news
news
Harvard Launches New Casambi-Enabled LED Drivers
In a partnership with Holders, UK distributors for Casambi,
Harvard Power Systems is launching a full range of their high
specification CLi Series LED drivers with built-in Casambi
wireless communications capabilities. The new range of
CLi-Casambi LED drivers will be available exclusively through
Holders, who offer a number of Casambi-enabled products
which work seamlessly together to form a mesh network.
Casambi provides a modern wireless lighting control
system based on Bluetooth Low Energy, the only low power
wireless technology in all modern smart phones, tablets
and even smart watches. Working with Holders, Harvard
Power Systems have integrated a Casambi node into its
full range of CoolLED PRO CLi Series LED drivers whilst
retaining all their high specification features in their ultracompact
size – the drivers are half the size of other lower
technology drivers. The key advantage of the smaller case
size of Harvard LED drivers is that they fit through relatively
small 40mm or 56mm holes in the ceiling, making them
ideal as a fast-fit solution for use with LED downlights.
The CoolLED PRO CLi Series of Casambi-enabled LED
drivers are available in 15W, 25W and 40W versions and
are programmable from 100 to 1400mA. Specification
rich, the CLi Series LED drivers provide smooth flickerfree
dimming down to 0.1%, particularly desirable for
aesthetic & display applications, whilst also allowing
smooth Soft-On & Soft-Off functionality, offering enhanced
comfort for interior and architectural applications.
Mark Needham, Managing Director of Harvard Power
Systems comments, “ We are delighted to have worked in
syscomtec Finalise Partnership with Ledeca
syscomtec Distribution AG is a new sales partner for
turnkey LED display solutions from Ledeca in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland. syscomtec provides resellers and
system houses with AV technologies from international
manufacturers. Together with supplementary products from
Ledeca, syscomtec is now offering tailor-made LED displays
for digital signage applications and visualisation systems for
enterprises, public organisations, hotels, and museums, as
well as services for indoor areas.
Ledeca, based in Istanbul/Turkey, develops and
produces high-quality LED-based multimedia solutions
for digital and interactive advertising, information
and orientation in indoor and outdoor areas.
Ledeca’s products are in use across multiple vertical
markets such as outdoor advertisement, out-of-home
messaging, conference and meeting rooms, building
facades, sports stadiums, traffic, transportation, and TV
studios. The company focuses on customer-oriented
turnkey solutions. They design and provide projects with
partnership with Holders on
this range of Casambi-enabled
drivers particularly
because we know that
customers will be assured
of the best possible
customer service in the way
of technical support and advice to
achieve the best solutions for their lighting schemes.”
Mat Hanson, Sales Director for Holders, adds, “Holders
are delighted to partner Harvard Power Systems in
promoting their market leading, integrated Casambi LED
drivers. This great development marries best-in-class
Bluetooth technology, in the form of Casambi, with the
deepest dimming, flicker-free technology from Harvard.
Bringing together these two exciting technologies, the
Casambi-enabled Harvard CLi15 and CLi40 LED drivers
are ideal for the demanding specifications of residential,
architectural, hospitality and retail projects where exciting
dynamic control of LED lighting is required, without
compromising the quality of light being delivered.”
Harvard’s CLi Series LED drivers including 0–10V, DALI
dimmable and now the fully embedded CASAMBI variants,
all come with a comprehensive five-year warranty. All are
SELV compliant and will operate with a lower voltage supply,
compatible with emergency applications. Extended life tests
demonstrate high reliability and low audible noise below
20dBA yet despite their high specification, these new LED
drivers are competitively priced to meet market demand. n
all necessary supplementary products including frame
design for any kind of metal construction and adaptation,
hardware, content management, and automation software,
as well as services for installation, commissioning,
calibration, and real-time monitoring. The products are
characterised by flexible screen sizes, designs and shapes,
plug and play functionality, brilliant colour quality and
reliable 24/7 continuous operation at low operation costs.
"Ledeca's products have convinced us and perfectly
complement our range of visualisation solutions," explains
Claus Lohse, CEO of syscomtec Distribution AG. "For Ledeca
and us, individual support and excellent services for our
customers are the basis for our Company philosophy.
With Ledeca we have gained an ideal partner".
"The partnership will strengthen our presence in the
German-speaking countries“, adds Orhan Kaplan, Ledeca
founder, and Managing Director. "With over 20 years of
experience, syscomtec is a renowned distributor and we
are looking forward to working with a strong partner". n
Zytronic x Touch/Virtual Button
Concept Provides Cost-Effective
Interface for Rugged Applications
Zytronic has extended its capability to design and
manufacture projected capacitive user interfaces that
combine a “traditional” dynamic touch area with surrounding
capacitive keys.
Named ZyBrid and based upon Zytronic’s multitouch
capable, projected capacitive technology (MPCT),
this latest development opens up new opportunities to
improve and enhance the design of human interface
devices (HID) for a wide range of applications that
prove challenging to conventional approaches.
While touchscreens provide an intuitive and flexible
interface, incorporating a large display into a control
panel can add significant cost and weight compared to
conventional mechanical controls, whilst also increasing
the unit’s power consumption, none of which is desirable.
Zytronic’s ZyBrid solution allows a touch display of
an appropriately small size to be paired with nonmechanical
printed and fixed keys in the same glass
surface. This approach has the added benefit of creating
a seamless, completely sealable user interface, with
no holes or gaps to trap dirt or allow liquid ingress.
Zytronic’s patented projected capacitive touch technology
will detect multiple simultaneous fingers, conductive styli
and even gloved or dirty hands, through glass thicknesses of
10mm or more. In doing so, it ignores raindrops, leaves, dirt,
ice and other debris that can ‘fool’ other touch solutions. As
a result, ZyBrid is suited to both indoor and outdoor use.
The ZyBrid solution consists of a customised
glass ZyBrid touch sensor combined with a Zytronic
ZXY500 multi-touch controller that supports up to 100
independent touch points and rapid touch detection.
With its ownership of both the touchscreen manufacture
and touch controller design and algorithm development,
Zytronic has developed special firmware for the controller
so that a dynamic touch sensing area can be defined
alongside fixed key positions and even a “touch-pad”.
Working closely with customers, the touch interface
is designed, glass is cut, printed and thermally
toughened in-house, and then Zytronic’s electronics
engineers customise the firmware per the client request,
defining the key function and output protocol. n
KIOSK
solutions
If you have any news please email Laura Vallis,
[email protected]
Oxford University and Amazon
Web Services Create a Test-Bed
for Cloud-Based Research
The University of Oxford has announced a new strategic
collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The collaboration will focus on building a
portfolio of new research projects relating to AI,
robotics, cyber-physical systems, human-centred
computing, and support to the University’s
new “Lighthouse” Doctoral Scholarships.
This new university-industry collaboration,
supported by a £7 million gift from AWS to the
Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, will
accelerate advances in AI and Data Science across
the entire research portfolio of the University.
Professor Patrick Grant, Pro-Vice-Chancellor
(Research) University of Oxford, said: ‘Cloud
computing is an essential part of modern research.
"A streamlined operating model for using cloud
services will benefit all of our researchers. The
Oxford Robotics Institute, the Cyber Physical Systems
Group, and the Human Centred Computing group are
leading the initial projects in the short term, but I look
forward to growing the collaboration to bring research
benefits across our research work more broadly.’
Max Peterson, VP International Sales Worldwide
Public Sector, AWS, said: ‘We are excited about this
collaboration with the University of Oxford.
"With AWS, the University will be able to accelerate
time-to-science as multiple, large experiments can
be conducted in parallel with greater ease and in
less time. And by driving cost down, researchers can
dramatically increase the scale of computational
experimentation. The collaboration demonstrates
how academia can use the cloud to deliver excellent
science with greater speed, flexibility and security,
compared to using on premises data centres.
"Through our donation we will also support a new
generation of researchers accessing cloud-native tools
and technology for research through the University’s
“Lighthouse” Doctoral Scholarships program."
Oxford University has a vibrant, large and growing
programme in Data Science, AI and Robotics research
and development. To support and inspire the research,
students, and staff, access to fast-moving, state-ofthe-art
large-scale computing resources is critical.
AWS, one of the leading global cloud providers, offers
secure, reliable, scalable, low-cost cloud infrastructure
that underpins millions of customers around the world
and this collaboration will significantly accelerate the
cloud-based research conducted at the University. n
12 KIOSK solutions
KIOSK solutions 13