MeWet is a smart home, adapted to residents’ functional ability, with a variety of well-being enhancing technology and assistive devices that aid in everyday living. Although nobody is permanently residing in the MeWet home, it is open for all visitors.

MeWet is also a research, development and learning environment. It serves as a meeting point for welfare technology developers, businesses and different users. The aim of MeWeT home design has been to provide a refreshing and vibrant environment for its residents.

Seamless Cooperation Across Borders

MeWet is a modern and challenging entity for students of different professions. It provides a unique learning environment for those in the fields of technology, well-being and construction.

During planning and building of the MeWet home, students of well-being, construction, electrical, ICT and interior design fields were actively cooperating alongside with others. Belgian electrical and automation exchange students have also participated in the construction work.

Involved in planning there were also experts from Sataedu and SAMK, business partners as well as the representatives of the target groups themselves for which this project would bring benefits and relief for everyday life.

Noticed also in Europe

MeWet has also awakened international interests, and it was nominated for the Silver Economy Award competition of the Regional Committee for Europe, which seeks innovative solutions for the elderly to improve their quality of life. The MeWet home was ranked among the top ten in its category.

Cooperation and Bridges

MeWet home employs concrete collaboration between different degrees of education. In MeWet’s service design are involved SAMK students of Welfare technology Master degree program and Sataedu students of interior artisan and practical nursing. The nursing students were from a group specializing in elderly care.

Sataedu as a vocational educator in secondary degree education can use the house as a unique bridge for working life co-operation and innovate with new producers. MeWet-home is also an excellent test subject for SAMK Welfare Technology research group.

Latest things on Display – Welcome!

MeWet home is a meeting point for welfare technology developers, businesses and different users. It offers an opportunity to familiarize oneself with technology that is being developed and the home functions also as a test environment. Customers interested in new products are also welcome to MeWet home. Moreover, MeWet home regularly hosts pop-up cafés open for public.

 

Technical Information

There are multiple technological equipments embedded in the MeWet home, which are used to collect real-time information of the apartment. The collected data is then used to control the equipment’s functions. The data is also transferred to a higher-level system for analysis.

The top-level system is PTC IoT (formerly Elisa IoT) cloud service. The IoT has multiple user interfaces for different user groups. The UIs can be used to check the status of the apartment with different devices connected to the Internet.

The home automation system is a PLC system from Beckhoff Automation Oy. The PLC system, which stands for programmable logic controller system, functions as the apartment’s control center where almost all the data comes from individual sensors. Some of the data from the sensors are directed to the IoT system through the PLC system. The sensor data is also used to control the environment of the MeWeT home directly.

Beckhoff PLC system’s sensors collect the data about:

• outdoor temperature
• indoor temperature
• air quality (CO2, CO)
• fire / smoke detector data
• the status of the door of the fridge
• status of the entrance door
• status of water faucet in case of dementia
• movement detectors
• movement / area scanner

The following variables are controlled directly through the Beckhoff PLC system based on sensor data and plan:

• lighting
• temperature

Current controllable systems that are either installed or being installed are Dali lights and other lights.

In addition, the goal is to control the temperature by means of air source heat pump and later to control the curtains according to lighting conditions and time of the day.

Separate systems, some of which are fully autonomous and some that are autonomous, but provide some information, either to the Beckhoff system or directly to the IoT.

Oras OY faucet systems

The kitchen “dementia-faucet” and dishwasher faucet.

Information from the dementia-faucet gets transferred to the system, and the dishwasher’s faucet has an automatic timed shut off. In the bathroom, there are wirelessly activated bidet shower and washbasin that open with the push of a button, leaving hands free. The shower’s electricity can be turned off during cleaning and service.

Lukkotalo

Lukkotalo Yale Doorman smart lock combined with Verisure’s remote control.

Lukkotalo doorbell/door camera system, which neither provides transmittable image data nor can the door be remotely opened because the door is not equipped with an electric lock.

Different user groups and different operating times can be programmed into the lock. The door can be opened either with a key code or a key tag. It is possible to open the door also with Verisure’s application either from a mobile device or via an internet application. Along with managing tasks, Verisure’s system can also be used for checking logs, and information from the system can also be transferred to the IoT-system as well.

SICK OY scanner

The scanner is used to collect two types of data from the room.

The first type of data is “raw” data of the entire area scanned by the scanner which can be directed to IoT level for analysis. The second data type is data obtained from defined areas which can be used for example to track motion near the doors and draw conclusions from it. The data from the scanner can be transferred to the PLC system and forward from there. The problem at the moment is the scanning speed of the scanner. The plan is to get a faster model.

Vivago Oy

Safety bracelet, locator and caretaker telephone system.

An individual closed system that does not provide information to higher-level systems. It allows monitoring the client’s status and activity and acts accordingly when the need arises or when assistance is requested.

Yeti tablet

A separate 60” Android tablet with a durable shock-resistant construction and an adjustable stand. It works via Wi-Fi as a basic tablet and also as a platform for various welfare games and applications.

 

MeWet projects

The MeWet and MeWet-Invest projects develop a testing, development and learning environment (TKI-O) of the latest welfare technology that serves versatile and second-level vocational education as a platform for new learning content and as a testing and development environment for higher education and related research activities.

The TKIO-environment connects the latest innovations in welfare technology with learning in fields of renovation and care/nursing and supports the implementation of remote and automation solutions as part of teaching.

The projects aim to link the practical working people (students, teachers) with well-being enhancing and structurally embedded smart technology development as well as to promote multiprofessional and pragmatic innovation.

The development environment has been designed with local companies in mind and as new procedures arise new prerequisites are being built for multiprofessional development and teaching purposes. This raises expectations for educating new multiprofessional experts and creating possibilities for new businesses.

Partly the aim of the projects is improving the development possibilities and prerequisites for the operation of companies with a configurable development environment and the support that the learning institutions offer with their development resources.

 

Contact info

MeWet home is located in Sataedu school in Ulvila, Yhdystie, 28400 Ulvila.

Contact information:

Sataedu

Jaakko Niemelä, jaakko.niemela@sataedu.fi, Tel 040 199 4465

Krista Toivonen, krista.toivonen@sataedu.fi, Tel 040 199 4195

SAMK

Well-being Enhancing Technology (WET) research group

Sari Merilampi sari.merilampi@samk.fi, Tel 044 710 3171