on you".                                                                                                                                         

The applications which operate on iPhone, NOKIA, LG, SAMSUNG, SONY ERICSSON, HTC and many other mobile phones are part of the system. We are continuously developing applications for new mobile phone models. In order to satisfy the needs of our customers who own non-standard mobile phone                                                               

models that command only a small market share, we have developed a special website which allows managing the system using a browser. If you are not sure if your mobile phone is compatible with the FIBARO System, ask your local FIBARO supplier about it.                                                                                                                                                   

The interface from scratch

The FIBARO System uses two interfaces to communicate with its human users:

- The external interface – which is used to control the system on a daily basis, 

- The configuration interface – which is used to define the location of particular devices, room names, dependencies between devices and other system functions. The configuration interface is hardly ever used, while the external interface is a component used for ongoing communication between the FIBARO System and its user. For this reason the external interface has to be perfect and use a language which is easily understood by the user. Just think how difficult it is to communicate with a foreigner, if you don't speak his or her.

We did our best to make this system component suit your needs. When developing the interface, our basic goal was to make sure that the users could learn to operate it as fast as they learn to operate a TV remote control. The interface was to facilitate the use of the FIBARO System.                              

It was supposed to calm the users think of pleasant things, have a nice appearance and be transparent. When developing the external interface, we were assisted by several specialists in the field of IT system construction and optimization in a man-machine relationship.                                     

We were also joined by a number of web usability specialists and, most importantly, by a from the touch panel sector. It allowed us to develop a template on which usability tests were conducted. The template was handed over to a control group. Their comments helped us to adjust and improve it. 

Adjust interface to liking

When working on the FIBARO System’s central unit, we favored simple configuration. We were very much concerned with safety. Therefore, during the installation process, the device added always has to be within reach of the central unit.

The central unit is portable. Adding a new device comes down to a given module being detected by the central unit, named and assigned to a given room. This way you can be sure that the device adding process will be successful.                                                                               

                 Configuration interface FIBARO HC2                                                                                              Home Center 2

Kompatibility

As has been mentioned, the FIBARO System is compatible with all the certified Z-Wave devices. However, in order to increase the system's potential, we are currently working on inter- -system gates, to enable our system to cooperate with other systems based on different popular technologies. We are improving the integration process, in order to make                     

the compatible with the majority of systems available on the market. This way the users of other systems are able to extend them using the FIBARO modules. We developed, a module which allow integration with the majority of alarm systems, both wired and wireless. Once such a module is installed, the FIBARO System will automatically recognize the alarm                                                                          

systems installed in our Customers’ houses. This way the sensors in the existing alarm systems are be used to expand the FIBARO System's intelligence at no additional cost. Moreover, the system does not require a VPN connection or a static IP address for remote access.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Perfect wake up

Design your own awakening, just the way you like it. It will make getting up for work easier, even on a cloudy day. Use the infinite possibilities of FIBARO to secure your own comfort and convenience during your everyday morning activities.

Imagine that...

In the ivent of fire

In critical situations, immediate response to threat is the most important factor, which often can save our lives. FIBARO will identify a threat within seconds, warn you of the danger and activate all the pre-programmed alarm procedures, thus preventing a tragedy from happening.

Imagine that...