Bespoke software / Modbus / Physical systems
Off-grid.
Under control.
One property. Multiple systems. One bespoke control platform.
We developed the software, mobile application and touchscreen interface for an off-grid home — bringing lighting, entertainment, pool plant and solar PV together.
The project
Not an off-the-shelf smart home.
The control software was ours, from the interfaces to the decisions it made.
The property needed a coherent way to operate equipment that would otherwise live in separate control environments. We created a bespoke, Modbus-based automation system and built both a mobile app and a dedicated touchscreen interface.
The project brought together everyday convenience and a more demanding requirement: operating energy-intensive equipment intelligently on an off-grid electrical supply.
The connected systems
One control layer.
Four different worlds.
Lighting
Interior and exterior lighting managed as part of the same property-wide control system.
Entertainment
Management of entertainment systems across indoor and outdoor spaces.
Pool plant
Heating and filtration controlled with consideration for solar conditions and the property’s electrical loads.
Solar PV
Generation-related conditions informing decisions about when energy-intensive pool functions should run.
Energy-aware decisions
Use power when it makes sense.
On an off-grid property, the timing of a load matters. The pool’s heating and filtration were not treated as fixed-schedule equipment operating independently of available power.
Light levels and electrical loads informed when the pool heating and filtration should run.
Simplified control principle; not a wiring diagram or an exact representation of the installed control algorithm.
Built for the people using it
Touchscreen at home.
App in hand.
The interface was part of the engineering work, not a third-party add-on.
We developed a mobile application and touchscreen interface tailored to the property’s connected systems, giving users a consistent way to manage lighting, entertainment and equipment through the bespoke platform.
It is a good example of working across the whole system: device communications, control logic and the experience people actually touch.
The bigger picture
Software that does something in the real world.
What makes this project interesting is not any single technology. It is the combination: custom software, Modbus communications, physical equipment, off-grid energy constraints and interfaces designed around how the property is used.
That intersection between code and physical systems is the kind of engineering we do at & Atkins.
Talk to us about a project ↗